{"id":13744,"date":"2025-08-24T10:30:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T03:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/what-if-a-building-could-speak-artists-inhabit-soviet-ruin-in-armenia-for-site-specific-project\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T10:30:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T03:30:21","slug":"what-if-a-building-could-speak-artists-inhabit-soviet-ruin-in-armenia-for-site-specific-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/what-if-a-building-could-speak-artists-inhabit-soviet-ruin-in-armenia-for-site-specific-project\/","title":{"rendered":"what if a building could speak? artists inhabit soviet ruin in armenia for site-specific project"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wow wow-yellow\">Soviet-era building in armenia hosts site-specific art program<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The abandoned, Soviet-era Palace of Culture in the spa town of Jermuk, Armenia, hosts Architecture: Ghostly Past and Unrevealed Present, a site-specific art program by ToC Cultural Organization that explores architectural abandonment as a form of ongoing presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of a one-week residency in April 2025, three Armenian artists, photographer Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan, sculptor Manvel Matevosyan, and printmaker Sophie Musoyan, inhabited the building, creating works directly within its walls using salvaged materials, dust, light, and shadow. Their interventions embraced its fragments, its chipped tiles, rusted frames, and weathered textures as tools for storytelling, questioning what stories the building would tell if it could speak again.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ter-Mkrtchyan\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/architectural-photography\/\"><strong>photographs<\/strong><\/a> explore the passage of time by using shadows and light reflections. Musoyan uses the cyanotype process to create images that record textures and faint shapes on paper. Matevosyan builds <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/sculpture\/\"><strong>sculptures<\/strong><\/a> from materials found inside the palace, creating a physical connection between the artwork and the building\u2019s current state. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/exhibitions\/\"><strong>exhibition<\/strong><\/a> After Silence, held at the nearby Jermuk Gallery, featured the artists\u2019 works.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>all images courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/toccreativehub\/\">ToC Cultural Organization<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wow wow-yellow\">short documentary traces Ghostly Past and Unrevealed Present<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Architecture: Ghostly Past and Unrevealed Present stands apart from typical reuse or heritage projects because it\u2019s based on the idea that a building is still empty until someone enters it, moves through it, or speaks inside it.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/armentermkrtchyan29\/\"> <strong>Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sculptor_manvel\/\"><strong>Manvel Matevosyan<\/strong><\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sophiemusoyan\"><strong>Sophie Musoyan<\/strong> <\/a>worked with this idea when they entered the Palace of Culture, allowing the building\u2019s materials, surfaces, and feeling to guide their work.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The project by ToC Cultural Organization also includes a short documentary by filmmaker Marat Sargsyan, which shows how the artists worked with the space. It was selected by the LINA European Architecture Platform and shown at the 2024 LINA Architecture Conference in Sarajevo. Through this, Ghostly Past and Unrevealed Present brings attention to Jermuk\u2019s forgotten modernist buildings and connects them to wider conversations in Europe about decay, reuse, and the value of places that are often overlooked.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>the abandoned, Soviet-era Palace of Culture in the spa town of Jermuk, Armenia<\/p>\n<p>three Armenian artists inhabited the building in April 2025<\/p>\n<p>Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan, Manvel Matevosyan, and Sophie Musoyan created works directly within its walls<\/p>\n<p>using salvaged materials, dust, light, and shadow<\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- CLOSE ARTICLE CONTENT --><\/p>\n<div class=\"fullwidth-image\">\n<div class=\"layout-box\">\n<div class=\"page-content\">\n<p>interventions embraced its fragments, chipped tiles, rusted frames, and weathered textures as tools for storytelling<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- OPEN ARTICLE CONTENT -->\t<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Architecture: Ghostly Past and Unrevealed Present is based on the idea that a building is still empty until someone enters it<\/p>\n<p>Ter-Mkrtchyan\u2019s photographs explore the passage of time by using shadows and light reflections<\/p>\n<p>the project by ToC Cultural Organization also includes a short documentary by Marat Sargsyan<\/p>\n<p>bringing attention to Jermuk\u2019s forgotten modernist buildings<\/p>\n<p>the building\u2019s materials, surfaces, and feeling guide the artworks<\/p>\n<p>After Silence, an exhibition held at the nearby Jermuk Gallery, featured the artists\u2019 works<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>project info:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>name:<\/strong>\u00a0Architecture: Ghostly Past and Unrevealed Present<\/p>\n<p><strong>artists:<\/strong> Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan (photographer) | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/armentermkrtchyan29\/\">@armentermkrtchyan29<\/a>, Manvel Matevosyan (sculptor) | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sculptor_manvel\/\">@sculptor_manvel<\/a>. Sophie Musoyan (printmaker) | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sophiemusoyan\">@sophiemusoyan<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>location:<\/strong> Former Palace of Culture, Jermuk, Armenia<br \/>\n<strong>project by:<\/strong> ToC Cultural Organization | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/toccreativehub\/\">@toccreativehub<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>art manager:<\/strong> Marianna Atshemyan<\/p>\n<p><strong>exhibition:<\/strong> After Silence, Jermuk Gallery<\/p>\n<p><strong>curator:<\/strong> Sona Hovhannisyan<\/p>\n<p><strong>filmmaker:<\/strong> Marat Sargsyan<\/p>\n<p><strong>supported by:<\/strong> Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)<\/p>\n<p><strong>platform:<\/strong> LINA European Architecture Platform<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>designboom has received this project from our\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/readers-submit\"><em>DIY submissions<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/readers\/\"><em>here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>edited by: thomai tsimpou | designboom<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/art\/building-artists-soviet-ruin-armenia-site-specific-project-ghostly-past-unrevealed-present-toc-cultural-organization-08-24-2025\/\">what if a building could speak? artists inhabit soviet ruin in armenia for site-specific project<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/\">designboom | architecture &amp; design magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soviet-era building in armenia hosts site-specific art program \u00a0 The abandoned, Soviet-era Palace of Culture in the spa town of Jermuk, Armenia, hosts Architecture: Ghostly Past and Unrevealed Present, a site-specific art program by ToC &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[142],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>what if a building could speak? artists inhabit soviet ruin in armenia for site-specific project - Blog TSK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/what-if-a-building-could-speak-artists-inhabit-soviet-ruin-in-armenia-for-site-specific-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"what if a building could speak? 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