Standart Triennial Launches in Gyumri, Armenia with Travel-Themed Exhibitions

The first edition of Standart, an Armenian contemporary art triennial, has opened in Gyumri, Armenia's second-largest city. Curated by Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg, the triennial takes its theme from René Daumal's unfinished novel "Mount Analogue," exploring concepts of travel, writing, and mapping. The main exhibition is held at the Sergey Markurov Museum, alongside a show at the Mariam and Eranuhi Aslamazyan Museum dedicated to the traveling sisters. Participating artists include Giuseppe Caccavale, Maria Tsagkari, Mikayel Ohanjanyan, Ayreen Anastas & Rene Gabri, Marta Dell'Angelo, Gohar Martirosyan, Aleksey Manukyan, Benji Boyadgian, Thibault De Gialluly, and Riccardo Arena. The triennial fills a gap left by the Gyumri Biennial (1998–2012) and is centered around Villa Kars, a space founded by an Italian doctor who stayed after the 1988 earthquake. The event also highlights Gyumri's early 20th-century architecture, which survived the 1988 earthquake, unlike Soviet-era buildings that collapsed. The triennial runs at multiple venues in Gyumri.