‘Happy when it rains’, Be Part, Waregem (BE)

First solo-exhibition of the Belgian artist Mekhitar Garabedian.

Mekhitar Garabedian was born in Syria in 1977. His grandparents had fled the Turkish genocide in Armenia and in the early 1980s his parents in turn felt compelled to flee the Lebanese war zone. They emigrated to Belgium.

It is not surprising that Mekhitar Garabedian's work as an artist therefore deals with migration, memory, history, identity and language. Mekhitar Garabedian translates the dilemmas and trauma within his family history in a haunting and intriguing way in a number of new photo installations and video and sound works.

Although Mekhitar Garabedian touches very personal themes in his oeuvre, he manages to place the work on a universal level. In this way, his work functions as a mirror on current social themes such as integration politics, rights and obligations of immigrants and the right to have a language, rituals and identity in today's multicultural society.

Most of the works on display in this exhibition were created in 2005 when Mekhitar Garabedian was artist-in-residence at the Buda Arts Center in Kortrijk.

On the occasion of this exhibition, the first publication of Mekhitar Garabedian will also be presented, in which the artist elaborates on the content of eight of his works.

Curator: Kurt Vanbelleghem

Publication 'Mekhitar Garabedian, Happy when it rains'

144 pp, softcover, 13 x 18 cm, ISBN 90 77 36 25 17

Editor Kurt Vanbelleghem - Toohcsmi, publishers.

Installation shot of the exhibition ‘Happy when it Rains’, Be Part Waregem

PresentFuture ➤ For Cultural Organizations ➤ Curatorial strategies

Beeldenstroom, City of Wetteren (BE)

Octopus project, Brugge 2002 Cultural Capital of Europe