YEREVAN’S TAMANYAN PARK IS A SCULPTURE GARDEN

22-yerevan-s-tamanyan-park-is-a-sculpture-garden
T uesday September 22, 2009

Yerevan – Tamanyan Park, which spans the two city blocks leading to
Yerevan’s monumental Cascade, has been transformed into a sculpture
garden, an integral part of Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

Yerevan residents and visitors have noticed that Fernando Botero’s
Roman Warrior has been moved from another part of the center to the
sculpture park. Likewise, Lynn Chadwick’s Sitting Figures and Barry
Flanagan’s Hare on Bell have been relocated to the park.

Unobstructed walkways, long vistas, and formal garden areas are
elements of the design of Tamanyan Sculpture Park to provide a modern
setting for large-scale sculpture by internationally recognized
artists.

In an effort to connect the entire Yerevan community with art and
culture, Tamanyan Sculpture Park provides people with access to
contemporary art beyond the traditional museum experience.

"The quality of contemporary sculpture presented in Tamanyan Sculpture
Park is unparalleled," said Michael De Marsche, executive director of
the Cafesjian Center for the Arts. "I am sure this unique area will
be experienced and enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year as a
permanent addition to the city of Yerevan. There are few cities in
the world with a sculpture park of this quality," he added.

The grand opening of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts is scheduled
for November 2009, and construction at the Cascade is continuing in
anticipation of this event. The center will offer a wide variety
of exhibitions from Gerard L. Cafesjian’s private collection of
contemporary art. A diverse program of visiting lecturers, classic
films, musical concerts, and numerous educational programs will
augment the center’s vigorous exhibition schedule.

*** Barry Flanagan, 68, sculptor of hares

The British sculptor Barry Flanagan, whose work Hare on Bell is on
display at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan, died on August
31 in Ibiza, Spain. The New York Times wrote that he had "abandoned
the idiosyncratic arrangements of common materials that characterized
Postminimal sculpture to make sly if relatively traditional bronzes
of exuberant, loose-limbed hares."