CAFESJIAN’S ‘OPEN DOORS’ CLOSED EARLIER THAN ANNOUNCED

Tert
Nov 9 2009
Armenia

The Cafesjian Center for the Arts declared November 8 as an exclusive
‘Open Doors’ day for the public, where art-loving Yerevan citizens
could become familiar with the centre’s various contemporary art
collections, without having to pay an admission fee.

In all the glossy pamphlets published on the occasion of the exhibition
opening, Open Doors day was announced on November 8 from 10 am to 10
pm. In fact, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts closed the doors to its
exhibit halls a few hours earlier. Tert.am correspondents succeeded
in gathering information from neither the security guards nor the
young women working behind the first floor reception desk. All of them
stated that they’re not the ones in charge and could say nothing. The
only excuse was that the escalators’ hours of operation were mentioned
in the booklet. In fact, the numerous escalators within the Cascade
complex have always been in operation till 11 pm, irregardless of
the opening of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

While those arriving apparently "late" were angrily waiting before
the entrance, security guards were letting groups of what one could
assume to be VIP guests in.

Earlier, enthusiastic museum-goers were made to wait in long queues,
since, after all, the opening of this institution of contemporary art
was a long-awaited event, and there was a rush to become acquainted
with Gerard Cafesjian’s collection while it was still free of charge.

The others, and those who appeared before the doors of the centre
after 7:30 pm on the ‘Open Doors’ day, will have to pay an admission
fee of 1,000 AMD to view all but the first two exhibit halls at the
Cafesjian Center for the Arts.