Luys i Luso
A three-channel, audio-visual installation that recreates the sensory experience of jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan performing Armenian sacred music in abandoned Armenian monasteries for the first time in 100 years.
In 2015, 100 years after genocide forced Armenians from their homes in Ottoman Turkey, a young Armenian musician made a sonic pilgrimage back to these lands. This musical journey was part of jazz prodigy Tigran Hamasyan’s Luys i Luso project – sacred Armenian music from the 5th – 20th centuries, re-imagined and rearranged for piano and voices by Hamasyan himself. Hamasyan was joined by the Yerevan State Chamber Choir, and together they traveled over 2,000 miles, giving 12 concerts in 3 countries. The vision of the pilgrimage was to breath new life into ancient Armenian churches and lands with healing hymns and music.
In the immensely emotional wake of this tour, we created this three-channel, audio-visual installation in collaboration with Berlin-based creative studio Ondè and Hamasyan himself. This installation reimagines the sensory experience of these intimate performances using projection, sound design, animation, and live performance, and has been exhibited around the globe in various museums, concert halls, and public spaces.
EXHIBITIONS
• BRIC Arts Media House - Brooklyn, New York
• Pop-Up in Little Armenia, Los Angeles, CA - LA Department of Cultural Affairs (Public Arts Activation Fund recipient)
• DEPO Gallery - Istanbul, Turkey
• European Capital of Culture Festival - Plovdiv, Bulgaria
• Unterfahrt Historic Jazz Club - Munich, Germany
• Italian Embassy of Armenia - Gyumri, Armenia
