Notations is an annual platform for interdisciplinary artistic production.
Artists, researchers, and practitioners work in one shared process. They exchange methods, test ideas in real time, and build new works through collaboration.
The lab combines curatorial guidance, workshops, technical infrastructure, and peer practice.
Disciplines intersect and projects evolve through active exchange.
This is a space where artistic risk becomes collective method.
Artists, researchers, and practitioners work in one shared process. They exchange methods, test ideas in real time, and build new works through collaboration.
The lab combines curatorial guidance, workshops, technical infrastructure, and peer practice.
Disciplines intersect and projects evolve through active exchange.
This is a space where artistic risk becomes collective method.
Notations #1 used Avet Terterian’s Symphony No. 3 as a shared source material and turned it into a live interdisciplinary process. The lab generated 37 works across sound, performance, installation, and media, and expanded into a documentary trajectory, a vinyl release, and digital outputs. The strongest result was methodological: artists consistently described the environment as a high-trust space for real experimentation and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Check out the page
Check out the page
- 9 countriesMany accents, one frequency.
- 22 curatorsEnough guidance to get lost productively.
- 37 projectsBig volume, tight timeline, real outcomes.
- 1,000+ visitorsA bold program with a serious crowd.
Participant feedback highlighted one core outcome.
The lab created a high-trust environment where experimentation expanded and unfinished ideas became strong public works.
The lab created a high-trust environment where experimentation expanded and unfinished ideas became strong public works.
this year theme
Rituals
We live in unstable conditions where acceleration overrides cultural memory. Ritual offers another structure for attention, relation, and time. Ritual is repeated action with frame, presence, and shared meaning. For Notations #2, ritual is both artistic method and cultural lens. It connects individual practice with collective process. It links memory with transformation. It opens a path from tradition to future form.
The central concept this year is Communitas.
“Communitas is not the pleasurable and effortless comradeship that can arise between friends, co-workers or professional colleagues any day. [It is a] transformative experience that goes to the root of each person’s being and finds in that root something profoundly communal and shared.”
— Victor Turner
If rituals stand at the beginning of culture, new rituals can shape future culture. Notations #2 continues the Future of Traditions inquiry. Armenian intangible cultural heritage is the starting point of this work.
Main question: Can we create contemporary rituals grounded in cultural memory and open to change?
The central concept this year is Communitas.
“Communitas is not the pleasurable and effortless comradeship that can arise between friends, co-workers or professional colleagues any day. [It is a] transformative experience that goes to the root of each person’s being and finds in that root something profoundly communal and shared.”
— Victor Turner
If rituals stand at the beginning of culture, new rituals can shape future culture. Notations #2 continues the Future of Traditions inquiry. Armenian intangible cultural heritage is the starting point of this work.
Main question: Can we create contemporary rituals grounded in cultural memory and open to change?
hypotesis & manifest
hypothesis
- Openness to uncertainty can produce strong artistic conditions.
- Collective ritual practices can deepen individual development through shared structure and trust.
- Repetition without fixed outcomes can generate new forms.
- New rituals can become future traditions.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration can lead to communitas.
manifest
- We reject alienation as the condition of our time.
- We seek what connects across bodies, disciplines, and time.
- We treat ritual as practice.
- We treat ritual as social glue.
- We create through experiment, repetition, and awareness.
- Crossing borders generates new forms.
- We activate cultural legacy in the present.
- We research existing rituals.
- We create new rituals.
- We dissolve boundaries between individual and collective, local and international, human and beyond.
- We insist on interaction.
- We test future culture through the rituals of today.
structure
- 3 days
arrival & researchArriving, observing, tuning in, entering the theme. - 8 days
lab & productionWorking side by side: testing, building, failing, reshaping. - 1 day
installation & setupCollective technical and spatial preparation for public presentation. - 2 days
Notations FestivalPublic presentation of all works developed during the lab.
departments & curators
Participants apply through one primary department and collaborate across departments throughout the laboratory.
- Music ProductionArman Peshtmaljyan
Shahen Khandkaryan (Shhau) - Ambisonic InstallationKai Khachatryan
- Media InstallationMisak Samokatian
Nadya Xyxu - Video ArtGevorg Grigoryan (Diii Studio)
- Somatic PracticesLead to be announced
- Art to WearVenera Kazarova
- Classical & ElectronicsAram Hovhannisyan
- Jazz & ElectronicsTigran Suchyan
- Contemporary ArtAndronik Khachiian
- Folk & ElectronicsHayk Karoyi
- Science & Researchin collaboration with Yerevan Center for International Education
- Curatorial facilitationDima Ustinov
Shhau
Shhau is an artist working across music production, sound design, and education, active in Yerevan’s contemporary music scene since 2012. His practice merges experimental electronic music, philosophy, and narrative-driven composition, while maintaining strong ties to the jazz community through ongoing collaborations. Over the past decade, he has produced and co-produced three full-length albums and worked with prominent rock and hip-hop artists as a producer, drum programmer, and mixing engineer. Alongside his artistic work, he teaches music production and sound design, and is a co-founder of Mansard, a multidisciplinary creative studio uniting music, visual art, and photography.
Vardan Harutyunyan
A Yerevan-born composer, pianist, and electro-acoustic artist working across contemporary composition, improvisation, and sound ecology. A graduate of the Yerevan State Conservatory, he founded SoundLab Gyumri and the Contemporary Sound Orchestra, and co-created the project *Soundpath*, presented at NPAK’s Alternative Festival. His research-driven practice explores resonance, overtones, and wave physics, linking sound with ecological and social systems.
Aram Hovhannisyan
Aram is a composer of contemporary music active on both local and international stages, collaborating with leading festivals, ensembles, and soloists. Since 2017, he has directed the Crossroads Festival and founded Ensemble Assonance in Yerevan, contributing to the development of Armenia’s contemporary music scene. Since 2018, he has been affiliated with the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, where he serves as Vice-Rector for Academic and International Affairs and teaches composition.
Dima Ustinov
Over the past 20 years, Dima has been active across multiple areas of the music field, including live performance with his own band, DJing, organizing parties and music festivals, music education and mentoring, as well as producing original tracks and remixes. Today, his practice centers around two main directions: performing live electroacoustic music for piano and synthesizers, and creating interactive, immersive musical experiences for audiences. He also serves as Music Dean of the online education platform Journey, contributing to the development of new approaches in contemporary music learning.
Seda Grigoryan
Seda is a cultural leader and media professional working at the intersection of storytelling, cultural policy, and advocacy. With an MA in Film Production from the University of West London, she was part of CivilNet from its founding and later became the first Head of the Creative Europe Desk in Armenia, supporting access to European cultural networks and funding. Today, she leads ASA – Advocacy Society for the Arts, focusing on building a sustainable ecosystem for artistic expression in Armenia. Alongside her institutional work, she develops experimental video and installation projects.
Tigran Toti
Music band’s Katuner Armenian Navy band Creator of Dialog project The head of Artsakh state jazz orchestra
Artyom Naghdyan
Artyom Naghdyan is a musician, sound specialist, and cultural producer, currently serving as CEO of the State Philharmonia of Armenia. He leads the technical direction of major events including Yerevan Jazz Fest, HighFest, and the Yerevan Book Festival. Trained in cello and sound design in Armenia, the United States, and at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles, he has worked across concerts, films, and large-scale festivals, integrating music, technology, and collaborative production. His approach centers on building meaningful connections between people, places, and ideas through thoughtfully produced cultural projects.
Andriesh Gandrabur
Composer, sound designer, and educator working at the intersection of sound art, media, and performance. Founder of the Sound Art and Sound Design program at HSE School of Design.
Hayk Karoyi
Hayk Karoyi is a musician and sound artist working between traditional instrumentation and experimental electronics. A graduate of the Yerevan State Conservatory, he co-founded the bands Room 118 and Goght, performing internationally across Asia and Europe. Since 2017, he has developed an electronic music practice presented at festivals including Terraforma, Signal, and Stihia. He also composes for film and interdisciplinary projects, and in 2024 co-founded the sound-based app Tanuma.
Andronik Khachiian
Artist and curator across bio art, performance, and sound. He has led interdisciplinary laboratories and curated exhibitions in Europe, Mexico, and Armenia.
Daria Sadovnikova
Daria is a multidisciplinary artist working with video, sound, installation, and set design. With a background in painting and film production design, she creates video artworks, soundscapes, and spatial projects that combine moving image, collage, and audio. Her practice focuses on building immersive environments that connect visual storytelling with sound.
Karina Malik
In 2015, she began her artistic career as an architect and model maker, but since 2019, she has shifted her focus to set design and work with materials and objects. Today, she works as an art director, creating a visual environment through installations and decorations of any scale and complexity.
Kai Khachatryan
A Yerevan-based sound artist and experimental musician working between underground culture and electro-acoustic research. Active in punk bands since 2002 and producing experimental music since 2010, his practice centers on field recordings and electromagnetic sounds captured with self-built devices. Focused on timbral transformation rather than structural change, he preserves the raw authenticity of street and acoustic environments. His work often draws on psychological themes, translating complex mental states into immersive sonic forms.
Misak Samokatian
Misak Samokatian is an artist, musician, and art director. He has been involved in the field of interactive, kinetic, and audio-visual installations since 2011. As an artist, he works with light, sound, video, space, and time.
Yura Boguslavsky
Yura is an animation director, animator, scriptwriter, producer, and educator, as well as the co-founder of the Invisible Friends creative team and Tsekh Animacii studio. A graduate of SHAR Animation School (2009–2011), he has been creating animation since the age of eight and teaching it since eighteen. Since 2010, he has led animation workshops internationally, working with participants across Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, France, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia, Israel, and beyond. His practice combines artistic production with a strong commitment to education and the development of young animators.
Yuriy Avdeev
Yuriy is an artist working with objects, space, and installation at the intersection of art, engineering, and design. He began studying artistic material processing technology in 2010 and spent several years working across industries, gaining extensive experience in materials, equipment, advertising displays, props, and large-scale three-dimensional environments. From 2019 to 2022, he ran an independent workshop in Moscow focused on spatial design and artistic installations. Now based in Yerevan, he operates a small-scale production studio and is a member of the Gesamt set design team, developing scenography, installations, exhibition architecture, and experimental spatial solutions for cultural and commercial projects.
Gevorg Grigoryan / dob_
Gevorg is a multimedia artist and creative technologist working with music, audiovisual performance, digital installations, and theater production. Since 2012, he has developed and presented multimedia projects in Armenia and internationally, combining tools such as TouchDesigner, Blender, and Adobe Suite with strong project management and art direction. He is the founder of “di.” studio, focusing on immersive digital environments and technology-driven artistic experiences.
Petros Goroyan
Sound Engineer
Tigran Araqelyan
Tigran Arakelyan is an accomplished artist with over a decade of experience in animation and cinema. Graduating from "Hakob Kojoyan" art school in 2009 and later earning an Art Direction degree from "Yerevan State University of Theatre and Cinematography" in 2013, he began his career early. Co-founding OnOff Studio in 2018, Tigran has led the creation of artistic project and his detbute animated film is "ZAKO," where he explores innovative VR technologies to push creative boundaries.
Robert Poghosyan
Robert is an artist, musician, and researcher whose practice combines material experimentation with sound-based exploration. Drawing on years of hands-on experience with diverse materials, he develops installations and performances that translate conceptual ideas into tangible forms. His multidisciplinary approach allows him not only to realize his own artistic visions but also to collaborate closely with other artists, supporting the technical and creative realization of their projects. Through sound and spatial interventions, he has contributed to several collaborative artworks that bridge research and artistic production.
Shoghakat MLKÉ-Galstian
Arts manager, choreographer, actress - dancer and educator. As Creative Director of MIHR Contemporary Dance Theatre, she helped shape Armenia’s contemporary movement scene and its distinctive “Music of Movement” language.
Lusine MLKÉ-Galstian
Creative producer, musician, and songwriter. Co-founder of Tiezerk and Head of Events at Hrach’s Art Space.
Karen Vardanyan
Karen is a lighting designer, that has been working with this form for the past 20 years. His range of work includes concerts, dance performances, festivals, outdoor events, corporate events, film and video shoots, broadcasting events.
key objectives
Build strong interdisciplinary collaboration across practices.
Develop ritual as a method for artistic research and production.
Create productive collisions between artistic languages.
Generate contemporary ritual forms rooted in living cultural memory.
Support project continuation through performances, releases, and exhibitions.
Present process and results to local and international audiences.
before you apply
The process is collective, the responsibility is personal, the outcome is public.
"Notations is a place where all of us are humans"
"I used to fear sharing my ideas. What if no one would understand the way I see it in my mind? However, only after working together, I understood that this is the whole point"
"I used to fear sharing my ideas. What if no one would understand the way I see it in my mind? However, only after working together, I understood that this is the whole point"
"What surprised me the most was how different artistic perspectives could connect so naturally, and how ideas I wouldn’t have discovered alone emerged through the exchange between music, visuals, and movement."
"As an artist, I started to feel more open and confident when it comes to working with media and technologies. Each of my ideas now gets a more voluminous expression in space"
"I would love to see contemporary music and arts involving more people of all ages! The festival was full of people and artists from all over, all ages, all identities. An absolutely beautiful scene, I’ve never seen in Austria. The laboratory was able to do this, and we all learned from each other. This knowledge is going to stay with us for a while!"
"What I truly loved was the organic process of immersion. No one overloaded us with lectures or forced tours. Instead, the local guys shared their stories with such openness – random street conversations, talks with Philharmonic staff – it was a beautiful immersion into the context. It felt like living within the culture, not observing it from the outside."
"I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with musicians playing acoustic instruments, to record their masterful playing of national instruments: kamancha, duduk. This immediately gives authenticity to the composition and totally changes my approach and method of working on tracks"
who should apply
We are looking for artists and practitioners across music, sound, performance, media, installation, engineering, and research.
you are ready to:
- work intensively in a shared environment
- collaborate beyond their usual discipline
- stay open and rigorous in experimentation
- contribute actively to collective process
- develop work beyond the lab period
participant profile:
- around 5+ years of practice in their field (strong emerging profiles are welcome)
- art or research as a primary professional focus
- collaborative mindset and interdisciplinary interest
- readiness for full-time immersion
what to expect:
- interdisciplinary collaborative projects
- field work outside Yerevan
- daily shared rhythm: meals, informal exchange, spontaneous sessions
- ongoing curator and peer mentorship (technical and conceptual)
- equipped production environment
- public presentation at Notations Festival
- post-lab continuation through performances, releases, exhibitions, and future collaborations
festival
The two-week laboratory culminates in a two-day public showcase of all works created during the process.
main venues:
- State Philharmonia of Armenia
- National Gallery of Armenia
- Additional venues across Yerevan
Alongside the works, the festival includes a curated public program.
don't miss
practical information
- Application: free of charge
- Accommodation and food: provided for all selected participants
- Materials and equipment: provided
- Travel stipends: not available
- Support letters: available for funding and visa applications
- Working language: English (functional professional level required)
- Commitment: full-time immersive participation throughout the lab
selection process
Applications are evaluated based on:
Shortlisted candidates may be invited to an online interview. Final decisions are announced by June 15, 2026.
- creative potential
- interdisciplinary approach
- collaborative capacity
- readiness for intensive cross-disciplinary work
Shortlisted candidates may be invited to an online interview. Final decisions are announced by June 15, 2026.
apply
Deadline: June 1, 2026
Notations #2 invites artists with a distinct voice, collaborative discipline, and readiness for ambitious experimentation.
Join the lab. Build new work. Present it publicly. Continue it beyond the festival.
Notations #2 invites artists with a distinct voice, collaborative discipline, and readiness for ambitious experimentation.
Join the lab. Build new work. Present it publicly. Continue it beyond the festival.
partners
CYFEST
The International Media Art Fest CYFEST was founded by a group of independent artists and curators in 2007. Since its inception in 2007, CYFEST’s main concerns have been to examine the dialogue between various visual languages and technology cultures, and thus to explore a way of commoning with both art professionals and scientific communities. CYFEST unites artists, curators, educators, engineers, programmers, and media activists all over the world, and creates a platform for mapping, mediation, and documentation of new media art on different regional and international levels. CYFEST is is a nomadic cultural event: throughout the year, festival projects are presented at cultural institutions around the world. Each year, the festival program includes several exhibition projects, sound art, video and educational programs.
www.cyfest.art
The International Media Art Fest CYFEST was founded by a group of independent artists and curators in 2007. Since its inception in 2007, CYFEST’s main concerns have been to examine the dialogue between various visual languages and technology cultures, and thus to explore a way of commoning with both art professionals and scientific communities. CYFEST unites artists, curators, educators, engineers, programmers, and media activists all over the world, and creates a platform for mapping, mediation, and documentation of new media art on different regional and international levels. CYFEST is is a nomadic cultural event: throughout the year, festival projects are presented at cultural institutions around the world. Each year, the festival program includes several exhibition projects, sound art, video and educational programs.
www.cyfest.art
Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC) after Komitas was founded in 1921 as a music studio and re-founded two years later as a higher musical education institution.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Armenian professional performing culture was shaped. It was represented by the graduates of Russian and European conservatories. Violinist Hovhanness Nalbandyan, (St. Petersburg Conservatory and Berlin Musikhochschule), singer M.Akimova (Leipzig Conservatory), musicologist M.Aghayan (St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories), singer A.Shahmuradyan (Conservatoire de Paris) etc.
The founder and first rector of conservatory was famous Armenian composer and widely educated musician and public figure Romanos Melikyan (Saints-Petersburg Conservatory graduate)
https://conservatory.am
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Armenian professional performing culture was shaped. It was represented by the graduates of Russian and European conservatories. Violinist Hovhanness Nalbandyan, (St. Petersburg Conservatory and Berlin Musikhochschule), singer M.Akimova (Leipzig Conservatory), musicologist M.Aghayan (St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories), singer A.Shahmuradyan (Conservatoire de Paris) etc.
The founder and first rector of conservatory was famous Armenian composer and widely educated musician and public figure Romanos Melikyan (Saints-Petersburg Conservatory graduate)
https://conservatory.am
Armenian National Music Organization was founded by Tigran Keshishyan, Sergey Umroyan and Astghik Martirosyan on May 7, 2013.
ANM's main goal is to create an up-to-date digital collection of the recordings of the Armenian folkloric, traditional, sacred and classical music.
To this date, thousands of audio recordings have been restored, processed, digitalized and presented through the organization's website.
In addition, we have also digitalized thousands of pages of sheet music, aiming at the complete digitalization of the Armenian composers works.
https://anmmedia.am
ANM's main goal is to create an up-to-date digital collection of the recordings of the Armenian folkloric, traditional, sacred and classical music.
To this date, thousands of audio recordings have been restored, processed, digitalized and presented through the organization's website.
In addition, we have also digitalized thousands of pages of sheet music, aiming at the complete digitalization of the Armenian composers works.
https://anmmedia.am
The State Philharmonia of Armenia
The State Philharmonia of Armenia has been established in 1930. Throughout its activity, Philharmonia has played a significant role in preserving and developing Armenian musical culture. International educational and cognitive projects, concerts, festivals, competitions, master classes, presentations are organised by the institution. Philharmonia is also engaged in the production of scientific-cognitive films and publishing. The mission of Philharmonia is to contribute to the development of the country's cultural sector by presenting the best works of Armenian and world art.
https://babajanyanhall.org/en/
The State Philharmonia of Armenia has been established in 1930. Throughout its activity, Philharmonia has played a significant role in preserving and developing Armenian musical culture. International educational and cognitive projects, concerts, festivals, competitions, master classes, presentations are organised by the institution. Philharmonia is also engaged in the production of scientific-cognitive films and publishing. The mission of Philharmonia is to contribute to the development of the country's cultural sector by presenting the best works of Armenian and world art.
https://babajanyanhall.org/en/
community
This hosq Community Mapping is a living, interactive tool — a dynamic map of artists, curators, and collaborators engaged in the hosq ecosystem. You can explore practitioners across diverse disciplines, skill sets, and instruments, and discover unexpected connections between them.
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