Boston-based multidisciplinary artist and designer Tina Chakarian has been a groundbreaking force with her innovative curatorial vision. With her 30-plus years of experience in the professional art world, Chakarian’s multitude of initiatives have centered around showcasing Armenian culture globally and promoting the voice of Armenian art and design in international dialogue.
One such vital effort has been her dedication to elevating the place of Armenian artists at the Venice Biennale, the most prestigious art and cultural event in the world. Chakarian took over as the development director for the Armenian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2018. She worked to raise funds for the exhibit, created a jury for selection, oversaw installations and coordinated events and press conferences. This year, Chakarian not only serves as the development director and curator of the Armenian National Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Biennale, but also is establishing an endowment to help secure Armenia’s place at all future Venice Biennales.
One of the defining features of the Venice Biennale is the “National Pavilions” where each country is given the space to exhibit their own artists’ works around that year’s given theme. At this year’s Architectural Biennale — which occurs on odd numbered years — Armenian artists will present their own unique concepts and projects around the theme of Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. This theme was set by renowned architect, designer and academic, Prof. Carlo Ratti who was appointed as the curator for 2025. Chakarian’s Armenian Pavilion will run from May 10, 2025 through November 23, 2025. She has already received a myriad of exciting submissions for jury selection.
As one would imagine, taking on the task of curating an Armenian Pavilion around the concept of intelligence as a multifaceted force, harnessed through architectural design, would inevitably produce a complicated yet invigorating thesis. Chakarian’s curatorial conception on this theme leverages Armenia’s growing efforts in creating diverse forms of collective knowledge through more sustainable and resiliently built environments. Through her efforts, this pavilion will demonstrate how Armenian artists and architects are most fitting to address this discourse through their own lived experiences and through the work they have already been doing both in the Republic of Armenia and across the Diaspora.
Chakarian’s practice as an artistic director already predated this set theme. From the time she lived in Armenia and beyond, she built relationships with local artists by cultivating their work and directing them in ways that would help focus their strengths towards not just the Biennale but the growth of Armenian art on a global scale. At the same time, Chakarian’s work with Armenians of the Diaspora acknowledges their own unique and collective cultural experiences. In many ways, Chakarian’s efforts represent constructive and forward-thinking manners in which the Republic and the Diaspora can find ways to work together for the future of Armenians.
Chakarian’s goal is for Armenia to win another Golden Lion award at the Biennale. The Golden Lion is the highest award an artist or country can receive at each Venice Biennale. There are two categories: one Golden Lion is awarded to the country with the most outstanding exhibition; another is awarded to an individual artist, who the judges believe has showcased the most exceptional exhibition around that year’s theme.
Armenia won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for the first time in 2015 for an exhibition that explored questions around national identity entitled “Armenity” and curated by Adelina von Fürstenberg. Chakarian was part of this advisory team, assisting Neery Melkonian. Chakarian’s strengths include not only finding and mentoring the talent for these pavilions, but also curating pavilions that will win the Golden Lion. Her continuous relationship with Armenia’s Cultural Ministry — under whose auspices Chakarian serves as the director for this pavilion — is a testament to her mastery in this regard.
Chakarian’s efforts to pronounce the Armenian discourse on Intelligens is only a part of her tenacious undertakings. Chakarian’s own artistic creations have been exhibited all over the world, and she has taught at schools of architecture and design in Boston. Currently, she is a finalist for a commissioned mural along the Watertown-Cambridge Greenway celebrating the life and work of Arshile Gorky during his time in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Her recent efforts have been focused towards establishing an endowment that would secure a permanent place for an Armenian Pavilion at all future Art and Architecture Venice Biennales. This task is of great importance. In addition to helping to foster the career of emerging Armenian artists from all over the world, securing a place every year at the Venice Biennale offers Armenians global visibility and opportunities for cultural dialogue. A permanent presence can also serve as a marker of legitimacy and continuous recognition. Armenian artists and Armenian cultural history can, in this way, be documented and archived as part of the evolution of contemporary art.
Supporting Chakarian’s efforts means that, as Armenians, we are investing in the future generation and the preservation of our artistic heritage. Ultimately, what Chakarian’s work is doing is reclaiming the voice of Armenians in larger global conversations. By giving Armenians a permanent place at the Venice Biennale, Chakarian is ensuring that Armenians will continue to shine in the world’s artistic scene.
For more information, email: infoarmenianpavilion@gmail.com.
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