"Embroidered Melodies" Exhibition Օpened at CCA

April 13, 2023 The private preview of the exhibition, Embroidered Melodies: A Sonic Journey with Alexis Paul took place in Sasuntsi Davit Garden Gallery of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts on April 13. 

Alexis Paul is a French artist who excels as a musician, composer, and curator. Since 2014, he has been exploring and reviving the street organ tradition through a contemporary approach that merges travel, composition, and various collaborations in the diversity of cultural paradigms.

In the recent years, as part of his project the Disornaments, Alexis Paul has been focused on building bridges between textile and sound, featuring particularly Armenian embroidery and carpets, mainly from Western Armenia. The artist is passionate about uncovering hidden layers in these pieces beyond their applied or aesthetic side. The distinctive embroidery pieces and carpets from Narek Van Ashughatoyan's extensive collection have been a source of inspiration for Alexis Paul.

Alexis utilizes special papers or cards, known as perforated cards, for mechanical musical instruments, including street organs. He transforms their traditional use by replacing musical notation with the diverse and repetitive ornaments found in Armenian embroidery. The machines read the perforated ornaments as sheet music, resulting in the Armenian embroidery "sounding" through the perforated patterns on musical cards. The artist’s creative process, his action is a part of the exhibition, transforming the gallery into a real live performance scene.

As Alexis Paul states: “The embroidery, the weaving, like music, lead us little by little towards a haunting and repetitive absolute։ God, Nature․․․”. 

The exhibition, Embroidered Melodies: A Sonic Journey with Alexis Paul is a result of collaboration between the Cafesjian Center for the Arts and the Embassy of France / French Institute in Armenia.

The exhibition will be open to public in Sasuntsi Davit Garden Gallery from April 14 to June 25, 2023. The admission is free.