The Armenian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, held at the Military Arsenal, presents "The Studio," a solo project by artist Zadik Zadikian. Throughout the Biennale, which runs through November 22, 2026, Zadikian and his collaborators will create hundreds of plaster bricks and assemble them into constantly evolving structures, turning the exhibition space into a live, functional studio where the public can witness the artistic process in real time. The project is commissioned by Svetlana Sahakyan and co-curated by Tony Shafrazi and Tina Chakarian.
This project matters because it challenges traditional notions of the artist's studio as a private, secluded space, instead making the creative process itself the artwork. By emphasizing impermanence, manual labor, and collective construction, Zadikian invites audiences to reflect on the nature of artistic production and the boundary between craft and art. The choice of brick as a foundational material, rooted in a formative experience in late-1970s Tehran, ties the work to broader themes of political transformation and the dignity of labor.