On October 21, the “Creative Armenia Week” International Summit dedicated to creative entrepreneurship and integration of innovative technologies in art commenced at G. Sundukyan National Academic Theatre.

RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan and Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan attended the summit.

The official opening of the Panno Art House and Cafe took place as part of the “Creative Armenia Week” summit: the Artbox Hub project served as the foundation for the implementation of the creative hub. “Artbox” was created by “Creative Armenia” and is being implemented in Armenia through funding from the European Union in partnership with AGBU Armenia, as part of the “KATAPULT” Creative Accelerator Program.

RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan delivered a speech at the event.

The Minister welcomed the participants and organizers of the EU-funded “Advocacy Society for the Arts” (ASA) conference, founded within the framework of the “KATAPULT” Creative Accelerator Program, for creating this important platform in the creative field and organizing the summit.

“Nowadays, it is more crucial than ever to create platforms pertaining to the creative sector and have professional discussions. The discussions will provide an opportunity to voice and analyze the issues and advancements existing in the field of creative economy development. In our country, this field is still in the development stage, and it's essential to foster a conducive environment for all stakeholders.

As an authorized body, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports and the Government of the Republic of Armenia strive to establish and develop the sector, which should not only ensure creative freedom for our artists, create a conducive environment for creating cultural goods but also boost the creative economy of Armenia, turning it into a growing industry. Legislative changes undertaken by the Ministry and the introduction of incentive mechanisms aim to achieve this. This objective is also included in the strategy for “Preservation, Development and Popularization of the Culture of the Republic of Armenia for 2023-2027,” noted ESCS Minister Zhanna Andreasyan.

According to the Minister, the summit agenda and the list of panel discussion participants allow us to conclude that interesting and meaningful discussions are expected regarding the challenges in the field and the opportunities for innovative cross-sectoral cooperation.

“The issues of developing digital platforms in the field of art, economic advancement of the creative community of Armenia, cultural investments, state-private sector collaboration, and evaluation of benefactors and patrons, included in the agenda of the summit, are extremely important. The organizers of the summit are also establishing a tradition in this regard by holding the ASA “Business to Art” Award Ceremony, which aims to present private sector investments in culture on a public platform, as well as evaluate benefactors and patrons,” stated the Minister emphasizing that the institute of cultural philanthropy needs to be extended and re-evaluated.

“To be honest, the traditions of philanthropy have not always been among us with the emphasis they should have been. When talking about creativity, it is important to emphasize that this is one of the areas with the greatest perspective for social development, in which support should be considered primarily as a contribution to tomorrow and public development. And here we need to change the public attitude and code of conduct, making culture a self-sufficient sphere with its own voice and address,” said Zhanna Andreasyan, expressing confidence that the role of culture in public life will increase in all senses, which is what the state policy is driven at.

The opening ceremony showcased over 80 creative projects and enterprises incubated, accelerated, and funded by the Creative Armenia Artbox signature program.

The summit program features various events, including speeches, cultural excursions and panel discussions, with speakers from the Netherlands, Monadnock Architects, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Podcastle, and more.

The theme of the Creative Armenia Week International Summit is the creative industry, the summit will introduce the final outcomes of three-year projects, which will be discussed in topic discussions. Artbox is a series of incubators and accelerators. Over the course of three years, it has executed eight programs, assisting over 300 artists, of which 150 were business and creative initiatives.

It is anticipated that in the future the Artbox program will have a higher turnover, the number of participating artists will increase, and collaborative programs will be developed between Armenian artists and European countries.

The “Creative Armenia Week” international summit will run until October 25.