world premiere

Divination rituals, hypnotic sonic structures, and hallucinatory aesthetics form the foundation of artist and composer Andrius Arutiunian's latest sound installation Naphtha, They Said (2024). Tied to the narratives of petroleum extraction and mythical origins of fiction and magic, the piece extends Arutiunian's exploration of aural cosmologies and vernacular histories. Diaphonic textures seamlessly integrate with non-western tuning systems, rendered through a specially created musical instrument within a quiet sacred space. This new installation is a new part of Arutiunian's ongoing series Gharīb, centred on alternative modes of world ordering – both musical and political – that exist beyond western imaginaries. Gharīb has long been associated with the clandestine activities of music-making, illegal social clubs, early psychotropic substance trade, and the underground. In the sound installation, the “gharīb” is read as a dissonance to prevailing notions of time, rhythm, and attunement, while experimenting with the enigmatic forms of music.

Andrius Arutiunian is an Armenian-Lithuanian artist and composer exploring sonic dissent, aural cosmologies, and vernacular histories. His research experiments with speculative instruments, non-western knowledges, and alternate methods for world-ordering. Through playful investigation of hypnotic and enigmatic forms, his installations, films, and performances challenge the concepts of musical and political attunement. In 2022 Andrius Arutiunian represented Armenia at the 59th Venice Biennale with a solo show, titled Gharīb. Other recent solo shows include: Counterfates, Meduza Vilnius, 2023; Diaphonics, Centrala Birmingham, 2023; and Incantations (CTM Festival and silent green, Berlin, 2021.