Abastan is a creative community nestled in the small town of Tumanyan amidst the mountains of Northern Armenia. Inspired by the Armenian word for refuge, the name Abastan embodies our mission of building a community where people from around the world can find solace in turbulent times through artistic practices, learning & teaching, and volunteering.
Abastan was born out of a 2022 volunteer initiative to restore the building of a former school/factory in the town of Tumanyan and transform into an art residency. Rather than becoming a conventional art residency, Abastan evolved into a community project, uniting many creative initiatives of various scope. Since its inception, it has brought together a wide variety of people, including painters, photographers, filmmakers, and animators, musicians, dancers, and theater performers, textile artists and sculptors, historians, anthropologists, environmental activists, and many others. We think of the term art in its widest possible sense – art as experience of the world, communication, and life itself. Abastan Community is a living creature rather than a fixed organization, its nature constantly evolving in response to its current participants' interests and the new challenges posed by our rapidly changing world. Having once connected to Abastan, many of our former participants and guests stay connected from afar, drawing inspiration from their time here and continuing to contribute to the community.
Since 2024, Abastan has embraced a decentralized approach, operating without a single dedicated building. We've transformed this challenge into an opportunity to explore unconventional artistic practices and reclaim overlooked spaces. Our workshops unfold in basements and garages, exhibitions appear in yards, gardens, and bus stops, and music fills open air. This deliberate shift away from established cultural centers allows us to question and reimagine what constitutes a space for art. By engaging with these everyday, accessible environments, we challenge the notion that creativity belongs only in designated cultural institutions, instead revealing how art can emerge from and transform the daily life.
While Abastan is a community rather than a place, our relationship to place is important to us. The town of Tumanyan has become a generous home to our community, yet we remain outsiders here. For us, to be in this town is to engage with its many layers – its landscape and built environment, its ancient past, the upheavals of the twentieth century, its rise as an industrial center, and the challenges of its postindustrial present. This engagement is a responsibility: to learn from Tumanyan's past and present, to recognize the historical forces that have pushed places like this to the margins, to be respectful of the lives of its residents, and to find ways, however small, to give back.
Belonging, for us, is not about origins but about an active relationship with our surroundings – one formed through attention, connection, and care. In a world shaped by migration and displacement, where ties to place are often fragile, Abastan offers a space to rebuild them thoughtfully. Those who join us are not just visitors; they take part in an ongoing conversation about place, history, and the responsibility of being in place – a conversation that continues to evolve, much like the community itself.
The activities of Abastan Community are supported by Abastan NGO, a non-governmental not-for-profit organization registered in Armenia in 2022.
