Erevan - Gymri Possibly 2004 - 2010

Editor: This is Ursula Schulz-Dornburg’s black and white photograph, "Erevan-Gymri", likely taken between 2004 and 2010. It strikes me as desolate, yet strangely serene. There’s something about the repeating umbrellas that both calms and unsettles me. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The image resonates with echoes of transition and memory. Look at the structures – are they shelters, bus stops, remnants of something else entirely? Their angular form against the vast emptiness speaks to imposed geometries on the natural world. What feelings do those forms conjure? Editor: The starkness definitely contributes to the sense of something lost or abandoned. They almost feel like minimalist sculptures against a featureless backdrop. It makes me wonder about their purpose. Curator: Exactly! The absence of clear context invites contemplation of purpose and abandonment. This is the conceptual power. Do you think these could be imbued with layers of meaning? This almost feels post-apocalyptic but also mundane. The image holds two truths at once. Editor: Definitely! Considering they're from Armenia, perhaps these umbrellas act as silent witnesses to shifts in history and culture, holding layers of stories within their geometric forms. Curator: Precisely. And consider the cultural memory associated with public spaces, waiting, and transit. They take on added meaning beyond their practical function. Even the limited tonal range—the greys, whites and blacks—lends a sense of timelessness, of being unstuck in history. What, overall, is your interpretation of this landscape? Editor: I guess what I am taking from this is that Schulz-Dornburg asks us to contemplate how imposed structures exist within a landscape as monuments of cultural memory and symbols of societal evolution. Curator: Precisely, and well said! It's fascinating how seemingly simple imagery can be imbued with such profound significance. I find myself contemplating it still.