As we look back on this year’s work across CSN Lab’s initiatives, we are reminded of the urgency of cultural work in the region and of the dedication that continues to guide our efforts.
As in previous years, none of this work would have been possible without your support. Throughout 2025, we remained in close dialogue and cooperation with our communities, artists, researchers, cultural institutions, universities, donors, partners, our amazing interns and volunteers, and friends from local and international organisations. We are deeply grateful to everyone who stood with us along the way.
2025 became a preparatory year for complex political, cultural, and social developments ahead in Armenia and the wider region. In anticipation of COP17, both our educational and research activities focused on understanding the interaction between culture and the environment. Together with EUNIC Armenia, we launched a cross-sectoral study on environmental sustainability in culture, to be published next year with policy recommendations. Another interdisciplinary project, combining memory studies, urban analysis, and environmental research, developed in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and ARCH+, will soon be released as a multimedia platform.
Continuing our work as a cross-sectoral organisation, this year we strengthened our focus on projects at the intersection of culture, environment, spatial justice, and memory politics. Our annual alternative education program, the School of Complex Past, supported by the Danish Cultural Institute, became an important platform for discussing environmental challenges in the region.
A substantial part of the year was dedicated to studying Yerevan’s water infrastructure within the Blue Yerevan project, implemented together with the Heinrich Böll Foundation. This multilayered initiative brings together water, social memory, and a critical rethinking of Soviet and post-Soviet urban development. The publication will be released next year, accompanied by a series of public programs. In addition, an exciting surprise emerging based on our blue and green perspectives projects is planned for early next year, prepared with the support of the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives.
Gender equality remained a central dimension of our environmental and urban work. One of this year’s interdisciplinary highlights was a series of publications on urban and hydro-feminism, developed together with the Women’s Fund in Armenia and available both online and in print.
Our regional and international dialogue programs developed further. This year marked the fourth cycle of Re-lentus, our Armenian–Georgian exchange project for women cultural practitioners. In the context of the Armenia–EU dialogue, CSN Lab realised a major cultural program in Berlin, presenting at ZK/U the newly translated English publication Memory of the Body. Throughout the year, we actively participated in complex but essential regional dialogues aimed at peace and rebuilding trust, as well as investing significant effort in sustaining dialogue between Armenia and the EU. Building on this engagement, CSN Lab took part in the Germany Days in Armenia, further extending cultural exchange.
Migration and displacement remained a consistent focus of our work. During the summer, together with In the Mountains in Berlin, we discussed migration and culture in the South Caucasus. Later in Yerevan, we organised an Armenian–Georgian contemporary art exhibition, addressing experiences of migration and displacement. Our research on eco-migration was presented through a public program developed with Urbanista. Earlier in the year, we explored these themes through an event dedicated to the memory of Aleppo in literature. At the intersection of migration and memory, we also collaborated with colleagues in Istanbul, addressing both the long-term consequences of migration in contemporary cities and broader memory politics in the region.
Over many months, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Hrant Dink Foundation, we continued our archival work on Balat. In the coming year, we will publish a new book on the memory of the Armenian community of Balat and the Khorenyan School, in both Eastern and Western Armenian, along with the English version prepared in collaboration with our colleagues at Freie Universität Berlin. As an organisation advocating for cultural rights, we repeatedly spoke out in defence of artistic freedom, in the face of censorship and violations of artists’ rights. We continued working closely with exiled communities, including through Re-lentus, which this year also involved Belarusian artists in exile – once again reaffirming our commitment to solidarity with cultural practitioners facing political repressions.
As always, CSN Lab functioned simultaneously as a research organisation, a safe space and a dialogue platform, an advocacy actor and a creative initiative. One of the key milestones of this year was the launch of receptiON, a new program for public events and open discussions. We also took part in the Art Forum Yerevan, the Book Festival, the international photography conference, the VAHA transnational networking meeting, and numerous dialogue-oriented conferences and civil society discussions.
Throughout the year, we hosted students, experts, and professionals from Europe, the United States, Turkey, and the wider region. We participated in conferences and met with colleagues in Kosovo, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Poland, Germany, and Albania, further expanding our international networks. At the beginning of the year, CSN Lab also served as a host organisation for the Goethe-Institut’s (Dis)Solutions project, welcoming artists from Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan and Ukraine. We are incredibly happy to announce that this year, CSN Lab was elected as the secretary organisation of ICON (Independent Cultural Organisations Network) under the umbrella of the Danish Cultural Institute.
With deep gratitude for your continued support, we look toward 2026 as a year of sustained engagement, collaboration, and collective action toward inclusive cultural landscapes, democratic values, and sustainable futures.
Looking ahead with hope for a peaceful, productive year full of solidarity.
Best wishes,
CSN Lab Team