On November 23, the AKNEYE gallery space in Venice closed its doors, marking the end of AKNEYE's journey during the Biennale. For six months, 31 artists from different corners of the world united around a common idea, demonstrating not only the power of individual but also collective creativity.

The closing ceremony was attended by many distinguished guests, art lovers, curators, and collectors to celebrate AKNEYE's commitment to fostering innovation and creativity at the intersection of physical and digital art. on the island.

The dinner featured AKNEYE's most unique collaboration with the famous British artist Sasha Jaffrey, who created the world's most enormous canvas during the pandemic and painted the most prominent eye in front of the guests on the day of the closing event. The audience was mesmerized by this unique and interactive performance, which was best conveyed throughout the evening. Through the Eye of the Artist is more than just a collaboration.

Among those invited were Anahit Badalyan, the founder of AKNEYE; Vigen Badalyan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education and Culture; Marina Hakobyan, Art History Lecturer and Curator of Ka' Foscari University; Falguni Weedon, Director of Sasha Jafri's Studio, and others Along with following an original display, they enjoyed the dishes inspired by the menu of the celebratory dinner organized 100 years ago, a copy of which reached us thanks to the famous Armenian artist Martiros Saryan. Prepared by Michelin-star chef Tino Vettorello, menus with signatures will become NFT and removed for sale.

RA MESCS Deputy Minister Daniel Danielyan spoke about his impressions of the evening.

"AKNEYE is an innovative platform for emerging and established artists. When I got acquainted with the program a few months ago, I was sure it would be an exciting journey. During these six months, more than 30 artists participated in the program and could discover themselves and be exposed to society. AKNEYE's program is an environment that connects art, culture, innovation, modern technology, virtual, NFT, and, naturally, business. It is essential that this program was able to unite Armenian and international artists around it and give them new opportunities to develop.

"Today, we had a great evening. Sasha created her incredible AKNEYE. The physical nature of Sasha's work, combined with the digital nature of AKNEYE, is an inspiring collaboration for us all. We saw Sasha create her physical AKNEYE sculpture live from her studio in Dubai tonight. She gave attendees an incredible experience during the last week of the Venice Biennale. It was impressive. Thank you," said Falguni Whedon, Studio Director of Sasha Jaffrey.