About

Guesthouse Berlin was founded in post-earthquake Gyumri in 1996. It was the first social enterprise in independent Armenia, which later became Berlin ART Hotel - hotel in an art gallery. The hotel's 20 rooms and halls display original works of art by local contemporary artists.

This is Gallery 25, a contemporary art gallery committed to the principles of artistic and intellectual freedom. Its mission can be expressed in four general goals:

Historical Tradition

Gallery 25 honors Gyumri's centuries-old position as the hub of Armenian culture and the arts, located on the historic Silk Road.

Worldwide Artistic Exposition

Gallery 25 is leading an innovative international study of the world of contemporary art, organizing many artistic and cultural events as vehicles of presentation.

Support of Local and International Artists

Gallery 25 presents an ongoing, exceptional series of changing exhibitions of the highest quality. We exhibit challenging and diverse contemporary art and design by Armenian and international professionals at the permanent and featured collections at the Berlin Hotel as well as in showings at other venues.

Cultural Education

Gallery 25 has assumed a national leadership role in presenting contemporary art to its potential audience and providing appropriate educational activities. Its educational programs create and focus on a context for understanding how the contemporary visual arts reflect and express the complex social and cultural issues underlying a changing world. Gallery 25 educational events encourage direct and daily contact with original works of art.

Among the various directions of Armenian culture, Gallery25 pays huge attention to the Armenian book art and writing, especially calligraphy. This is evidenced by the center's "Book Art and Calligraphy" series of large-scale events, in which various artists, historians, calligraphers and other specialists from Armenia and abroad take part. From the moment of its establishment, Gallery25’s cooperation was smoothly formed with the important art centers of the city, among which was the newly opened Academy of Fine Arts.

The gallery is a center for well-known artists, as well as beginners and students. Many of today's famous artists started their career from Gallery25 and gained their first experience of solo or group exhibitions, paving the way to great art. Many projects have been realized as a result of dynamic cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts. The current and former leaders of the Academy are active members of Gallery 25, and the staff and students are regular guests, with the right of a second home. A permanent creative space for students is allocated in the Gallery25.

As a result of effective interaction with the Academy of Fine Arts, Gallery 25 gradually became an outstanding center-laboratory of modern art in Gyumri, where new projects are not only presented, but also created and developed, turning Gyumri into a developing cultural center.