memoir by David Holden

Unlike other featured artists Vahan Bego has never visited Saltaire. Indeed he has not yet set foot in Britain, though he wishes to do so when his work becomes better-known here. When we met him during a recent trip to Poland (November 2005) he treated us with great hospitality in his studio and showed us a lot of very interesting work.

Vahan was born in Armenia in 1966. He mentioned that his studio in Erevan was utterly demolished in the earthquake of 1988. Since 1993 he has been living in Poznan, but retains his strong love of Armenian culture and its ancient traditions. Although he feels himself to be primarily a sculptor he has also executed a large body of work in other graphic media. Here we show a small selection.

He admits himself fascinated by the character of Cervantes' hero Don Quixote, and this theme has inspired a whole series of works portraying episodes from the life of a consistent and profoundly felt character. For Vahan Don Quixote represents the artist who, though sometimes melancholic, retains his creative optimism despite a comical series of misfortunes arising from the mutual incomprehension of the idealistic and practical approaches to life.