The mythological bird appears in many cultures and often symbolises resurrection and awakening. In the Armenian tradition, its power resides in its song. To find the Bird of a Thousand Voices, one must first take the path of no return – a journey through black, white and red worlds: endless deserts, frozen mountain winters, turbulent rivers, and realms haunted by condemnation, betrayal and forty-headed demons.

This sculpture – like the quest for the magical firebird undertaken by the protagonist Areg (named after the light of the sun), and like Leonardo da Vinci’s dream machines that sought to give the human body wings – explores the fragile boundary between illusion and the beliefs we choose to trust.

“In the wings, one may recognise a Da Vinci–like mechanical structure: a machine that imitates nature while revealing humanity’s enduring desire to fly. The same tension between the natural and the artificial is echoed in the music – in the contrast between the pure sound of acoustic instruments and the electronic distortions shaped through synthesizers and mixing consoles.” 

– Mina Etemad

This installation emerged from the music-theatre work The Bird of a Thousand Voices, where sculpture, text, sound and performance form a single mythological universe.

Motor-controlled installation of aluminium and transparent fabric.