PURO Team: Zuzanna Zakaryan

In our PURO Team series, we want to introduce you to those who contribute to the PURO Experience. With unique skills and outstanding biographies, they make up a special, colorful, and vibrant community. Meet Zuzanna Zakaryan*, a curator and art collection manager at PURO – the only profession of this kind in Poland! An indefatigable promoter of art, Zuza has been sharing her knowledge with PURO guests and staff alike. What does she do after hours? Read our Q&A to find that out. 

What do you do at PURO?

I am responsible for building an art collection and organizing educational events to spread knowledge about visual arts. I co-operate with artists as part of numerous events held at PURO, order art books and inspiring magazines, and continuously seek chances of doing or collaborating on something new… In other words, (almost) everything there is to be seen or read at PURO, has already been seen or read by me :)

How did you find your way to PURO?

I majored in cultural studies and art history at the University of Warsaw and continued gaining experience in various cultural institutions and art galleries. More than two years ago I met Rune Askevold–the creative director at PURO–and we decided to collaborate. I believe that the art market in Poland has enormous potential, especially when it comes to the young generation of artists. This is precisely why I have focused my energy on promoting fresh talents. I want to use my job to contribute, at least minimally, to the development of young artists’ careers and, thanks to PURO growing dynamically, I have plenty of opportunities to do exactly that.

What are the projects you create and skills you develop at PURO, but couldn’t anywhere else?

From what I know, there’s no other profession like mine in Poland, so I think it’s either PURO or nowhere! I am very happy that PURO went in such a non-standard direction. The presence of artists around us impacts the entire PURO Team in a very positive way. Creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, inherent in the creative process, encourage us to act unconventionally. Such dynamics, diversity, and openness in a job like mine would not have been possible anywhere else.

The taste of PURO…
the taste of coffee

What I love about PURO...
attention to detail and openness

After hours…
I’m on my way to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu training in a Warsaw-based Berserkers Team where I practice under the eye of Radek Turek

Offline or online?
more often online

My mood gets better…
after a hard training session

My browser on Monday morning…
all about emails

I can’t take my eyes off…
Jan Van Eyck’s paintings

Black or white?
Black dominates my life, definitely ☺

The PURO Experience to me…
People, creativity, art

*Zuzanna Zakaryan - Art Collection Manager at Puro Hotels. A graduate in art history and cultural studies at the University of Warsaw. Enthusiast of art, culture, and sports. When not at PURO, she does Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In 2017, she earned the brown belt and won the Polish BJJ Championship.