ANSA
ANSA English Media Service
June 8, 2004

ART: CRYING ARMENIAN STONES IN VENICE

VENICE

(ANSA) – VENICE, June 8 – A documentary exhibition offering a journey
among the crying stones of Armenia, as poet Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938)
put it, will be held in the UNESCO Zorzi Palace in Venice between
June 8 and July 2, 2004.

The event was organised by the Centre for Documentary Research of
Armenian Culture CSDCA, the Unesco Venice-based Regional Bureau for
Science in Europe ROSTE and the Department for Eurasian Studies at
the Ca Foscari University.

The suggestive images shown in the exhibition illustrate in detail
a number of projects aimed at preserving and restoring Armenian
cultural heritage which have been already completed or are underway
in the country.

“The Armenian heritage is not only architectural, it is representative
of the Armenian culture in the broad sense of the term,” said Francis
Childe, Chief of the Asia/Pacific and Europe Section of UNESCO’s
Cultural Heritage Division.

The restoration works were carried out by Italian experts using
ancient techniques which also helped revive the local crafts sector.

The exhibition is divided into six sections which reconstruct the
historic and geographic context of the Armenian culture, show some of
the most famous examples of Armenian architecture, focus on important
construction techniques and preservation problems and deal with the
country’s efforts to document and preserve its cultural heritage and
also to encourage the development of local communities.

The last section is dedicated to the Armenian community in Venice,
present from 1715 onwards. Contacts between Venetians and Armenians
date back to the establishment of Venice. (ANSA). (BZ/krc)