PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Dania Ohanian
Armenian Prelacy of Canada
3401 Olivar Asselin
Montreal, QC, H4J 1L5
Tel: (514) 856-1200
Fax: (514) 856-1805
Email: daniao@armenianprelacy.ca

Successful Spiritual Art Exhibit Organized by Armenian Prelacy of Canada

The spiritual art exhibit presenting the works of Vatche Arakelian and
Vartan Jiftjian was a complete success. It brought forth a new and unique
type of medium within Armenian art, as well as a more traditional kind of
time-honored Armenian workmanship.

Organized by the Armenian Prelacy of Canada, under the Auspices of His
Eminence, Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, Prelate, the exhibition’s distinct
genre set a new light on a deeply cherished and valued part of Armenian
culture and identity through art.

Arakelian’s medium of choice is a new introduction to Armenian art and
features Armenian religious icons and designs on stained glass, the first of
its kind to be exhibited in Montreal and elsewhere.

Although Arakelian has been using this technique since childhood, he noted
that the paints used for glass staining were not available in Armenia until
1999.

A Montrealer, Arakelian uses religion as his inspiration, expressing that,
“It relaxes me. When I sit down and begin working, I leave this world behind
and become part of that one.”

Jiftjian’s work on the other hand, rekindles a long-lost part of Armenian
heritage through silver work, which entails sculpting and designing historic
religious artifacts out of silver, ornate with precious gems and
occasionally other precious metals.

The event’s success can be tallied not only in terms of sales (more than 75%
of the pieces were sold), but also in terms of attendance. More than 400
people visited the exhibit during its run on the weekend of October 15th
2004.

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