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12/03/2004
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1) Baku Opposes Minsk Group Approach, Rejects Compromise for Karabagh
Settlement
2) Karabagh President Discusses Telethon Results with Cabinet
3) Turkey Condemns Slovak Recognition of Armenian Genocide
4) Ukraine Court Orders New Run-off Election
5) Schiff Criticizes Genocide Remarks of Turkish Official
6) How to Lose a Girl in 40 Days While Sleepless in the Valley
7) Tidbits From The Diner
8) Separatism–No Longer a Dirty Word?
9) Forget The Fat Lady–Let Hasserjian Sing
10) Veteran Photographer Harry Koundakjian Photo Exhibition and Public Program
11) Earth Tones–Works of Two Abstract Expressionists

1) Baku Opposes Minsk Group Approach, Rejects Compromise for Karabagh
Settlement

BAKU (Armenpress)–Ahead of the scheduled December 6 meeting with Armenian
counterpart Vartan Oskanian, Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov announced
that his country is ready to continue negotiations on the Mountainous Karabagh
conflict, but only if Azerbaijan’s proposals serve as a basis for a
resolution.
The foreign ministers are due to meet in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the sidelines of
an annual meeting of foreign ministers of Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) member states.
The three co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, tasked with mediating a
settlement to the Mountainous Karabagh conflict, will also attend the meeting.
Mamedyarov revealed that he recently met with the Minsk Group co-chairmen,
within the framework of UN General Assembly’s 59 session, and has told them
that their proposals are unacceptable.
Dissatisfied with the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group, Azerbaijan recently
urged the UN General Assembly to intervene in the long and bitter territorial
dispute with neighboring Armenia over Mountainous Karabagh.
The OSCE has, meanwhile, asked the assembly to stay on the sidelines and not
interfere with their efforts. Talks “can only progress in an atmosphere of
confidence between the parties. Anything in the direction of building
confidence and of avoiding a division of the General Assembly is helpful,”
said
US envoy Susan Moore, speaking on behalf of the OSCE.

2) Karabagh President Discusses Telethon Results with Cabinet

STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)–Mountainous Karabagh Republic President Arkady
Ghukasian held a meeting with cabinet members on December 2, to discuss the
results of the November 25 telethon held in the US. Ghukasian gathered
National
Security Council members, Prime Minister Anushavan Danielian, National
Assembly
Speaker Oleg Yesayan, cabinet ministers, and other officials to stress the
necessity of strict control over the spending procedures of the $11.5 million
raised for the construction of the strategic North-South “backbone” highway,
which will facilitate communication between northern and southern sections of
Karabagh, boost the local economy, and further improve the unrecognized
republic’s security. Nearly 100 kilometers of it has already been built since
the project’s launch four years ago.
One of the most important issues for the Armenian diaspora, Ghukasian noted,
is the future of Karabagh–more specifically the strengthening of its
political
and economic independence. “The diaspora believes in Karabagh and considers it
a duty to contribute to its development,” the President emphasized. The next
telethon, he said, should be directed towards developing the economy of the
Mardakert region, which has suffered most from Azeri aggression.
Summarizing his US visit, Ghukasian expressed gratitude to the diaspora, as
well as citizens of Armenia and Karabagh for their active participation in the
telethon. He also noted that diaspora organizations have expressed their
willingness to be more actively involved in lobbying for Karabagh’s
position in
the international arena and stressed that the Armenian people can realize
pan-national issues only through the joint efforts of Armenia, Karabagh, and
the diaspora.
All-Armenian Hayastan Fund executive director, Naira Melkumian, said she
expects at least 90 percent of the pledges to materialize into cash in the
coming weeks. She said the fund will need only $1.5 million to finish by 2007
work on the 170-kilometer road that will connect the northern and southern
sections of Karabagh through the capital Stepanakert.
The money promised is about twice the sum collected at the previous Los
Angeles telethon in November 2003. Melkumian, who previously served as
Karabagh’s foreign minister, described the figure as “unprecedented,”
attributing it to “economic progress” witnessed by diaspora Armenians visiting
Armenia and Karabagh.

3) Turkey Condemns Slovak Recognition of Armenian Genocide

(AFP, AP)–Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul Thursday denounced as
“unacceptable” a resolution by the Slovak parliament recognizing the 1915
massacre under the Ottoman empire of hundreds of thousands of Armenians as
genocide.
On Tuesday, the Slovak parliament adopted a resolution saying: “The Slovak
parliament recognizes the genocide of Armenians in 1915 during which hundreds
of thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were killed and considers this
act a crime against humanity.”
But Gul also sought to downplay the issue, saying the initiative was
spearheaded by the Slovak opposition and not the government. The resolution
was
adopted in the same session as another one giving the green light to opening
negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the European Union but were voted on
separately, Slovak parliament spokesman Michal Dyttert said.
“This is unacceptable…We will take the necessary (diplomatic) steps,” Gul
told
reporters, but declined to elaborate. “I think this development is the result
of (Slovak) domestic politics. Opposition parties sometimes behave
irresponsibly…The Slovak government did not support it,” he said.
The Turkish foreign ministry issued a strongly worded statement, blaming the
Slovak resolution on “a fait accompli by one political party (to) accept as
genocide the tragic events of 1915.” “Passing judgment on the contested
periods
of another’s history cannot be among the duties and responsibilities of
national parliaments,” it said.
“It is clear that this decision, taken for political profit by distorting
events that took place under the conditions of World War I and caused great
suffering to Turks and Armenians alike, does not constitute a responsible
course of action,” the statement said.
The massacre of Armenians during World War I is one of the most controversial
episodes in Turkish history. In 2001, France triggered a storm in its
relations
with Turkey when its parliament passed a law acknowledging the massacres as
genocide. Ankara retaliated by sidelining French companies from public tenders
and canceled several projects awarded to French firms.
Meanwhile, Armenia has asked European Union leaders to discuss the
policies of
Turkey, toward the former Soviet republic at an upcoming EU summit. In a
letter, President Robert Kocharian asked EU leaders to discuss what Armenia
sees as a Turkish economic blockade during their December 17 meeting, Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian said in a televised interview late Wednesday.
Turkey keeps its border with Armenia closed, aggravating the impoverished
country’s economic plight. EU leaders are to vote at the forthcoming summit on
whether to open membership negotiations with Turkey.

4) Ukraine Court Orders New Run-off Election

KIEV (AP)–The Supreme Court declared the results of Ukraine’s disputed
presidential run-off election invalid on Friday and ruled that the run-off
should be repeated on Dec. 26, bringing cheers and fireworks from tens of
thousands of opposition supporters massed in Kiev’s main square.
The ruling, made after five days of hearings by the court’s 18 justices,
was a
major victory for opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who had rejected the
government’s demands that an entirely new election be held.
The opposition had pinned its hopes on the court’s ruling in its bid to
overturn the results of the Nov. 21 run-off vote in which Prime Minister
Viktor
Yanukovych was declared the winner. The opposition said the vote was rigged to
cheat Yushchenko of victory.
The ruling was a stinging blow to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and
powerful ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who a day earlier had sharply
derided the idea of holding a new run-off.
Kuchma had been pressing for an entirely new election, apparently in hopes of
replacing his favorite Yanukovych with a stronger candidate. The spiraling
political crisis has undermined his hopes to ensure he is succeeded by a
supporter, has paralyzed his government with protests and has raised fears
of a
split in Ukraine between its east–where support of Kuchma and traditional
ties
with Russia are strong–and its west–where many want to move closer to the
rest of Europe.
The ruling is final and cannot be appealed, and both sides have promised to
abide by the decision. There was no immediate reaction from Yanukovych or his
supporters. Representatives from Yanukovych and the Central Election
Commission
left the courthouse before the judges announced their decision.
The court ruling said a new run-off vote should be held nationwide on Dec.
26.

Parliament scheduled a marathon all-weekend session to pass legislation
corresponding to the Supreme Court verdict. It will need to pass changes to
the
membership of the 15-member Central Election Commission and in election law to
help prevent fraud.
Parliament, filled with opposition supporters while many government delegates
stay away, has been chipping away at Kuchma’s authority. On Friday, it
passed a
non-binding resolution calling for the withdrawal of the country’s 1,600
peacekeepers out of Iraq–a symbolic snub of Kuchma, who ordered the
deployment. Earlier, parliament brought down Yanukovych’s government with a
no-confidence vote.
The crisis has also strained relations between Russia, which has staunchly
backed Yanukovych, and the West, which has refused to accept the official
results of the vote.
Putin immediately congratulated Yanukovyck on victory after the Nov. 21
run-off, and Kuchma made a hastily arranged visit to Moscow on Thursday for
support from Putin as the opposition appeared to be gaining momentum.
President Bush, asked about Russia’s stance on Thursday, said any new
election
“ought to be free from any foreign influence.”
Before the court’s ruling, Poland’s president, who has served as mediator in
Ukraine’s political crisis, warned that the country should hold a new vote
quickly or else violence could break out.

5) Schiff Criticizes Genocide Remarks of Turkish Official

Lawmaker Calls for Renewed Effort for US to Recognize Armenian Genocide In
Light of Comments by Turkish Parliament Human Rights Commission Leader

WASHINGTON, DC–Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) this week condemned recent
remarks by Mehmet Elkatmis, head of the Turkish Parliament’s Human Rights
Commission, in which he accused the United States of committing genocide in
Iraq. Elkatmis declared, “Never in human history have such genocide and
cruelty
been witnessed. Such a genocide was never seen in the time of the pharaohs,
nor of Hitler, nor of Mussolini.” Congressman Schiff is circulating a letter
to his colleagues in the House of Representatives to make them aware of
Elkatmis’s comments and to urge Congress to pass legislation commemorating the
Armenian Genocide. Congressman Schiff also released the following statement:
“The Turkish Government’s effort to deny the murder of 1.5 million Armenian
men, women and children by the Ottoman Turks has reached a new level of
hypocrisy. The Government of Turkey spends massive sums on high-priced
Washington lobbyists to convince Congress and the Administration that
US-Turkish relations will be irreparably harmed by American acknowledgment of
the Armenian Genocide. At the same time, the Turkish government does nothing
to repudiate the scurrilous charges leveled by a senior parliamentarian who is
a member of the ruling party.
“It is clear to me that since the Turkish government has no compunction about
accusing the United States of genocide, we should not be hesitant to recognize
those murdered by a government that no longer exists. It is also clear to me,
given the relatively mild reaction to Mr. Elkatmis’ remarks, that the
potential
fallout from a Congressional resolution has been greatly exaggerated by the
Turkish government’s lobbyists.”
Just recently, an amendment authored by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA)–and
included in the House version of the Foreign Operations spending bill–that
would have stopped the Government of Turkey from using US foreign aid to lobby
against a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide was dropped from the
final FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 4818).
In July during consideration of the Foreign Operations spending bill, the
House of Representatives voted to adopt the Schiff amendment, prohibiting the
Government of Turkey from using US foreign aid to lobby against H.Res. 193, a
resolution that officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide and marks the 15th
anniversary of President Ronald Reagan signing the 1987 Genocide Convention
Implementation Act. (Also known as the Proxmire Act, this put the United
States on record as being strongly opposed to the heinous crime of genocide.)
H.Res. 193 passed the House Judiciary Committee on May 22, 2003, shortly after
its introduction on April 10, 2003. However, because of significant lobbying
efforts by those who deny the Genocide, the resolution has been languishing on
the House calendar for over a year.
The day after the House passed the Foreign Operations bill, Speaker Hastert
issued a joint statement with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (TX-22) and
Majority Whip Roy Blunt (MO-7) in opposition to the Schiff amendment on the
Armenian Genocide. The Speaker’s statement expressed the House Majority
Leadership’s determination to drop the Schiff amendment from the final version
of the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill and their intention to block the
consideration of H.Res. 193–even though Speaker Hastert made a public pledge
in 2000 to the Armenian American community to schedule a floor vote on such a
resolution. The Senate passed its version of the Foreign Operations bill (S.
2812) on September 23 without the Schiff amendment. Last week, a conference
committee combined nine appropriations bills–including the Foreign Operations
spending bill–into the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Act (H.R. 4818). The
Conference Committee left the Schiff amendment out of H.R. 4818, which passed
the House of Representatives and Senate on November 20.
Congressman Schiff is a Member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues,
a co-founder of the Democratic Study Group on National Security and a
member of
both the House Judiciary and International Relations committees. He
represents
California’s 29th Congressional District, which includes the communities of
Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Glendale,
Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City.

6) How to Lose a Girl in 40 Days While Sleepless in the Valley

By Skeptik Sinikian

Here’s a simple breakdown of what life in the Armenian online dating fast lane
is like so far. This will serve as a recap of the events that have transpired
over the course of the last few months. I decided to pose as a single
available
Armenian bachelor online on one of the dozens of websites set up to help
Armenian singles meet. Here’s what I’ve found out so far.
You can register for a profile. That’s free. You can post your picture up.
That’s also free. You can send “flirts” to other users. That is…free as well.
So where’s the catch? When you actually try to contact someone from the
website
they try to pick your pocket. It’s information highway robbery! Dear friends,
there is, indeed, a price to pay for love or companionship and as I discovered
in my previous column, the price tag starts at around 60 dollars. So where
does
this leave my experiment? After all, I’m a man of simple means and not because
I’m frugal by nature. It is due in large part to a bad relationship I had in
college with a woman named Sallie (Last name Mae). Sallie and I parted ways
eventually but not before I had borrowed a lot of money. Well, it turns out
Sallie wanted all her money back PLUS interest, so here I am a working stiff,
drinking “Two Buck Chuck” ($1.99 a bottle Charles Shaw wine for anyone who has
never been to Trader Joe’s) and drinking straight coffee instead of them fancy
lattes everyone is raving about.
I’ve been driven to such a point of frustration with this experiment that I’d
need at least ten issues of Asbarez to get all of my thoughts out in the open.
But I’ve decided to take a hiatus from my own experiment and cover some of the
stories that people have emailed me over the course of the last three weeks.
Here’s one of my favorites. As always, my opinions and comments will follow in
brackets where it is appropriate. I apologize for anyone who’s going through
Skeptik’s Political Commentary Withdrawal Syndrome. We’ll try to have
something
more Skeptik-esque next week.
A friend of mine recently met a 30 year old, apparently divorced Armenian
male
who is in the pharmaceutical business. He’s from Fresno but has relocated to a
city in the Los Angeles area that is closer to the beach. Here is the story
[you know you love gossip so keep reading]. They meet online and exchange
flirts, emails, etc. [I guess some people have the money to waste on things
like this…must be nice].
They meet in person and start dating for about a month. She goes out with
him,
his brother, and his girlfriend. Everything seems okay, right? [In general,
when things seem like they’re going great after only a month of dating, you
clearly don’t know much about dating and should slow the pace down a little].
She thinks that everything is totally “cool” [her words, not mine] because he
was “totally into [her],” calling her and text messaging her like an Armenian
teeny bopper with a new cellular phone, making plans to hang out, the whole
nine yards. Just to make the ending of this story even creepier, he sends her
cute notes a hundred times a day, wants to spend all of his free time with
her,
and even asks her to go to church with him [Church? Is that even considered a
date? What do you do to follow up on that brilliant idea? Get “His” and
“Hers”
matching plots at Forest Lawn? Creep!] He goes from all this to completely
stopping the phone calls. [Now, I don’t know this person, but my friend who
told me the story, assured me she’s attractive, smart, and has a good head on
her shoulders. Otherwise I’m with you on this one. I thought there was
something weird about her too].
He ends up sending her a text message that says he’ll call her when he wakes
up from his nap and never calls back [this is the all too familiar–the old
I’m
taking a nap trick]. Our innocent victim texts the creep the following Monday
morning and still no response. She calls him that night and leaves a message.
No response. Next day, same routine. Still nothing. The day after, she starts
worrying and leaves ANOTHER message [hmmm…in my grandmother’s village in the
old country they had a word for this kind of behavior …it was called a HINT!
But who am I to judge]. Apparently, this was completely out of character.
Normally, this guy would text message her literally 2 minutes after seeing
her. By the end of the third day, this girl starts freaking out [the Armenian
mother personality took over I guess]. Finally, she blocks her number so it
comes up private [only in the modern age of cell phones would this be
possible?
What did people do before blocking their phone number? I guess they just
knocked on your door wearing a mask, paper bag or something over their heads].
She calls his cell and he answers, kind of disguising his voice a little bit.
After she asks him how he is, our Don Juan responds with silence. Then hangs
up. She calls back and it goes straight to voice mail. According to the victim
in this story, “this is truly the most bizarre dating experience ever in my
entire dating past.” Le Fin–The End.
Just when you think you’ve met them all, along comes a slime ball like this
guy. As the narrator of this story explains, “He was obsessed with me, then
turned on a dime and disappeared.”
Folks, this is just the tip of the iceberg. You wouldn’t believe what both
men
and women have been writing to me about dating. I feel like Sarah Jessica
Parker’s character on “Sex in the City” (not that I watch the program or
anything) and I’m glad all of this is out there. The best part of this whole
experience is that it has opened my eyes to what Armenians go through to find
that perfect match. After reading all these emails–each more disturbing,
funny, or depressing than the next–the only perfect match I wanted was the
one
that I’d use to set myself on fire to avoid any similar misery.
Here’s the question I pose to everyone out there who indulges me by
reading my
mental dribbling every week. What would you do in this situation? How would
you act differently? And finally, what do you think this guy’s real story
was?

My money is on him being married and he was lying about being divorced.
Then
again, I’ve been known to be wrong before and when it comes to relationships.
I’m about as clueless as a supermodel at a rocket scientist convention. So
write to me at skeptiksinikian@aol.com because I want to hear your answers,
theories, horror stories or even success stories.

Skeptik Sinikian is not a relationship counselor or a licensed therapist
but if
you buy him a fancy latte, he may just share his opinions with you free of
charge. He can be reached at SkeptikSinikian@aol.com or at

7) Tidbits From The Diner

By Tatul

The leftovers–and taste–of the Thanksgiving turkey in one’s refrigerator and
mouth take a while to dissipate. I found out, though, that the strong flavor
and aroma of Turkish coffee, the kind served at Costa’s Diner, will reset your
taste buds and make them ready and rearin’ to go for Christmas pudding and
eggnog.
Speaking of Turkish Coffee, sometime ago, a friend of mine took out a pen and
crossing out the “Turkish” printed on the Diner menu, wrote in “Armenian”
instead. Costa, who was watching from behind the counter, walked over with a
benign smile on his face, took the menu from my friend’s hand, looked at it,
shrugged his shoulders and said, “Why, for heaven’s sake? Your people and mine
have accumulated so much culture over so many centuries–the Turks, on the
other hand, have next to nothing to speak of. Be generous, let them have the
credit for this one…” He walked away, trying to erase the scribbling on his
once spotless menu.
That, was a long time ago. This morning I was ready for some strong coffee
and
the company of my friend Marty, who hadn’t seem to have arrived yet. I had
almost drained my cup, feeling some of the grinds in my teeth, when he walked
in, looking like a man in trance. Seeing me he attempted a smile, but since
Arty’s departure to Canada, Marty’s smiles were hard to tell from a sneer.
“What’s wrong, Marty?” I said, “You look like you have seen a ghost!”
“Two ghosts, to be exact,” he said, taking the seat across the table with his
collection of newspapers. “A double whammy, on the eve of the coming 90th
Anniversary of the Metz Yeghern…”
“What are you talking about? What double whammy…?”
“Don’t you read the papers? Didn’t you hear that the Turkish Armenian
Reconciliation Commission, the same TARC whose unlamented demise was received
with a sigh of relief by Armenians everywhere, has been heard, right around
Halloween, making cryptic noises with an obvious intent to trick and treat our
communities all over again…”
“Read it! Read it!” Marty continued, shoving a paper in front of me, “it’s
bad
enough, that the TARCish forces are trying to revive the specter of a cruel
hoax, another bunch of aging groupies, after so many years, are trying to
re-market the disastrous performances of a fallen star called Levon (l’Etat
c’est Moi ) Ter Petrosyan… Well? No comments?”
“I don’t know what to say,” I mumbled, feeling a chill creeping up my spine…
“All this talk about the dead rising again makes me very nervous… I need
another cup of Turkish coffee!”
“You mean Armenian coffee… don’t you?” growled Marty with darts shooting out
of his eyes…
“Here,” interrupted Costa, putting two cups of steaming coffee in front of
us,
“Have a Greek coffee. I hope you don’t mind, I was eavesdropping. You know
what? Don’t let these people discourage you; you have a just cause, and no
matter what they say, don’t give up. We gave up on the rights of the Pontus
Greeks, under foreign pressure, and now it’s too late. Don’t let that
happen to
you…”
There was profound sadness in his voice; Costa’s grandfather was among the
thousands of deportees from their native Pontus.
We looked at him in silence as he returned to the kitchen. We slowly finished
drinking the hot, bitter Greek coffee and left the Diner together.

8) Separatism–No Longer a Dirty Word?

By Garen Yegparian

The December 13, 2004 Fall Books issue of The Nation seems to have been
designed with Armenians in mind. It contains Peter Balakian’s letter to the
editor replying to a September 20 review of his The Burning Tigris by Meline
Toumani. The latter seems to be one of those Armenians who is so conflicted
about her identity, yet also motivated by the most noble of urges to stand on
principle, that she ends up sounding practically anti-Armenian. The issue also
contains analyses of modern Islam and the post-WWII red scare era, both arenas
of great impact and importance for Armenians.
But most interesting is a signed editorial by Kirkpatrick Sale titled “Blue
State Secession” that describes a November 5-7 conference held in Vermont. It
seems the US Civil war has not put the issue of secession to rest since 28
separatist organizations already exist in the country.
In light of the US election results, much petty chatter has been heard about
seceding, most of it a means of venting extreme exasperation. But this
conference seems to have been much more earnest and serious. Organized by the
Second Vermont Republic a grassroots movement working to make the state a
republic as it was from 1777 to 1791, and Fourth World an England based
organization supporting separatist movements for independence in the other
three “worlds,” this conference was three days of speeches, presentations, and
debate demonstrating the depth of feelings about this issue in light of the
remarkable passions ignited by November 2’s lead-up and fallout.
This reminded me of an article in the Fall 1999 issue of Foreign Policy, “Too
Many Flags?” wherein Juan Enriquez documents the accelerating pace of new
state
formation over the course of the 20th century. He then proceeds to argue that
globalization is simultaneously bringing the world closer while allowing it to
break up into its component parts. In addition, he contends that while the
Western hemisphere has not experienced this proliferation of states, it is not
immune to it.
Numerous other essays addressing issues of self determination and the
redrawing of international boundaries all point to the cutting-edge nature of
our struggle for Artsakh and other occupied Armenian lands. Our efforts can no
longer be dismissed as nationalist irredenta. Here, we must remember that
nationalism is a dirty word for both the left and right ends of the political
spectrum, albeit for different reasons.
It seems to me that our political organizations and structures should be
developing contacts with groups such as Fourth World. If we are concerned
about
the ramifications of such activities on existing relationships, then a new
entity could easily be established to handle these matters discretely. To pass
up an opportunity to become engaged in what is a worldwide process is a crime
against our nation. Observe the Caucasus, former Soviet Union, Europe, China,
the Arab Middle East, India-Pakistan, Indonesia, the indigenous peoples’
movements in the Americas, and even the above US based examples for
inspiration, bases of support, and channels of cooperation.
Let’s make this the millennium of Armenian restoration.

9) Forget The Fat Lady–Let Hasserjian Sing

By Vazken Haroutunian

AGBU Alex Manoogian Center in Pasadena, California has seen its share of
performances, from Armenian folk music, to theatrical presentations, and even
the obligatory poetry recital. But the rustic walls of the converted church
hall weren’t expecting to be shaken as hard as they did on Saturday, November
13 during the performance of operatic tenor Levon Hasserjian. Although a
powerful voice in its early stages of maturation, it wasn’t Maestro Levon’s
performances of Verdi or Schubert that caused the shaking, but the thunderous
applause and standing ovations from the dual encores.
Disco’s dead. Rock n’ Roll is on life support, but Opera is back with a
vengeance. Over 200 packed the portion of the auditorium-church hall to hear
the young Hasserjian belt out aria after aria and throw in the occasional
Armenian patriotic favorite to bring down the house. Individuals who missed
this concert missed a performance by a young tenor who has a bright future and
the personality and swagger to match. Levon Hasserjian (“Uncle Leo” to his
closest confidants) was born in Antelias, Lebanon, where he began his study of
music at the Melkonian Educational Institute, under the guidance of Maestro
Sebouh Markarian. He later spent three years at the Lebanese Music
Conservatory, where he trained with Professor Garo Jaderian. Having performed
in Lebanon and Cyprus as the principal soloist with the AGBU choir and the
Holy
See of Cilicia’s Shnorhali Choir, Hasserjian is currently studying voice with
Kathleen Darragh and coaching under Dan Bridston and Robin Reed.
That’s the background on his musical training and history but there’s more to
this stout, proud young man. On stage in his tuxedo and hair tied back in a
pony tail–reminiscent of the style worn by Italian men in Rome ogling the
women on the Spanish steps, Hasserjian commands a presence during performances
that is only upstaged by his humility and dedication to his passion off of the
stage.
It was a long path that Hasserjian took to get to the Manoogian Center in
Pasadena–we’re not just talking Lebanon to the US. Hasserjian, like many of
his generation, has worked and continues to work at a regular 9-5 job that has
little to do with his first love–opera. A few years ago, he made a
decision to
take better care of his health, organize his personal finances, and devote
himself to honing his God given talent to sing opera.
“He just has a passion for the music,” commented Ardashes Kassakhian, a
friend
and supporter of the young tenor. “His knowledge of opera is remarkable and
his
dedication to his craft is to be admired.”
Kassakhian tells of Uncle Leo’s Opera circle–an unofficial group of friends
of the tenor’s who regularly attend the Los Angeles Opera’s performances
partly
for the operas and partly for the pre and post commentary by Hasserjian.
“If you want front row tickets to Lakers vs. Phoenix game, right behind Jack
Nicholson at the Staples Center, I’m sure there’s someone out there and I
don’t
know them,” observes Kassakhian. “But say it’s the night of a performance of
Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro with Bayradakian as the lead and tickets have been
sold out for weeks. Who are you going to call? I know who I will. Levon is our
Opera hook up!”
There are a lot of young and talented Armenians out there who talk about
their
dreams, who dream about their passions, but who rarely follow the path their
talent or dreams have laid out for them. Hasserjian’s an exception and one
from
whom we can expect greater things to come.

10) Veteran Photographer Harry Koundakjian Photo Exhibition and Public Program

WATERTOWN–Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives and the Armenian Library
and Museum of America (ALMA) opened a fifty-photograph exhibition of veteran,
award-winning Associated Press (AP) photographer Harry Koundakjian’s work on
November 14 to run through January 14. The exhibition, divided into five
subject areas, covers his entire career as photo journalist. Themes include
World Leaders, Defining Moments, Natural Disasters, Hye Armenian Eyes, and
Harry the Photographer.
As the AP’s chief photographer in charge of all 13 Arab countries in the
Middle East, North and East Africa, Turkey, and Iran, Harry has been
everywhere
imaginable and covered everyone from royalty to revolutionary. He has had
entrée into public and private events, has recorded death and destruction, and
captured life at it highest and lowest moments. His photographs tell
innumerable stories.
Th exhibition is an extraordinary expression of one man’s passion for
being in
the right spot at the right time with the right equipment to get the
newsbreaking photograph, regardless of the danger. He has been shot at–he
landed on his Nikon zoom lens when he ducked for cover as bullets zoomed past
him. He has witnessed the human misery of earthquake victims and the torturous
actions of assassins. He has also captured the kiss of world leaders in a
moment of affection.
Ruth Thomasian, founder and executive director of Project SAVE Armenian
Photograph Archives, has served as exhibit curator working with Harry to
choose
images and develop captions. She has caught the human interest focus that
permeates all of Harry’s work, as well as his boundless energy.
The section on Harry the Photographer shows him drying film over a charcoal
fire during his coverage of United States First Lady Pat Nixon’s tour of West
Africa. We see him in Aden, South Yemen accompanied by his British body guard
and an information officer, whose job it was to protect Harry as he captured
the news, not to restrict or interfere with his work. And Harry loves to tell
of being nick-named by those Brits as Harry the Horse, because of his passion
for working hard, just like a horse.
On Tuesday evening, Dec. 7, at 7:30, ALMA will host a panel discussion
accompanying Harry’s exhibition. Harry will join colleagues Steve Kurkjian,
investigative reporter at The Boston Globe, and Garo Lachinian, photographer,
formerly Director of Photography at the Boston Herald, in sharing their points
of view on the topic, Image is Everything: Photography and the World’s
Defining
Moments. They are sure to go beyond the basics of news making into social and
political issues that color how the news is communicated everyday. The
program,
which will include a question-and-answer period, will be monitored by Ruth
Thomasian.
That evening the photograph exhibition, 50 years/50 photographs: Harry L.
Koundakjian, AP Photographer, will be open for viewing starting at 7pm at
Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives and the Armenian Library and Museum
of America.
For more information call Project SAVE Archives at 617-923-4542 or email
archives@projectsave.org.

11) Earth Tones

Works of Two Abstract Expressionists

LOS ANGELES–Recent works by two Armenian artists living in Los Angeles, Lucy
Hagopian and Narine Isajanyan, are currently on exhibition at the Don
O’Melveny
Gallery. “Earth Tones” showcases the works of two abstract expressionists who
were raised on different continents (Narine from Yerevan and Lucy from
Caracas), yet their work reflects on the Earth as environment and universe;
their images resonate with the dissonances of modern consciousness struggling
against the eternity of nature. Both have painted with soil, sand, rock,
metal,
wood and tar, mixed in acrylics with a bent toward deep terrestrial and
oceanic
colors.
Lucy Hagopian closely relates her work to her concern for the environment, as
it motivates her, just as nature inspires her. But her work succeeds on its
own
apart from any social political reference by virtue of an aesthetic that
performs a balancing act between representational and abstract impulses. It is
as if she allows an instinct to portray a natural scene to transform into a
deeper desire to create instead a landscape of her own inner universe,
navigating with the aesthetics of abstract form, color, movement, and space.
Perhaps Hagopian’s trademark distinction as an artist is her technique of
painting with a car: driving wet painted tires over a canvas in repeated and
controlled ‘brush strokes.’ The resulting images are then integrated, if not
consumed by an array of other elements painted by hand.
Lucy explains her work best herself: “My work begins with a concept, but it
doesn’t end there. There is a give and take between chance and planning. I
begin with an idea, yet allow the process of work to take its own course.
Physical involvement and the action of painting is a constant part of the
work. I switch from my mind to my heart, and allow my feelings, my
instinct to
guide me…The process of work takes its own course… and the end result is often
a surprise to me…after its done I feel as I have known the work all my life.”
Interplaying layers of paint creating transparencies versus opaque surfaces
are used as poetic expressions. Visual images become symbols. She switches
between the machine created images and what the human hand can create. The
process becomes a reflection of life in Los Angeles. Historical, social,
environmental, and personal meanings can be found in the paintings.

Narine Isajanyan returns to Don O’Melveny Gallery for a fourth time with work
that is expressionist, minimalist, and conceptual by turns. Whether on canvas,
paper, board, wood, or actually made of metal, her pieces become abstract
landscapes that are as fluid within as they are consistent and organic as a
whole.
Her most recent large scale canvases are painted with acrylic mixed with
sand,
earth, metal shavings (even kitty litter). Reminiscent of Pollock’s free
use of
space, they create bold unified fields energized by swirling movements of
muted
color under multiple layers of grays and blacks. Like the universe
expanding in
every direction without a center, her elements are nevertheless so harmonic as
to create a single ‘minimalist’ impression.
Many of Narine’s very latest pieces almost recreate the feeling of lunar
landscapes. Yet without intending to represent the natural world, without
‘rational interference’ in the spontaneous building of form on form, her
images
reflect the processes of nature responding within her. She is not imagining
scenes from the some parallel world–she is creating that world.
Included in “Earth Tones” will be two of Narine’s works made exclusively from
metal. On one piece, a spiraling steel cylinder crawls across an iron grid
like
a silver snake. Another shining rectangle of sheer steel, scraped in abstract
patterns as if worn down by nature, is focused on a centerpiece of nails,
their
nail heads projecting out in a rectangle of their own. Thus hard industrial
force and its sense of violence are transformed into a still life of
beautiful,
even serene balance.
Located in the heart of the Avenues of Art Design on Melrose Ave in West
Hollywood, CA, the Don O’Melveny Gallery features original modern,
contemporary
work with a lean to the abstract. From cutting edge to blue-chip, emerging to
internationally recognized, the Gallery posses a wonderfully eclectic mix of
fine art.

The Don O’Melveny Gallery
5472 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323-932-0076

Exhibition Dates:December 3-31
Artist Reception: Saturday, December 11, 6-10 pm

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