AZG Armenian Daily #172, 21/09/2007
Culture
EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS AND BOOKS IN GENEVA
On September 14, an exhibition of Armenian medieval manuscripts and
books titled "Manuscripts of Armenia, the collection of Matenadaran"
was staged in Geneva. The exhibition was realized under the patronage
of the President of Switzerland Micheline Calmy-Rey and Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and by the efforts of the Old
Manuscripts Institute after Mashtots, the Martin Bodmer Museum-Library
and the Armenian Embassy in Switzerland.
RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchian, Director of
Matenadaran Hrach Tamrazian, Chairman of the Geneva Central Council
Charles Ber, other officials of Switzerland and Geneva,
representatives of international organizations and diplomats
participated at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.
The exhibition presents Armenia as a crossroad of East and West and
its investments in the world treasury of spiritual values. It brings
to light the main effect of religion, philosophy, culture, art and
science on the formation of the Armenian essence.
The exhibition will present the Gospel of Artsakh (XIV c.), the Gospel
of Tatev School (XIV c.), and unique manuscripts of Grigor Tatevatsi,
Grigor Narekatsi and Davit Anhaght. The miniature painting school of
Cilicia is widely presented at the exhibition.
The exhibition will present also the Armenian manuscripts of the
Library of Mechitarist Congregation in Venice and the National Library
of France, also the History of Alexander (XIV c.), which is a unique
sample of non-religious miniature painting.
The exhibition will continue until December 30. In the framework of
it, an exhibition of photographs of a French artist Regi Laburtet will
be put on devoted to the Armenian churches.
The sponsors of the exhibition are Hans Wilsdorf Foundation,
"Poghosian and sons", "Armenia" and "Piliposian" foundations, Edi and
Talin Avagians and Lombard Odye bank. The Julius Baer Bank also
assists the exhibition.
P.S. Bodmer Museum-Library was founded by a Swiss benevolent Martin
Bodmer in the mid 20th century. It is one of the biggest personal
libraries in the world with 160 thousand volumes of collection. The
collection contains early and late medieval manuscripts, also series
of texts of the New Testament, mainly the oldest manuscripts of the
Gospel of John.
Translated by L.H.