PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Phone: 617-489-1610
Fax: 617-484-1759
E-mail: [email protected]
SPECIAL PRESENTATION ON ARMENIAN
MONUMENTS OF NAKHICHEVAN AT NAASR
A special illustrated lecture on "Monuments of the Nakhichevan Region"
will be held on Thursday, November 1, at 8:00 p.m., at the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.
The lecture will feature visiting speakers Argam Ayvazian from Armenia
and Steven Sim from Scotland. The event is taking place with the
cooperation of Dr. Anahit Ter Stepanian of Sacred Heart University in
Fairfield, CT, and Dr. James R. Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian
Studies at Harvard University. Dr. Russell will serve as chair for the
evening and Dr. Ter Stepanian will provide translation, and both will
participate in the evening’s discussions.
Documentation of At-Risk and Destroyed Monuments
The Nakhichevan region, located in what is today Azerbaijan, part of the
ancient Armenian historic lands and with an uninterrupted Armenian
presence down to recent times, is the site of thousands of endangered
and destroyed Armenian monuments. Argam Ayvazian has assembled a photo
exhibit on the monuments of Nakhichevan that will open to the public on
November 2 at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at
Harvard University. In his presentation at NAASR he will show digital
images and offer comments in Armenian (with simultaneous translation
into English).
Argam Ayvazian was born in the village of Arinj in Nakhichevan and has
devoted his adult life to documenting and analyzing the historical
monuments of the region. He has served on the Commission for
Preservation of Ancient Monuments in Armenia and is the author of
numerous books on the subject, including The Historical Monuments of
Nakhichevan (1990), translated into English by Fr. Krikor Maksoudian.
Currently he serves as Deputy Director, Agency on Protection of
Historical and Cultural Environment at the Armenian Ministry of Culture.
Glasgow-based architect and art historian Steven Sim served as co-author
in 2006 (with Ayvazian, Lucy Der Manuelian, and Patrick Donabedian) of
The Destruction of Jugha and the Entire Armenian Cultural Heritage in
Nakhijevan, a report submitted to UNESCO. He was one of the last
Westerners to see the hundreds of Jugha khachkars (stone crosses)
destroyed by the Azeri military in 2005. Sim has traveled throughout
historic Armenia for the past two decades documenting thousands of
vanishing and at-risk monuments.
The NAASR Center is located opposite the First Armenian Church and next
to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the building
and in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.
Exhibit on Nakhichevan Monuments at Harvard’s Davis Center
A photo exhibit of Armenian Monuments of the Nakhichevan
Region by Argam Ayvazian and Steven Sim will be on display from November
2 to November 19, 2007 at the Harvard University Center for Government
and International Studies (CGIS) Concourse Gallery, 1730 Cambridge
Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138. The opening reception will be held on
November 2 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The exhibition will present a brief overview of the cultural heritage of
Nakhichevan, focusing on architectural and sculptural monuments of the
10th-17th centuries and including before and after demolition
photographs of churches and the Jugha cemetery khachkars.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Davis Center for Russian
and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. Funding is provided through
the generous support of COPRIM, Inc., of Montreal. The exhibition
organizer is Dr. Anahit Ter-Stepanian.
More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478. Further information about the
exhibition is available by calling the Davis Center at 617-495-4037 or
visiting the exhibition website,
< hevanmonuments.org/> .