Armenian Genocide Museum of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-383-9009; E-mail: [email protected];
Web:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2008
Web:
CONTACT: Rouben Adalian
Phone: (202) 383-9009
E-mail: [email protected]
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM OF AMERICA AND ARMENIA
ENTER INTO PERMANENT COOPERATION AGREEMENT
Washington, April 28-The Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA) and
the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) at the Tsitsernakaberd
Memorial Complex in Yerevan, Armenia, announced the signing in Yerevan
of a permanent agreement based upon their common goals. The agreement
anticipates the sharing of resources and expertise, the integration of
museum activities, and the promotion of each other’s programs and
projects.
The agreement reached between Dr. Hayk Demoyan, AGMI Director, Hirair
Hovnanian, AGMA Board of Trustees chairman, and Van Z. Krikorian, AGMA
Trustee and Building and Operations Committee chairman, envisions a
permanent association to allow both museums to coordinate plans and to
learn from each other’s experience in developing exhibits and other
presentations on the Armenian Genocide.
Since AGMI’s opening in 1995, the museum and the adjoining institute at
the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex in Armenia have emerged as the
principal repository of resources and information about the Armenian
Genocide. The memorial is of international significance as the site
visited by foreign dignitaries who come to pay tribute to the victims of
the Armenian Genocide. The laying of a wreath at the memorial and a
tour of the museum are a customary part of official visits to Armenia.
Many heads of state and their delegations have walked through the
memorial complex and have taken occasion to speak about the importance
of remembrance and the commitment to tolerance.
Part of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia,
AGMI, which functions as a research center, is also dedicated to the
objective of collecting the visual, textual, and artifactual evidence on
the life of the Armenian people once living in the Ottoman Empire. In
addition to managing the museum facility and maintaining the memorial
complex in the heart of Yerevan, AGMI also organizes international
conferences, publishes documentation and studies on the Armenian
Genocide, and runs a major Website that posts news on developments in
the international affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, announces
publications in the field of genocide studies, and releases newly
uncovered documentation through its research programs. The Websites of
the two museums will be linked, as well as oral history projects and
resources.
The Armenian Genocide Museum of America is an outgrowth of the Armenian
Assembly of America and the Armenian National Institute (ANI), catalyzed
by a foundational grant from Anoush Mathevosian for the purpose of
establishing an Armenian Genocide museum in Washington, D.C. The
Armenian Assembly has championed the cause of affirmation with
legislative and executive branches of the American government, while ANI
has served as a research facility documenting the Armenian Genocide on
the basis of the United States archives and other records. ANI is
presently also providing coordination for AGMA planning and exhibit
designing.
The cooperative agreement was reached in the framework of the AGMI’s
mission, which is shared by the Armenian Genocide Museum of America, to
educate a wider public about the extent of the crimes committed against
the Armenian people during the First World War and the long-lasting
effects and consequences of the gross human rights violations of that
era. The agreement was finalized after months of discussions and
informal cooperation and assistance from AGMI to AGMA as it progresses
toward opening. AGMA publicly thanks AGMI and Dr. Hayk Demoyan for the
help he has provided these past months.
As the first major institution in the Armenian diaspora dedicated to
preserving and honoring the memory of the victims and survivors of the
Armenian Genocide, AGMA will offer interactive exhibits and educational
programs incorporating the latest scholarship with state-of-the art
technology. AGMA will be a place for reflection, where memories and
emotions can be confronted in an environment filled with hope,
inspiration and a commitment to eradicate the scourge of genocide and
stopping other atrocities against humankind.
The museum in Washington has already been granted project approval and
planners have completed the schematic design phase of the exhibits. The
endorsement by a District of Columbia preservation review board of
restoration plans for the historically-designated building, which will
house the museum, and the completion of exhibit schematic designs,
concluded the second phase of the museum planning, which was inaugurated
in November 2007. Phase one planning began in August 2007. AGMA is now
entering the third phase of development and the museum is scheduled to
open in 2010.
The links to the Websites of the two museums are
and
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