ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUMS OF AMERICA AND ARMENIA SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
29.04.2008 14:10 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 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.