PanARMENIAN.Net
Photography exhibit of portraits of Armenian Genocide survivors in
Massachusetts
12.03.2009 23:30 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Massachusetts State House will display
`iwitness,’ a unique photography exhibit of portraits of Armenian
Genocide survivors. The exhibition is free and open to the public and
will take place from Mon., March 23 through Fri., March 27 in Doric
Hall at the Massachusetts State House. Parian will lead a guided tour
of the exhibit on Tues., March 24. It’s a one-week exhibit by Ara
Oshagan and Levon Parian.
Hosted by State Representative Jonathan Hecht (Middlesex 29) and
sponsored by the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) and the
Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Massachusetts, `iwitness’ is the
work of Los Angeles-based photographers Ara Oshagan and Levon
Parian. The exhibit pairs powerful black-and-white portraits of
Armenian Genocide survivors with their oral histories.
Oshagan and Parian worked with a team of oral historians and created
`iwitness’ as part of `The Genocide Project,’ which aims to raise
awareness about the genocide through visual and oral documentation.
`We wanted to do something to somehow artistically reflect upon the
genocide,’ says Oshagan. `Even though we’re three generations removed
from the actual fact, it is still very much part of our community and
part of our consciousness.’ The photos have been displayed in city
halls, galleries, and museums, and most recently have been launched
into a program to help teachers teach and raise awareness about the
genocide in the Los Angeles unified school district.
The `iwitness’ exhibit will be accompanied by ALMA’s traveling
genocide exhibit, which combines statistics and other accounts in text
and photographs in an effort to educate the public about the first
genocide of the 20th century.
The one-week display will then travel to ALMA, in Watertown, where it
will be displayed in the Museum’s Bedoukian Hall from Thurs., April 2
through May 2009, The Armenian Weekly reports.