ARMENIA REGAINS ACTIVITY IN GLOBAL CULTURAL EVENTS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
04.02.2010 GMT+04:00

Last week was notable for the following cultural events:

The140th birth anniversary of Komitas was marked in Kaiser-Wilhelm
Church in Berlin last week. The event started with a service offered by
Archimandrite Eghishe, the spiritual leader of the Armenian community
of Berlin.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Such events are important for preservation of
national identity. They help the young generation know their culture,"
chairman of the Armenian church and cultural community of Berlin
Petros Tikichian said in his opening remarks.

Community member Sona Aiber-Chukaszyan gave a report on Komitas’ life.

"It was a great evening, filled with the energy and spirit of Komitas,"
Father Eghishe told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

The event was attended by art workers, historians, students and
representatives of the Armenian community of Berlin.

* During the 8th session of Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental
commission on economic issues, parties reached an agreement the
reconstruction of Surb Gevorg Church in Tbilisi, said commission
Co-Chair Vardan Badalyan.

"An agreement containing a clause on church reconstruction will be
signed today between relevant Ministries," he told journalists Tuesday.

Touching upon the problem of Javakhk he said the issue wasn’t discussed
at the meeting. He also noted the construction of Javakhk-Batumi
highway will create infrastructure development potentials in the
Armenian-populated region.

*

The premiere of Sasna Tsrer full-length animated film took place in
Moscow Cinema, Yerevan, on January 25.

"It’s an important event for the Armenian nation. Sasna Tsrer features
Armenian colors, music and mentality. We finally have a screen version
of an Armenian epos," AFR Dashnaktsutyun member Artyusha Shahbazyan
told a PanARMENIAN.Net.

"This film is a work of professionals. And special credit should be
given to scriptwriter and director Arman Manaryan," he said.

*

Tekeyan Cultural Center in Yerevan hosted the presentation of
"Armenian Genocide" book today, January 27. The book was published
in 10 languages, including Turkish.

"My first book, dedicated to the Armenian Genocide, was published
in March 1965. For the past year, I worked at a number of problems
related to Middle East, Arabian world, Artsakh, yet I always touched
upon the issue of Genocide in some way or another," the author of
the book, RA National Academy member Nikolay Hovhannesyan said.

According to him, "Armenian Genocide" book differs from other
monographs on the subject. While working at the book, I was guided
by a principle "no whining". I attempted to narrate the most tragic
pages of our history and do it in a dignified manner. I believe I
managed to avoid the most common shortcoming of our historiography,"
he emphasized.

"My friend characterized this book as a strong message to Turkey,"
the author noted.

*

Shooting House, the first feature film in the history of Artsakh (NKR)
has been shot. It’s a 20-minute film based on the history of writer,
journalist and Karabakh war veteran Ashot Beglaryan. The film was shot
under the support of NKR Defense Ministry and Public Television of
Artsakh (financial sponsor: businessman Karen Baghdasarov). Starring
in the film is participant of Karabakh war Martin Aloyan, actor of
the Vahram Papazyan Drama Theatre.

*

Arto Chakmakchyan’s exhibition opened in UNESCO headquarters in
Paris on January 28. Renowned singer Charles Aznavour, RA Ambassador
to France Vigen Chitechyan, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for
Culture Francoise Riviere, cultural workers and representatives of
the Armenian community of France attended the opening ceremony.

The exhibition was organized on the initiative of French Embassy in
Armenia and RA delegation to UNESCO, under the auspices of Calouste
Gulbenkian and AGBU Europe.

*

Film director Roger Kupelian shared ideas about the film about Vartan
Mamikonian.

"The idea to shoot a film about Vartan Mamikonian was born quite early
on. I was taught the poems of Vartan when I was quite young. It was
in New Zealand, during my work on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy,
that I was able to meet some of the artisans that were able to
help facilitate shooting the first few trailers. The name "East of
Byzantium" was not the original name, as that was arrived on after
consulting with producers here about having a project with wider
appeal. Don’t be surprised if it changes again. We’ve been through
years of development and research on many levels and it’s just a fact
that it has allowed the project to really mature and hone down to the
importance of its central story," he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"We’ve approached many smaller studios and agencies but until all
the pieces are in place it is best to keep your powder dry. As you
know Hollywood is going through a particularly tough time so getting
such a high budget film greenlit takes time. We are in the process of
attaching executive producers who will take this to the next level,"
Kupelian said.

Asked why the Avarayr Battle was chosen to be the film plot, he said,
"The short answer is: Filmmaker’s discretion. And now for the long
answer: Keep in mind that the further you step out of Armenia, the
less the Diaspora usually knows about anything dealing with Armenian
history or at least of the region. Many people are very familiar with
this story more than many others, however. After the Genocide it is
one of the most widely known."

"This story is not about a ‘battle’ any more than Braveheart was about
one particular battle. It’s about characters, and these characters
symbolize the spectrum of challenges the Diaspora and homeland are
dealing with today. At the end of the day the decision was purely an
emotional one: If you don’t believe in your story and the importance
of telling it, this very difficult path is not worth being on. You
will face many challenges, many of them from within your own cultural
circle. To outsiders it is an exciting story similar to Gladiator. To
us it is fraught with political questions and inside squabbles. There
has to be a distance at some point when deciding to tell a story for
a wider audience," Kupelian said.