ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS SUPPORT THE OPEN-AIR HALL OF MOSCOW CINEMA
ArmInfo
2010-03-10 18:15:00
ArmInfo. Over 60 Armenian intellectuals have sent an open letter to
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan with a request to revise the
decision on construction of a church at the place of the open-air
hall of Moscow Cinema.
The authors of the letter recall that in accordance with the
governmental decision dated 25 Feb 2010, the space where the
building is situated, on timeless basis goes to the Mother See
of Holy Echmiadzin that is going to rebuild previously owned Holly
Poghos-Petros (Paul-Peter) church destroyed by Soviet authorities. "We
think that it is wrong to repeat the policy of Soviet authorities –
creating one cultural value at the expense of another value. The
building of the open-air hall of Moscow Cinema (architects Spartak
Knteghtsyan and Telman Gevorgyan) is one of the best examples of
Yerevan architecture. Moreover, this is the only open hall in Yerevan,
which has always been the favorite place of cultural rest of Yerevan
residents, which is proved by the "Open music festival" held a year
ago. We also think that when carrying out such cardinal changes,
it is necessary to take into account the public opinion, which
will allow ruling out or minimizing the possible mistakes. We have
addressed a similar letter to the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin
II and hope for his support in suppressing the given process. We hope
that in the name of respect for cultural values of Armenian people,
the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin and the Government of Armenia will
give up these plans",- says the letter.
The letter was signed by 66 men of culture and art, among them writer
and publicist Pertch Zeytuntsyan, painter Hakob Hakobyan, Rector of the
Yerevan State Conservatory Sergey Sarajyan, musicologist Araksi Saryan,
coordinator of the Yerevan Office of the Organization for Research on
Armenian Architecture Samvel Karapetyan and singer Rouben Hakhverdyan.
To note, the internet community has also joined the support for
the open-air hall. For instance, an open group "SAVE Cinema Moscow
Open-Air Hall" has been created in the Facebook social network,
to which over 2 thsd people have already joined.