ARMENIAN
ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:

Contact: Danielle
Saroyan

Telephone:
(202) 393-3434

Web: www.aaainc.org

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY CONGRATULATES
SMITHSONIAN FOR MOST ATTENDED FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL IN RECENT YEARS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
featuring "Armenia: Creating Home" concluded earlier this month, the
Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) would like to congratulate the
Smithsonian Institution, United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), and everyone involved for ensuring a successful two-week event. The
2018 Folklife Festival showcased Armenia and its culture, art, music, food,
wine, and history through narratives, demonstrations, and workshops that
touched on many aspects of Armenian life, and was one of the most attended in
recent years. The Festival ran from June 27 to July 1 and then from July 4 to
July 8.

"This
year's Folklife Festival was an unqualified success. It was truly wonderful for
a lot of reasons, not the least of which was that the 'Armenia: Creating Home'
program really made people feel at home. We, at the Smithsonian, were able to
accomplish that because we had good, strong partners in Armenia, and also
Armenian Americans who came out, really supported the program and the
Smithsonian, engaged the participants from Armenia, and made those participants
feel comfortable and at home as well," Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Director Sabrina Lynn Motley told the Armenian Assembly.

She
continued: "I kept hearing from visitors how warm and friendly the
Festival felt and how much they learned about Armenia. So many people said that
this was one of the best Folklife Festivals they experienced in years! That is
in no small part due to the coming together of people from Armenia and the
Armenian American diaspora, and sharing that sense of culture and what home
means. With the Armenian Assembly of America, we had a wonderful partner and
supporter who believed in the vision of the Folklife Festival."

"In
terms of our visitorship, it was clear that we had the largest attendance that
we had in a couple of years. We conducted surveys, and results showed people
were really pleased with what they encountered at this summer's Folklife
Festival. The Festival succeeded in sharing and exposing new cultures to people
who didn't know Armenia, and I think Armenian Americans also learned more about
cultural life in Armenia and where the country is heading in the future,"
Motley concluded.

The Armenian
Assembly's 2018 summer interns were among the guests in attendance, who were
fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in the Terjenian-Thomas
Assembly Internship Program in Washington, D.C. during the same year that the
Smithsonian featured Armenia on the National Mall.

The interns
attended the narratives and talks, including "Cultural Diplomacy with Two
Ambassadors," which featured the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills,
Jr. and Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. Grigor Hovhannissian discussing U.S.-Armenia
relations and the significance of cultural diplomacy today. They also
participated in the traditional dancing and enjoyed the cooking demonstrations
of the food most familiar to them, such as ghapama (stuffed pumpkin), khorovats
(barbecue), dolma (stuffed grape leaves), baklava, string cheese, gata
(Armenian pastry), kufta (ground meat kebab), sweet sujukh (dried fruit and
walnuts), and eech (bulgur salad). They especially were excited to see the
fresh lavash baked in a homemade tonir (clay oven), made in front of the
crowds.

This year,
Armenian Assembly summer intern Tamar Barsamian interned at the Smithsonian
Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, where she worked on the
participant staff team of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

"Working
at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was really touching and special to me. I
had the opportunity to introduce Armenian culture to everybody, both Armenian
and non-Armenian, who came to visit Washington, D.C. It was heartwarming to
witness Americans learning about and appreciating Armenian culture,"
stated Tamar Barsamian, a senior at Loyola University Maryland majoring in
Political Science with a Peace and Justice Studies minor.

"On
behalf of the Armenian Assembly and the Armenian American community, we would
like to thank everyone involved in supporting the Smithsonian Institution to
ensure a successful Folklife Festival. We want to especially thank Smithsonian
Folklife Festival Director Sabrina Lynn Motley, Director of Special Projects
Halle Butvin and the entire Smithsonian team, USAID, the United States Embassy
in Yerevan, the Armenian Embassy in Washington, the sponsors, and the many
individuals who helped make this Folklife Festival a great success,"
Assembly Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian stated.

"To
celebrate Armenia's culture in the heart of Washington, D.C. was truly
remarkable. The enduring bonds and shared values between Armenia and America
were further enhanced through this unique opportunity. I extend my warm
appreciation to my U.S. counterparts and to all the donors for making this
festival possible," added Ambassador Hovhannissian. 

Established
in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.

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NR#: 2018-035

Photo
Caption 1: Armenian Assembly Terjenian-Thomas Summer Interns at Folklife
Festival celebrating Vardavar, an ancient Armenian holiday where you throw
water at each other

Photo
Caption 2: Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny, Smithsonian
Folklife Festival Director Sabrina Lynn Motley, Armenian Assembly Co-Chair
Anthony Barsamian, and Armenian Assembly Terjenian-Thomas Summer Intern Tamar
Barsamian

Photo
Caption 3: Armenian Assembly Terjenian-Thomas Summer Intern Tamar Barsamian with
Intern Coordinator Milena Davityan at the Folklife Festival

Photo
Caption 4: Armenian Assembly Terjenian-Thomas Summer Interns dancing at Folklife
Festival

Photo
Caption 5: Armenian Assembly Terjenian-Thomas Summer Intern Lena Richardson at
the Folklife Festival

Photo
Caption 6: Armenian Assembly Terjenian-Thomas Summer Interns with Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chair Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) at the
Folklife Festival

Available online: http://bit.ly/2zYsiWW