PRESS RELEASE
MASHDOTS COLLEGE
Contact Person: Sofi Boyle
411 E. Acacia Avenue
Glendale, Ca 91205
Tel. (818) 548-9345
Fax: (818) 548-9342
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: mashdotscollege.org
ORGANIZED BY MASHDOTS COLLEGE
AN EVENING ON ARMENIAN MONUMENTS OF NAKHICHEVAN FEATURUNG HISTORIAN
ARGAM AYVAZIAN
An evening dedicated to the Armenian heritage of the Nakhichevan
region will be held on Sunday, November 11 at 6:00 p.m. at the
Glendale Public Library auditorium, 222 E. Harvard Street. A
documentary film Broken Melody will befeatured followed by an
illustrated lecture on monuments of the Nakhichevanregion. The lecture
will feature distinguished scholar, historian Argam Ayvazian from
Armenia. The lecture is organized by Mashdots College.
The Nakhichevan region, part of historic Armenia with uninterrupted
Armenian presence down to recent times, is the site of thousands of
vandalized, destroyed, and endangered Armenian monuments. Argam
Ayvazian, born in thevillage of Arinj in Nakhichevan, has dedicated
his entire life to documenting, analyzing, and researching the
Armenian cultural heritage and historicalmonuments of Nakhichevan
which are known for their distinct architectural school, as well as
the medieval cemetery at Jugha with thousands of intricately designed
and carved khatchkars. Hundreds of Armenian churches and the entire
cemetery were vandalized during the recent years with the final
annihilation of the Jugha cemetery by Azeri soldiers in December 2005.
Argam Ayvazian is the author of numerous books on the subject,
including The Historical Monuments of Nakhichevan (1990), published in
the United Statesby Wayne State University Press. In 2007, Argam
published The Symphony of the Destroyed Jugha Khatchkars, with photos
of hundreds of vandalized khatchkars. Currently, he serves as Deputy
Director, Agency on Protection of Historical and Cultural Environment
of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia.
Ayvazian is on a visit to the United States the purpose of which is to
bring awareness to the American public about the tragic state of the
Armenian cultural heritage in Azerbaijan. Argam’s public appearance
in Glendale is part of the events related to the exhibition of
Armenian Monumentsof Nakhichevan at the Harvard University Center for
Government and International Studies (CGIS) Concourse Gallery, 1730
Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA. The exhibition, assembled by Argam
Ayvazian and Glasgow-based architectural historian Steven Sim, will
present a brief overview of the cultural heritage of Nakhichevan,
focusing on architectural and sculptural monuments of the10th-17th
centuries and including before and after demolition photographs of
churches and the Jugha cemetery khachkars. The exhibition will be on
display from November 2, 2007 to November 19, 2007, it is sponsored by
the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard. The
exhibition organizer is Dr. Anahit Ter-Stepanian.
Funding for the events is provided by COPRIM, Inc., a Montreal-based
architectural development company.
More information about the public lecture in Glendale is available by
calling Mashdots College at (818) 548-9345. Admission is free. Further
information about the exhibition is available by emailing
[email protected] or visiting the exhibition website,