Ha’aretz
Aug 4 2004
Armenian art on the walls of Jerusalem
By Irit Rosenblum
A huge mural made of Armenian tiles featuring the sea, animals,
plants, trees and Noah’s ark will be dedicated next week at 14 Koresh
St., in the heart of Jerusalem. The 4-meter by 6-meter (13-foot by
19.5-foot) mural was designed and made using a unique technique by
Miri Balian, who volunteered her talents to the city. The Balian
family is one of the three Armenian ceramic art families –
Karakashian, Ohannessian and Balian – who settled in Jerusalem in
1919 and have been hand-crafting artistic ceramic tiles in Jerusalem
ever since. Tile murals by Balian can also be viewed in the portico
of the president’s house, in the Malha Mall and in Beit Gavriel in
Tzemach, on the shores of Lake Kinneret. Her works have been
displayed at exhibitions in Washington and in the Eretz Yisrael
Museum in Tel Aviv. The mural was installed by the East Jerusalem
Development Company and financed by the Jerusalem municipality and
the Tourism Ministry.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress