Author: Markos Nalchajian

Military reforms to ensure constant readiness – Speaker

Markos Nalchajian

 13:12,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has said that the authorities are working with the presumption that an attack could take place at any moment and called for constant readiness.

“Making predictions is an ungrateful task,” he told reporters when asked whether there was a chance that the Azerbaijani border provocations could escalate into large-scale hostilities.

“Of course we must always be ready that an attack could take place at any moment against us, and we are working with this very logic. The actions and reforms in the military are carried out with this logic, regardless whether or not there would be provocations,” Simonyan said.




Iran Denies Radioactive Pollution Of Aras River By Armenia

Markos Nalchajian


Author: Maryam Sinaee


Media reports about possible radioactive contamination of Aras River in Iran’s northwestern borders by Armenia’s nuclear power plant has led to widespread concerns.

However, Iran's Nuclear Safety Center has refuted the reports. In a statement on Tuesday, the center which is an affiliate of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said the river Aras is monitored at least once a year for radioactive pollution and that the last survey in March this year did not indicate any radioactive pollution as claimed by Payam-e Ma newspaper on Monday. 

Quoting a paper published earlier by the Border Studies Research Journal of the Iranian police, Payam-e Ma on Monday suggested that the extremely high occurrence of various types of cancers and liver diseases in Ardabil Province bordering the Republic of Azerbaijan, could be attributed to radioactive pollution of the Aras River emanating from Armenia’s nuclear power plant situated in Metsamor hundreds of kilometers to the west. 

Payam-e Ma’s article followed a warning on June 12 by Mahmoud Abbaszadeh-Meshkini, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee who claimed that effluent from the power plant which was polluting the river could be the cause of the high occurrence of cancer in Iran’s Ardabil. 

However, the cause of the high rate of cancer in the area is hard to establish. It is not clear whether the phenomenon is related to the environment or has other underlying reasons. But concerns linger on as many do not trust the Iranian government on the issue of radioactive contamination.

A deputy health minister, Dr. Reza Malekzadeh, told the media in October 2020 that a longitudinal study carried out over a period of 20 years about the occurrence of stomach cancer in Ardabil Province has shown a rate of 50 per 100,000 of the province’s population. This is the highest rate in the country. 

However, the Nuclear Safety Center’s statement said the Armenian power plant is too far from the Aras for its effluent to reach the river and pollute it as claimed. 

The Aras River which rises in Turkey forms part of Iran's border with its northwestern neighbors, Armenia and Azerbaijan, before flowing into the Kura River in Azerbaijan. 

“The Aras River is being continually monitored for radioactivity and other required substances,” the statement said and added that the center will establish an online water monitoring station in the said area very soon to carry out tests. 

In the past ten years, Iranian officials have repeatedly denied radioactive pollution of the Aras River by the Armenian nuclear plant. 

Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant which is the only nuclear power plant in the South Caucasus was built in the 1970s. The two units of the plant provide a total of 815 MW of electricity and supplied approximately 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity in 2015. 

The plant has been a source of environmental concern since the Spitak Earthquake in 1988 which led to its closure until 1995. The plant has been classified by the EU as the oldest and least reliable of all the 66 reactors built by the former Soviet Union. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), however, said in 2011 that the plant posed an “acceptable” level of risk to the environment and could “in principle” operate beyond its design life span. 

The media have also warned that heavy metals in the effluent of other industries in Armenia, Turkey and Iran have been polluting the river for many years. Most of the pollution, however, is apparently caused by Armenian copper mines and plants in the area. 

Firuz Ghasemzadeh, spokesman of the Iranian Water Industry, told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) on May 10 that the Iranian ministry of energy and both Iran’s and Armenia’s departments of environment had been investigating the pollution caused by the Armenian mines. 

According to Ghasemzadeh, sources of pollution were eliminated by installation of water treatment facilities, but occasional pollution was still possible. He also stressed that Armenia has given assurances that it would control the sources of pollution. 

Sports: FIAS reveals prize fund for Cup of President of NOC of Armenia

Markos Nalchajian

  • By Geoff Berkeley

    •  

  •  Thursday,

    • A prize fund of $189,000 (£148,000/€172,500) has been announced for an International Sambo Federation event due to be staged in Yerevan in two months’ time.

    The Armenian capital is scheduled to stage the "Cup of the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Armenia Gagik Tsarukyan" from August 5 to 6.

    Male sambists are set to compete across the 58 kilogram, 64kg, 71kg, 79kg, 88kg, 98kg and over-98kg categories.

    There is also due to be two women’s divisions with the 54kg and over-80kg contests named on the programme.

    Hosts Armenia is expected to field two sambists in each category, while other countries will only be allowed to have one per division.

    The winners of the Cup of the President of the NOC of Armenia Gagik Tsarukyan are due to raffle off the cash prize fund.

    Champions in Yerevan are set to receive $10,000 (£7,850/€9,150), with silver and bronze medallists poised to claim $5,000 (£3,900/€4,600) and $3,000 (£2,350/€2,750) respectively.

     

    Azerbaijan opens fire from different caliber firearms and mortar in the direction of the Armenian positions

    Markos Nalchajian

     11:40,

    YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS.  At 10:50 p.m. on June 9, the units of Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire from different caliber firearms at the Armenian positions located in the Kakhakn sector, Gegharkunik Province, using mortars as well.

    As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, there are no casualties on the Armenian side.

    Earlier, on June 9, at 6:30 p.m., units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire on a vehicle transporting Armenian servicemen in the direction of Kakhakn.

    AW: Senators Padilla and Rubio launch bi-partisan bill condemning Azerbaijan’s Artsakh blockade; Demanding Aliyev sanctions

    Markos Nalchajian

    `

    June 8, 2023 ANCA ANCA News 0

    WASHINGTON, DC – Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) teamed up to introduce anti-blockade legislation today, backed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and supported by a wide array of American civil society coalition partners, increasing US pressure on Azerbaijan to end its nearly six-month long blockade of 120,000 Christian Armenians in their indigenous Artsakh homeland.

    The measure is similar to H.Res.108, a bipartisan resolution spearheaded by Congressional Armenian Caucus co-chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and the Armenian Caucus leadership, which currently has 88 cosponsors.

    The Senate introduction – which is supported by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who is an original cosponsor of the measure – is timed with the next round of US-mediated Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks, scheduled as early as next week in Washington, DC.  The measure specifically calls for US sanctions against Azerbaijani officials responsible for the Artsakh blockade and ongoing anti-Armenian human rights violations and urges the Biden Administration to stop all military aid to Azerbaijan by fully enforcing Section 907 sanctions.

    “Armenian and allied Americans thank Senators Padilla, Rubio and Menendez for enforcing concrete costs and real-world consequences on Azerbaijan over its six-month-long blockade of Artsakh – starting with the immediate cut-off of all US military aid to Baku,” said ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian. “American taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize the armed forces of an authoritarian regime that neither needs nor deserves US support.”

    Armenians and allied Americans can voice support for the Padilla-Rubio Anti-Blockade measure by visiting https://anca.org/resolution.

    “Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor—the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to Armenia—is inhumane and unacceptable,” said Senator Padilla, upon introduction of the measure. “This blockade has created a humanitarian crisis, rendering the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh without access to food, medicine and other basic necessities. Our resolution would make it clear that the United States must take action to hold Azerbaijan accountable.”

    Rep. Pallone welcomed the Senate introduction of the measure, stating, “I stand with my colleagues today in condemning Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockade of Artsakh. It’s clear that Azerbaijan’s blockage of the Lachin Corridor is coordinated and intended to shut off the only supply route for much of Artsakh’s food, medical supplies and transport, and other essential goods. We stand united in telling Azerbaijan to end this intentional humanitarian crisis.”

    In addition to clearly and unequivocally condemning Azerbaijan’s six-month blockade, the resolution would place the US Senate on record in favor of five practical remedies to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Artsakh caused by Azerbaijan’s blockade of food, medicine and other vital necessities:

    (1) Encourages the United States Government and the international community to petition the United Nations Security Council, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other appropriate international bodies to investigate any and all war crimes committed by Azerbaijani forces against Armenian civilians;

    (2) Calls for the deployment of international observers to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh to explore opportunities for more effective and sustainable guarantees of security and peaceful development.

    (3) Calls on the President to immediately suspend any US new, current or pending military or security assistance to Azerbaijan and to fully enforce Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act;

    (4) Supports US sanctions under existing statutory authority against Azerbaijani officials responsible for the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh and other well-documented human rights violations committed against Armenians in the region, such as the targeting of civilian infrastructure and the destruction of historic, cultural and places of worship of great significance to Armenians;

    (5) Supports efforts by the United States, the European Union and the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of Azerbaijani aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh.

    The full text of the resolution is available here.

    •  Bio
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    The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

    Russia aims to block EU from hosting COP29 summit, potentially leaving Armenia and Azerbaijan as contenders – report

    Markos Nalchajian

     11:38, 8 June 2023

    YEREVAN, JUNE 8, ARMENPRESS. Russia intends to block European Union countries from hosting next year's UN international climate negotiations, according to internal emails seen by Reuters, a potential setback for EU-member Bulgaria's competition with Armenia and Azerbaijan to draw the COP29.

    Armenia and Bulgaria had put themselves forward to host the summit.

    Azerbaijan added its name to the running this week.

    Rights to host the gatherings rotate between the United Nations' five global regions, with Eastern Europe hosting in 2024. The 23 countries in that region must select their host candidate unanimously. If Russia vetoed all EU countries, then Armenia or Azerbaijan could still be in the running, Reuters reported.

    Russia's delegation to the UN climate body (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC) sent an email to other Eastern European country representatives in April in which it said it would not support an EU host.

    RFE/RL Armenian Report – 06/05/2023

    Markos Nalchajian 
                                            Monday, June 5, 2023


Armenia, Azerbaijan Continue To Disagree On Border Demarcation

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - A view of an area in Armenia's Syunik province where Armenian and 
Azerbaijani troops are locked in a border standoff, May 14, 2021. (Photo by the 
Armenian Human Rights Defender's Office)


Armenia and Azerbaijan have still not reached an agreement on the key parameters 
of delimiting and demarcating their long border, Foreign Minister Ararat 
Mirzoyan said on Monday.

Baku insisted, meanwhile, that the two sides made no progress on the thorny 
issue during recent peace talks.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed 
it at their most recent meeting held in Moldova’s capital Chisinau on Thursday 
on the sidelines of a European summit. They were joined by European Union chief 
Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf 
Scholz.

Pashinian described the talks as “useful.” In particular, he said, Baku now 
seems open to accepting an Armenian proposal to use 1975 Soviet maps as a basis 
for delimiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, likewise said on 
Sunday that “progress” was made at Chisinau regarding the use of those maps. The 
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry denied that on Monday, however, accusing Grigorian 
of misrepresenting the Chisinau summit.

“The Armenian side is well aware that at this and other meetings no agreement 
was reached on using any maps as the basis for the border delimitation,” the 
ministry said in a statement.

The statement noted that Azerbaijan has demarcated its borders with other 
neighboring states “on the basis of analyses and examination of legally binding 
documents, rather than any specially chosen map.”

Speaking in the Armenian parliament later in the day, Mirzoyan acknowledged that 
Yerevan and Baku still disagree on the border delimitation mechanism. But he too 
claimed that during the Chisinau meeting Aliyev “did not seem to object” to 
using the 1975 maps.

Aliyev said ahead of that meeting that the demarcation process must be carried 
out on Baku’s terms and warned of fresh military action against Armenia.




Ter-Petrosian Aide Also Blasts Pashinian’s Karabakh Policy

        • Karlen Aslanian

Armenia -- Levon Zurabian, deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress.


A top political ally of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian joined on Monday a 
chorus of condemnation from Armenian opposition leaders of Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s effective recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
Levon Zurabian said that Pashinian has gained nothing in return for meeting 
Baku’s key demand.

“We can see that his move was followed not by a softening of Azerbaijan’s 
position but by a more aggressive stance [adopted by Baku,]” Zurabian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

He pointed to the recent tightening of Azerbaijan’s six-month blockade of 
Karabakh’s land link with Armenia and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s 
threats of fresh military action against Karabakh.

Pashinian publicly acknowledged his readiness to sign a peace deal upholding 
Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh after his May 14 talks with Aliyev held in 
Brussels. The statement drew strong condemnation from the Armenian opposition 
and Karabakh’s leadership.

Zurabian suggested that Pashinian had naively expected that Baku will 
reciprocate by lifting the blockade or come under strong Western pressure to 
agree to an international format of negotiations with the Karabakh Armenians. He 
described the prime minister’s failure to make his recognition conditional on 
such concessions beforehand as a manifestation of gross incompetence.

“What Pashinian is doing is an unprecedented technique in the history of 
diplomacy,” said the deputy chairman of Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National 
Congress party.

Zurabian insisted that Pashinian has not even secured a formal Azerbaijani 
recognition of Armenia’s existing borders. He argued that Azerbaijani troops 
show no signs of preparing to withdraw from Armenian border areas occupied by 
them after the 2020 war in Karabakh.

Pashinian’s Karabakh policy has been praised by the European Union and the 
United States. The U.S. State Department last week also hailed Aliyev’s stated 
readiness to grant “amnesty” to Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leaders if they 
resign and “surrender” to Baku.

Ter-Petrosian and his political team have long advocated a compromise solution 
to the Karabakh conflict. The 78-year-old ex-president stated last September the 
Armenian opposition should help Pashinian accept “painful solutions” backed by 
the international community. But he has not yet personally commented on 
Pashinian’s latest moves denounced by Zurabian.




Fallen Soldier’s Mother Goes On Trial

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Gayane Hakobian is brought into a courtroom in Yerevan, June 5, 2023.


A grief-stricken woman accused of attempting to “kidnap” Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s son was moved to house arrest and again taken into custody a few 
hours later as she went on trial on Monday.

Gayane Hakobian, whose son Zhora Martirosian was killed during the 2020 war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh, was detained last month after an argument with Ashot Pashinian.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee charged Hakobian with tricking the young man 
into getting in her car and trying to drive him to the Yerablur Military 
Pantheon where her son was buried along with hundreds of other soldiers killed 
in action. Pashinian Jr. jumped out of the car on their way to Yerablur.

Hakobian’s arrest sparked angry protests in Yerevan attended by several dozen 
other parents of fallen soldiers and hundreds of their sympathizers. Nikol 
Pashinian sought to justify it during a May 22 news conference.

Hakobian again strongly denied the accusations at the start of her trial. If 
convicted, she will face between four and eight years in prison.

Armenia - Mothers of soldiers killed in the 2020 Karabakh war lead an 
anti-government demonstration in Yerevan, May 20, 2023.

“I had no evil intentions. Nobody forced him to get into my car,” she told a 
Yerevan court of first instance.

“I just wanted us to go to Yerablur, my home and my holy site,” she said. “Bad 
things are not done in holy sites.”

Hakobian’s high-profile trial began hours after Armenia’s Court of Appeals 
released her from custody and moved her to house arrest. A trial prosecutor and 
Ashot Pashinian protested against that decision during the first lower court 
hearing in the case.

They both demanded that the defendant be arrested anew, with the prime 
minister’s son saying that she committed a “grave crime” and must remain behind 
bars. The judge presiding over the trial promptly satisfied their demands.

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's son Ashot speaks during a trial in 
Yerevan, June 5, 2023.

One of Hakobian’s lawyers responded by accusing the judge of executing a 
“high-level” political order. “The legal problem raised by us is that there is 
direct influence on the court from the prime minister and this was proved during 
today’s hearing as well,” he told journalists.

Armenian opposition leaders and other critics of the government claim that 
Pashinian ordered Hakobian’s arrest in a bid to muzzle the families of deceased 
soldiers who have staged demonstrations over the past year to demand his 
prosecution on war-related charges.

Pashinian triggered their regular demonstrations in Yerevan in April 2022 when 
he responded to continuing opposition criticism of his handling of the 
disastrous war. He said he “could have averted the war, as a result of which we 
would have had the same situation, but of course without the casualties.” The 
soldiers’ families say Pashinian thus publicly admitted sacrificing the lives of 
at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers killed during the six-week war with Azerbaijan.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

    Armenia actively works around visa liberalization with EU – foreign minister

    Markos Nalchajian

     15:32, 5 June 2023

    YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. The visa liberalization issue is being actively discussed with the European Union, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Monday.

    Speaking at a parliamentary committee discussion on the 2022 budget report, FM Mirzoyan said that the visa liberalization issue is an item on the agenda of Armenia and EU members and Armenia is receiving support in almost all cases, however the matter requires a consensus decision from the EU.

    “We are actively discussing the visa liberalization topic. It is on the agenda between us and the EU or us and individual EU countries, it is being discussed, and it is mostly or in nearly all cases supported. Nonetheless, a consensus position is required for the EU to make such a decision. And it hasn’t been possible to reach a consensus within the EU so far,” the foreign minister told lawmakers.

    He said that the work continues.

    Asbarez: Elen Asatryan Announces Bid for State Assembly District 44

    Markos Nalchajian
    by Contributor

     

     June 5, 2023

     

    in Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

    GLENDALE— Elen Asatryan officially launched her campaign Monday for the California State Assembly’s 44th District. If elected, Asatryan would be the first Armenian-American immigrant woman to be elected to the California State Legislature in its 174 year history.

    Asatryan, a lifelong democrat and community leader, currently serves as a Glendale City Councilwoman. 

    “I’m excited for the opportunity to continue to serve my community in the California State Legislature,” stated Councilwoman Asatryan.

    “I plan on building on my long history of advocacy and leadership at the local, state and federal levels and bring our fight for social justice, small businesses, women’s rights, environmental protections and working families to Sacramento. I’m honored to have the support of so many in our community who have encouraged me to take this step,” she added. 

    Asatryan entered the race with the endorsement of local State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank), who said, “I am thrilled to support Elen Asatryan for State Assembly. As your State Senator, I know firsthand that we need representatives in Sacramento that are smart, hardworking and committed to serving our community – Elen brings all of that to the table and more. I’ve seen Elen dedicate herself to improving all our lives and she is a fierce fighter for our children, our local economy, our environment, and the diversity that makes our community so special. Elen is the best choice to represent us in Sacramento and am proud to endorse my good friend for the State Assembly.” 

    At the early age of 10, Asatryan quickly discovered her drive and passion for community. After the historic collapse of the Soviet Union, like many Armenians, she and her family immigrated to the United States and immediately settled in Glendale. Asatryan and her family rebuilt their lives learning a new culture and language and used their entrepreneurial spirit to build new businesses to achieve the American dream. These early powerful experiences navigating new worlds and spaces forged her into the community leader she is today. 

    Spanning over two decades, Asatryan spearheaded and led successful initiatives and campaigns on the local, state, and federal level, which include: ensuring equal access and representation in government; creating public policy fellowship and internship programs for high school, college students, and recent college graduates; establishing the Glendale Domestic Violence Task Force; expanding green space, and access to programs for low-income families and marginalized communities. 

    The California State Assembly District 44 includes: North Glendale, Montrose, La Crescenta, Sunland-Tujunga, Shadow Hills, North Hollywood, Burbank, Toluca Lake, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, and Valley Village.

    Asatryan is a graduate of local public schools: Columbus Elementary School, Toll Middle School, Herbert Hoover High School, and UCLA. Elen obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with concentrations in American Politics and International Relations. Elen resides in Glendale with her rescue dog, Buddy. 

    For more info please visit ElectElen.com


    Photography and installation explore issues of dislocation and cultural identity at Armenian Museum of America

    Markos Nalchajian
     Armenian Museum of America Photography, Art, Announcements 0

    Ara Oshagan features an individual looking out from among the bookshelves of a library that opens entirely onto a war-ravaged boulevard in Beirut.

    WATERTOWN, Mass.—The Armenian Museum of America (AMofA) has announced the opening of its next contemporary art exhibition, “Ara Oshagan: Disrupted, Borders.” The show follows the AMofA’s blockbuster exhibit, “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection,” which received rave reviews and was viewed by thousands of visitors. 

    “Disrupted, Borders” at AMofA is an expanded version of what was previously exhibited at Stockton University Art Gallery in New Jersey. The show is being curated by Ryann Casey. “This exhibition connects many of the diasporic and homeland entanglements that have occupied me over the past decade or more, from Los Angeles to Beirut to Artsakh,” states Oshagan. “The works articulate a certain ‘diasporic liberation,’ as so well stated by Hyperallergic editor Hrag Vartanian in his introductory essay about the exhibit.”

    The exhibition combines photography, collage, installation and film, the last of which runs in the AMofA’s Rose and Gregory A. Kolligian Media Room. “The installation at Stockton was quite impressive in person and we knew this was something we wanted to bring to our Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries,” says executive director Jason Sohigian. “Ara’s photography is from the diaspora in Los Angeles and Beirut, as well as Armenia and Artsakh, so it connects many historical elements with contemporary issues facing Armenians today.”

    More than 55 works are on display including a massive mural from Oshagan’s Beirut Memory Project, as well as six large medieval manuscripts printed on fabric and overlain with photographs of people from Shushi, Artsakh. Eighteen Armenian Hmayil prayer scrolls are also reproduced for an installation in the middle of the gallery space. The scrolls are created from the digitized collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, and they are modified with “interventions” from Oshagan that reflect on travel, family, culture and politics. 

    “Visitors will notice that some of the gallery walls are painted red. This color choice was intentional, and it is actually the color of the dye made by the Cochineal insect that is indigenous to the Ararat plain and Arax River Valley,” explains Sohigian. “Vordan Karmir is a familiar color in Armenian rugs, and Oshagan selected it with the curator to accent the exhibit. It adds another layer of meaning to the issues that Ara brings to this show around Armenian identity and culture.” 

    The mural and manuscript portraits on fabric, which are part of Oshagan’s Shushi series, are some of the largest works that have ever been exhibited in the AMofA galleries. “Ara’s innovative style allowed us to bring these larger-than-life images into the space so this installation offers many surprises from color to scale to medium, and a mix of time and place that will resonate with visitors,” adds Sohigian. 

    Ara Oshagan, Shushi portraits #1, 2021

    “Oshagan manages to seamlessly weave together different geographies, historical sources, and a range of mediums to consider the impact of dislocation on our personal and collective history,” explains Casey. “Bringing the past to the present, Oshagan asks us to reflect on our connections to place and community while highlighting the importance of memory on our shared future.”

    Oshagan is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator, and cultural worker whose practice explores collective and personal histories of dispossession, legacies of violence and identity. He works in photography, film, collage, installation, book art, public art and monument-making. Oshagan has published three books of photographs. He is currently an artist-in-residence at 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica and a curator at ReflectSpace Gallery in Glendale.

    Casey is a New Jersey-based artist and educator. She is an adjunct professor of photography, art history and critical theory at Stockton University. Her current photographic and curatorial projects focus on themes of loss, trauma and memory.

    “Disrupted, Borders” will be exhibited in the AMofA’s third floor contemporary galleries through October 29, 2023. The gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The Armenian Museum of America is located at 65 Main Street, Watertown, MA.

    There will be an opening reception for the exhibit on Wednesday, June 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Oshagan will be present. 

    Ara Oshagan, displaced #36, Nor Marash, 2018

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    The Armenian Museum of America is the largest Armenian museum in the Diaspora. It has grown into a major repository for all forms of Armenian material culture that illustrate the creative endeavors of the Armenian people over the centuries. Today, the Museum’s collections hold more than 25,000 artifacts including 5,000 ancient and medieval Armenian coins, 1,000 stamps and maps, 30,000 books, 3,000 textiles and 180 Armenian inscribed rugs, and an extensive collection of Urartian and religious artifacts, ceramics, medieval illuminations and various other objects. The collection includes historically significant objects, including five of the Armenian Bibles printed in Amsterdam in 1666.