Author: Tambiyan Samvel

CITY OF GLENDALE
Brand Library Art Galleries
1601 West Mountain Street, Glendale CA. 91201
Contact Ripsime Marashian
Tel: (818) 548-2780
Web:

"MAN’S INHUMANITY TO MAN:
JOURNEY OUT OF DARKNESS"
APRIL 4 – MAY 8, 2009
AT BRAND LIBRARY ART GALLERIES

MARCH 17, 2009

The art exhibition "Man’s Inhumanity to Man: Journey out of Darkness"
will open on Saturday, April 4th, from 5-8 pm, at the Brand Library
Art Galleries, 1601 West Mountain Street in Glendale. The event, which
will run through May 8, is part of the City of Glendale’s Annual
Commemorative Events. The exhibit at the Brand Library is organized
by the City of Glendale and co-curated by Ramela Grigorian Abbamontian
PhD in association with the Brand Library Art Galleries. "Art is a
powerful agent in society with the ability to awaken our
consciousness, transform our minds, and ignite a desire to bring about
change," says Abbamontian. "This exhibition aims to do all of these
things."

Organized into three sections, the exhibition includes over 40 artists
and includes over 70 works in a diverse range of media including
painting, sculpture, photography, and installation. Accompanying the
exhibition will be a fully illustrated, color catalogue and essays by
Dr. Abbamontian and UCLA Professor Paul Von Blum which describes the
exhibitions themes and purpose.

The goal with Journey out of Darkness is to educate the viewer about
the various inhumane events that have taken place yesterday and today,
with the hope of avoiding and preventing them tomorrow. It is an
exhibition of contemporary reflections of these events by artists
originating from throughout the world and now residing in Southern
California.

The exhibition will include an innovative educational wall wherein
visitors are invited to post their responses to several question
prompts, including:

What must it have felt like to have been a victim of the inhumanities
portrayed?
What can you do to prevent similar acts in the future?
What is the power of art in the endeavor to prevent inhumanity?
Despite the inhumanity you have just witnessed, is there hope?
Where is there hope?

The intent of this interactive component is to provoke thought and
initiate a dialogue amongst the visitors to the exhibition.

Exhibition themes:

The first section of the exhibition, Faces of Inhumanity, presents the
different forms of inhumanity experienced in human history such as:
Armenian Genocide of 1915; Jewish Holocaust; U.S. involvement in
Central and South America; the Berlin Wall; Labor in Burma; ongoing
atrocities in Darfur, Rwanda; and homelessness.

In the second section, Scars of Inhumanity, the works included address
the repercussions of such atrocities, whether physical, mental or
spiritual. This section of the exhibition also attempts to uncover the
various coping mechanisms employed as the victims aim to live with the
effects of inhumanity.

The final section of the exhibition Humanity’s Triumph offers an
alternative to inhumanity and visually suggests hope, recovery, unity,
and survival.

Man’s Inhumanity to Man Schedule of Events

On view: April 4 – May 8
Press Preview: Friday, April 3, 3 pm – 4 pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 4, 5 pm – 8 pm
Music & Poetry Event: Wednesday April 15, 7 pm -9 pm (details below)
Day of Art and Thought: Saturday, April 18, 11 am – 5 pm (details below)

Additional Events:
Music & Poetry Event: Wednesday April 15, 7 pm — 9 pm

Day of Art and Thought: Saturday, April 18, 11 am – 5 pm
11 am – 12 pm: Gallery Walkthrough with Guest Curator Ramela Abbamontian

12 pm – 1 pm: Artists’ Question & Answer Session with artists
including Sophia Gasparian, Lark (Larisa Pilisky), Poli Marichal,
Hessam Abrishami, Arpine Shakhbandaryan and Mark Vallen.

2 pm – 3 pm: Gallery Walkthrough with Guest Curator Ramela
Abbamontian

3 pm – 4 pm: Multi-disciplinary Panel Discussion with Prof. Paul Von
Blum (UCLA Senior Lecturer in African American Studies, Communications
Studies, and Art History), Levon Marashlian (Professor of History,
Glendale Community College), Angelo Allen (Lecturer in Art Department)
Pierce College 4 pm – 5 pm: Effects of Genocide on the Arts, lecture
and piano performance by Vatche Mankerian, Institute of Armenian
Studies, USC.

This exhibition and accompanying programs are organized by the City of
Glendale Arts & Culture Commission, in collaboration with City of
Glendale=80=99s Cultural Affairs, a division of Parks, Recreation &
Community Services Department, Glendale Public Library/Brand Library,
and by a generous contribution from Advanced Development & Investment,
Inc.

Brand Library Art Galleries is located in northwest Glendale, easily
accessed via the Golden State (5) or Ventura (134) freeways. Hours are
Tuesday and Thursday, 12-8 pm; Wednesday, 12-6 pm; and Friday and
Saturday, 10-5 pm.
Admission to all events is free and open to the public unless
otherwise stated. There is ample free parking. Call 818-548-2051 or
visit for additional information

APPETITES OF GEOPROMINING COMPANY TO BE CONSIDERED BY COMMISSION ON LAKE SEVAN

ArmInfo
2009-03-27 18:06:00

ArmInfo. The appetites of GeoProMining company will be considered by
the Commission on Lake Sevan. Almost one year ago the company said
that it was going to build an ore mining and processing factory near
the lake even though the law on Lake Sevan prohibits such activities.

President of the Association for the Sake of Sustainable Development
Karine Daniyelyan says that this problem will be discussed by the
Committee on Lake Sevan. The Committee has already discussed the
illegal plans of GeoProMining and its chairman Vladimir Movsissyan
strongly criticized them. "Several months ago the Committee
held a guest meeting in the Sevan region. The commissioners and
representatives of public organizations were unanimous: the law
cannot not be violated. That’s why we are surprised and concerned
that some dark forces keep trying to push this project through. The
public strongly objects to these activities and our ecologists hope
to win in this struggle."

"We very much hope that the parliament will not be forced to make
changes to the law on Lake Sevan. Still, we are actively working
to prevent any possibility of this project’s being carried out as
its implementation will kill the lake. Today, Sevan is on the verge
of extinction and such activity may have most terrible ecological
consequences not mentioning seismic risks," says Daniyelyan.

"Naturally, these people want to get rich as quickly as possible."To
note, today ecologists held a protest action in Yerevan against
construction of the GeoProMining plant near the basin of Lake
Sevan. The action participants addressed a letter to Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan calling on him to stop the illegal activity
of GeoProMining. The letter says that the construction of the plant
will result in 100 mln tons of toxic wastes, as well as a tailing
dump with cyanide compounds and heavy metals to flow into the ground
waters of the lake.

Despite this obvious danger, a document on "Conceptual decisions
of installing gold mining plant in the area of Sotk mine with
due regard for environmental risks" was discussed at the Ministry
of Territorial Administration with participation of GeoProMining
leadership on March 2. It assesses the impact of the processing plant
in Sotk on the environment, storage of cyanides and toxic chemicals,
as well as the tailing dump. Representatives of various ministries
(including the Environment Ministry), as well as the Institute of
Geological Sciences, Institute of Eco-Noosphere Research, Institute
of Hydroecology and Ichthyology of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
took part in the discussion.

The copies of the letter were also sent to Speaker of Armenian
Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and
Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan.

ACUSA CELEBRATES THE 140TH ANNIVERSARY OF KOMITAS

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.03.2009 01:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the Gulbenkian hall of the Cilicia Museum, ACUSA
honoured the memory of the great composer, ethnographer, musicologist
and monk, Komitas VartabedCommunication and Information Department
Catholicosate of Cilicia reports.

In her opening speech, the President of ACUSA introduced the artist,
who inspired many musicians and began a renaissance in Armenian
musicology. She noted that Komitas Vartabed contributed greatly to
the creation and codification of ancient Armenian spiritual music and
peasants’ melodies. Among his many compositions, the chorals and the
Batarak (liturgy) remain outstanding. Following this introduction,
the students of the Ganatchayan Music School presented the works of
the musician in concert. Archbishop Komitas Ohanian concluded the
evening by paying homage to the great Vartabed of the Armenian Church,
who purified Armenian music by eliminating foreign influences.

US JEWS MAY BE READY TO STEP INTO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DEBATE
Herb Keinon And Haviv Rettig Gur

Jerusalem Post
37727530953&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowF ull
March 24 2009

Despite a serious strain in relations with Turkey as a result of harsh
Turkish criticism of Operation Cast Lead, Israel has not changed its
policy on the question of whether the killing in the early 20th century
of some 1.5 million Armenians should be characterized as genocide.

This issue is once again on the agenda as US lawmakers introduced
last week, as they do every spring, a resolution that would call the
killings a "genocide."

"Our position on this has not changed," one senior Israeli diplomatic
official told The Jerusalem Post.

Israel’s position on this matter was last formally articulated in
March 2007, when the Knesset shelved a proposal for a parliamentary
discussion on the issue.

Health Minister Ya’acov Ben-Yizri, speaking on behalf of Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni, said at the time: "As Jews and Israelis, we have
special sympathy and a moral obligation to commemorate the massacres
that were perpetrated against the Armenians in the last years of
Ottoman rule. The state of Israel never denied these terrible acts. On
the contrary, we understand fully the intense emotional feelings
aroused by this, taking into consideration the number of victims,
and the suffering of the Armenian people."

At the same time, Ben-Yizri also said that Israel understood that
this was a "loaded" issue between the Armenians and Turks, and that
Israel hoped "both sides will reach an open dialogue that will enable
them to heal the wounds that have been left open."

The diplomatic official said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s vicious criticism of the IDF’s actions in Gaza had not
altered Israel’s position on the Armenian genocide issue.

Israel’s position on this is important, because it impacts the position
of major American Jewish organizations which in the past have helped
Turkey lobby against the legislation in Congress to declare the event
a genocide.

American Jewish leaders insist that "the relationships between Turkey,
Israel and the United States remain very important," said Conference
of Presidents executive vice chairman Malcolm Hoenlein.

"Our position hasn’t changed," added Jess Hordes, head of the
Anti-Defamation League’s Washington office. The position currently
states that that a congressional resolution on the issue would be
"counterproductive."

While the ADL has labeled what happened to the Armenians a genocide,
Hordes noted, "this issue is best handled by the parties themselves"
rather than by Congress. He also noted that since the Gaza operation,
the ADL had seen Turkey take steps to deal with anti-Semitism
domestically.

"Hopefully the differences that emerged in this operation will be
behind us. Both countries recognize they have strategic relations
that are important to maintain."

But for all the assurances, some Jewish groups say they are beginning
to see support for Turkey’s positions decrease among American Jews.

In February, shortly after the worst of the Israel-Turkey row over
Gaza, a senior official in a major American Jewish organization
admitted that "no Jew or Israeli in his right mind will insult Turkey,
but next time they might not come to Turkey’s aid or equivocate quite
so much on the issue."

Another senior official, speaking to the Post on Tuesday, suggested
the shift may be more dramatic.

"The grassroots membership of the major organizations has never been
happy about looking the other way about the massacre of Armenians,
even if it happened so long ago. After all, ‘so long ago’ was just
25 years before the Holocaust," the official said. "But [supporting
Turkey] was seen as a matter of life or death for Israelis."

This has changed palpably, the official said. "Erdogan’s behavior
in Davos was disgraceful. He called Israelis ‘baby-killers.’ He told
Turkey’s parliament that the Jews control the media. He said things
that, if he were a political leader in America, we’d be demonstrating
outside his house. People are now asking themselves, ‘Who are we
going to bat for?’ There’s not a lot of support in the grassroots
for bending over backwards to meet the needs of Turkey right now."

Even before Erdogan’s outburst, the issue was a point of contention
among some American Jewish advocacy groups. In 2007, ADL National
Director Abe Foxman triggered a storm when he reversed the traditional
American Jewish organizational position on the issue and, while in
a dispute in the Boston area over the matter, released a statement
saying that had the word "genocide" existed in the early 20th century,
it would have been used to describe events of 1915 perpetrated by
the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians.

The Turks were infuriated at the time, warning that Turkish-Israeli
ties could be harmed if the American Jewish organizations did not
work – as they had done in the past – to ensure that the US Congress
did not pass a resolution characterizing the massacre a genocide.

The legislation was eventually removed from the table after then-US
president George W. Bush and numerous former secretaries of state and
defense wrote letters saying that passing the legislation would harm
American interests.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that US President Barack
Obama was hesitating on a campaign pledge to designate the killings
as genocide. Obama is scheduled to visit Turkey on April 5, and is
looking to improve ties with Ankara and enlist its help in dealing
with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, something that would be complicated
by calling the events genocide.

The paper reported that improved relations between Turkey and Armenia
were among the reasons the Obama administration was using to explain
postponing a presidential statement on the matter.

ACCORDING TO ARMAN MUSINIAN, YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERS ELECTIONS WILL BE OF POLITICAL AND NOT DOMESTIC NATURE

Noyan Tapan
March 24, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian National Congress (ANC)
is sorry that on the threshold of Yerevan Council of Elders elections
ANC and the Zharangutiun (Heritage) party did not come to an agreement
over a joint list. ANC Spokesperson Arman Musinian stated at the March
24 press conference adding that they are also sorry for Zharangutiun’s
decision not to run for the elections. "In any case, we treat this
step with comprehension," A. Musinian said. In his words, now there
are several pro-governmental forces and one opposition force in the
outlined plane of preelection struggle. According to A. Musinian’s
estimation, the fact that the opposition after all introduced one
list to the Central Electoral Commission "will considerably facilitate
struggle’s logic."

The ANC Spokesperson also said that in the coming days the Congress is
going to discuss issues regarding the election campaign, appointment of
preelection headquarters heads, its motto. "ANC will hold a mobilized
election campaign rich in events and energy," A. Musinian promised. In
his words, the May 31 Council of Elders elections will be of political
and not domestic nature. A. Musinian repeated his thought voiced at the
previous press conferences that if being elected first RA President
Levon Ter-Petrosian will work as a Mayor. "He will work as long as
it will be required for restoration of the constitutional order in
the country," the Spokesperson said.

ARMENIAN CONVERSEBANK OFFERS NEW FIXED DEPOSIT

ARKA
March 24, 2009

YEREVAN, March 24. /ARKA/. The Armenian Conversebank has announced a
new fixed deposit, Zartonk (Revival). The Conversebank press service
reports that the action will last March 23 to June 23.

The bank will receive both AMD and USD deposits, the minimum sum
being 150,000 AMD or $500 for six to 12 months.

The annual interest rate for 6-month deposits is 10% and for 12-month
deposits is 13% for AMD deposits, and 7% and 9% respectively for USD
deposits. Monthly interest payments will be effected.

A raffle will be held as part of the action, and the depositors will
receive prizes.

A bonus system will be applied to Conversebank personnel, the report
says.

The Conversebank is one of the leading Armenian banks. It was
incorporated in 1993. The bank’s stock is held by the Advanced Global
Investments Ltd (95%) and the Armenian Apostolic Church (5%). The
bank has a 550-member staff and 25 branches in 13 Armenian cities.

As of February 28, 2009, the bank’s capital totaled 12.9bln AMD,
assets 72.2bln AMD, liabilities 59.3bln AMD.

ARMENIAN HAPKIDOIST WINS CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD AS CATALONIAN TEAM MEMBER

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2009 19:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The 12th Hapkido Championship due on Mar 21 in Spain
hosted 12 teams from Spain, Korea and Germany. David Matnishyan ,
Armenian wrestler from Catalan team, greatly contributed to team’s
victory at 12th Hapkido Championship.

"I took up Hapkido training in 2003 under Maestro Jak Carbonell
Vincent, Catalan KIDO Federation President. For 7 years I took
masterclasses with famous Hapkido Maestros Choe, Yung and Hapkido
University Professor in Korea, Maestro Kim. I spent all of my time
training, which gave me a chance to earn Hapkido black belt (Dan 1),"
David Matnishyan related.

Being a part of Catalan Team did not make David forget his roots. "I
always openly acknowledged my nationality in any International
Tournament I participated in. Recently, Maestro Doo Hyung Cho
(Korea KIDO Federation) sanctioned opening of Armenian Hapkido
Delegation. This is a great opportunity for Armenian wrestlers to
integrate in international Hapkido family, participate in international
tournaments and receive training in Spain, Korea. International
KIDO Federation Membership will bring world recognition to Armenian
wrestlers."

Hapkido is a dynamic and eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form
of self-defense that employs joint locks, pressure points, throws,
kicks, and other strikes. Hapkido practitioners train to counter
the techniques of other martial arts as well as common unskilled
attacks. Practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork and
body positioning to employ leverage, avoiding the use of strength
against strength.

FOREIGN MINISTER OF ARMENIA MEETS FOREIGN JOURNALISTS

armradio.am
24.03.2009 14:42

The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian met with about 30
Arab and Jewish reporters, who arrived in Armenia within the framework
of the "Journalist network" program sponsored by the European Union.

During the meeting Edward Nalbandian presented the relations
established between Armenia and the Middle East and the perspectives
of their development.

Reference was made to a number of questions related to Armenia’s
foreign policy, the Artsakh issue and the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations.

PanARMENIAN.Net

People’s Party of Armenia has chosen `Love’ as their election motto
21.03.2009 19:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ People’s Party of Armenia submitted a list of
candidates for Yerevan Mayor and Council of Deans to Central Elections
Committee. Tigran Karapetyan tops the list of candidates, followed by
PPA Political Council Chairman Artak Harutyunyan and Slavyanski
University’s Medico-Biological Department Dean Hrachik
Vardapetyan. Party’s election list includes 20 candidates.

`We nominated PPA MPs as our candidates. Our list includes 20 of them,
as in case PPA wins, we’d like to share vacant positions with other
political parties. We want our candidates list to be harmonious and
don’t accept the political monopoly greeted by our coalition
colleagues.’

When questioned about PPA political programs and motto, Tigran
Karapetyan replied that their only motto is `Love’.

`Social and sanitary security should be Yerevan Mayor’s primary
concern,’ Tigran Karapetyan stressed.

DESIGNERS KNOWN! ARMENIA: FRESH ART TO WORK WITH INGA & ANUSH

esctoday.com
March 20 2009

The famous Russian trio Fresh Art will be working on the sisters’
image and stage performance in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. During
their trip to Moscow, the sisters had a photosession for 2009 working
with Fresh Art.

Fresh Art: Alexandre Siradeghiyan (Armenia), Aslan Ahmadov
(Azerbaijan), David Gevorgyan(Armenia) is a famous fashion trio
in Russia. The boys work with famous Russian singers and models
including the former Eurovision participants Philipe Kirkorov,
Alsou, Angelika Agurbash and Natalia Podolskaya. Fresh Art is known
for its extraordinary, naughty, scandalous and always fresh sense of
style. Recently the boys had successful fashion shows, among them The
Sin, Earth Wind Fire and W.W.W. Armtv confirmed that the sisters’
image and stage performance design will be made by Fresh Art. Inga
and Anush visited Moscow and during the visit they had a photosession
made by Fresh Art. During their visit to Moscow the sisters had an
interview with Armtv and said:

"The last 7 days spent in Moscow changed all our visions about the
word "busy". You just get into a stream and flow, hopefully to the
destination you aim, that is to victory. You feel life running through
your veins, every single second is full of bright colors, ideas,
people… This week was a proof for us that in parallel to the world
of business, money and problems there’s another world of creativity,
where art knows no borders."

Watch the photosession with Fresh
Art: