Author: Varazdat Torgomian

Are you a Diaspora Armenian with an innovative startup or startup idea? Have you considered moving to Armenia to establish your startup in the homeland?

If YES, then check out the “NerUzh” Diaspora Startup Program, launched by the Republic of Armenia’s Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs and the Ministry of High-Tech Industry, in partnership with FAST Foundation.

Selected applicants will have the opportunity to attend a four-day launch event at UWC Dilijan from December 16 to 20, learn about Armenia’s startup ecosystem and the benefits of doing business in Armenia, network with local partners, and develop their startup ideas. At the event, teams will pitch for a chance to win grants ranging from $15,000 to $30,000, as well as entrepreneurial support to establish their startup in Armenia. This year’s target areas are financial, social, governance, educational, mobile, internet, agricultural technologies, healthcare, robotics, engineering, and others.

Are you ready to apply? Visit the website and fill out the application form by October 21.

GLENDALE—Next month, author Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh will present her newly published book “Missing Pages: The Modern Life of Medieval Manuscript, From Genocide to Justice” at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium. The presentation will take place on Thursday, October 17 at 7 p.m., at 222 E Harvard St, Glendale, CA 91205. The program is organized by Glendale Library’s Arts & Culture department, and will be presented in English.

Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh is Professor of Art History at the University of California, Davis. She is the award-winning author of “The Image of an Ottoman City: Architecture in Aleppo” (2004). Her writing has also appeared in the Huffington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

In 2010, the world’s wealthiest art institution, the J. Paul Getty Museum, found itself confronted by a century-old genocide. The Armenian Church was suing for the return of eight pages from the Zeytun Gospels, a manuscript illuminated by the greatest medieval Armenian artist, Toros Roslin. Protected for centuries in a remote church, the holy manuscript had followed the waves of displaced people exterminated during the Armenian genocide. Passed from hand to hand, caught in the confusion and brutality of the First World War, it was cleaved in two. Decades later, the manuscript found its way to the Republic of Armenia, while its missing eight pages came to the Getty. Reconstructing the path of the pages, Watenpaugh uncovers the rich tapestry of an extraordinary artwork and the people touched by it. At once a story of genocide and survival, of unimaginable loss and resilience, “The Missing Pages” captures the human costs of war and persuasively makes the case for a human right to art.

Admission to the presentation will be free. Free parking, for a maximum of three hours, will be available across the street at the Glendale Marketplace parking structure, with validation at the service desk.

MONTEBELLO— The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region representatives held a lunch meeting with Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (CA – 38) as part of the 2019 August Recess. The meeting was attended by ANCA National Board member Levon Kirakosian, ANCA–WR Board member Gev Iskajyan, and Government Affairs Director Arsen Shirvanyan. They were joined by Montebello City Mayor Jack Hadjinian and Montebello City Treasurer Ashod Mooradian.

“Over the years, Congresswoman Sanchez has been one of the strongest voices on the Hill on behalf of the Armenian community,” remarked ANCA-WR Board member Gev Iskajyan. “Time and again, she has pushed for broadening of the U.S. – Armenia and Artsakh relations, and has been instrumental in her fight for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”

Among some of the matters discussed at the meeting included the continuation of US funding for the HALO Trust for its de-mining project in Artsakh, Turkey and Azerbaijan’s policy vis-à-vis Armenia, as well as the upcoming 2020 Census and its importance to the local Armenian American community.

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.