From left: Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian, Board of Trustees Member Dr. Nazareth Darakjian, Board of Trustees Co-Treasurer Avedik Izmirlian, Board of Trustees Co-Treasurer Talin Yacoubian, Board of Trustees Co-Chair Bishop Mikael Mouradian, Board of Trustees Co-Chair Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Board of Trustees Rep. Very Rev. Fr. Zareh Sarkissian, Board of Trustees Co-Chair Rev. Hendrik Shanazarian, Board of Trustees Member Krikor Moloyan, Executive Vice Chairman Zaven Kazazian, Executive Director Shant Sahakian

GLENDALE—The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California hosted a Beam Signing Ceremony to commemorate the installation of the first structural steel beams at the construction site of the highly anticipated cultural and educational center.

Communications Director Arsine Torosyan officially kicked off the ceremony by welcoming museum, government, and community leaders to the museum construction site where the towering structural steel framing is beginning to take shape.

The ceremony featured spirited remarks by representatives of the Board of Trustees including Co-Chair Archbishop Hovnan Derderian representing the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, Co-Chair Rev. Hendrik Shanazarian representing the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, Co-Chair Bishop Mikael Mouradian representing the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of the United States and Canada, and Very Rev. Fr. Zareh Sarkissian representing the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.

From left: Glendale Councilmember Elen Asatryan, Glendale Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian, Glendale Mayor Daniel Brotman Glendale, Councilmember Paula Devine, Glendale City Manager Roubik Golanian

“The Armenian American Museum will soon become a staple of the City of Glendale and we celebrate this significant day with our entire community,” stated Glendale Mayor Daniel Brotman in remarks on behalf of the City of Glendale. The Mayor was joined by Councilmember Paula Devine, Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian, and Councilmember Elen Asatryan as well as City Manager Roubik Golanian.

“The exciting milestone of elevating the first structural steel beams is thanks to the commitment of our generous donors, sponsors, partners, and community who have come together with a united purpose for a united project,” stated Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian expressing appreciation to the supporters of the museum.

The Beam Signing Ceremony culminated with the ceremonial signing of the pinnacle structural steel beam which will soon be installed and become a permanent fixture of the museum building superstructure. Attendees had the special opportunity to mark the pinnacle structural steel beam with their name and signature. The event kicks off a series of community events to be held at the museum construction site.

“The State of California is a proud supporter of the Armenian American Museum, a landmark center that is going to be a beacon of light that will celebrate our cultural diversity, preserve our history and stories, and serve for generations to come,” said Senator Anthony J. Portantino in a statement following the ceremony.

The highly anticipated cultural and educational center is currently under construction in the museum campus at Glendale Central Park. The first phase of construction featuring the museum parking garage and building foundation has been completed. The second phase of construction featuring the two-level 50,820 square foot museum building superstructure is currently underway.

The mission of the museum is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian American experience. The museum will offer a wide range of public programming through the Permanent Exhibition, Temporary Exhibitions, Auditorium, Learning Center, Demonstration Kitchen, Archives Center, and more.

Artsakh leaders visit Yerablur National Cemetery on Feb. 20

February 20 marks the anniversary of the beginning of Artsakh’s National Liberation Movement. To mark the occasion, President Samvel Shahramanyan and other exiled leaders of Artsakh visited the Yerablur National Cemetery Tuesday.

The Artsakh Parliament held a special session at the Artsakh representative office in Yerevan, with an agenda of marking the anniversary of the Liberation Movement and discussing issues related to the mass repatriation of the displaced Artsakh Armenians.

Gagik Baghunts, the acting Speaker of the Artsakh Parliament, told Azatutyun.am after the session that the Artsakh leadership is taking “concrete steps” for the eventual repatriation of Artsakh Armenians.

“Our struggle will continue,” Baghunts told Azatutyun.

“The Armenians of Artsakh will not accept the idea that we have closed the page of Artsakh, and the desire to return will always stay with us. I hope that we will have significant success in that direction already in the not-so-distant future,” he added.

“We are taking concrete steps, we will continue to do everything possible so that the Artsakh Armenians return to the homeland, our historical homeland, and I hope that despite my rather old age, I will return, not my grandchildren,” Baghunts said without specifying the steps, only to say that they are ready for  “cooperation with world powers” and even “contacts with the Azerbaijani authorities.”

The Deputy Speaker of the Artsakh Parliament, Vahram Balayan, echoed the sentiments of his colleague when he told reporters on Tuesday that the Artsakh chapter of history is not yet closed.

“Today we are in a disillusioned and broken state, but there is a need to use the available opportunities and strengthen Armenia. And in the context of all this, try to continue our further struggle, liberate a part of our historical homeland,” Balayan told reporters.

He also emphasized that the Artsakh issue had no correlation with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, saying the the self-determination of the people of Artsakh, and the struggle that began in 1988, did not seek to lay claim on territory, but rather stemmed from the special status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast during the Soviet Period.

Balayan said that the NKAO had the same status as Azerbaijan SSR did under the Soviet Union, with its own constitution and Armenian as its state language.

“Due to many factors, we could not keep, protect what we had,” said Badalyan about the current fate of Artsakh.

“In general, history is not only a lesson, but also a punishment for all those who do not take the lessons of history into account. Unfortunately, we did not take into account the lessons we learned, we could not preserve our statehood,” he added.

He called the forced exodus of Armenians from Artsakh in September, following Azerbaijan’s large-scale attack, a genocide.

“In reality, it [the attack] was a genocidal act against our people. This is an obvious fact that we must present to the world, and demonstrate that our people have the right to full return [to Artsakh], and must fight to exercise that right,” said Balayan.

“We still have a ways to go. It seems to me that we should not be deprived of existing opportunities, we should continue to work from the viewpoint of ensuring our full return,” added the deputy speaker.

"Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful: Annotated Translation" book cover

NEW YORK—Tarkmaneal Press announced the release of “Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful: Annotated Translation” by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen. The volume is the second in the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center’s series Sources from the Armenian Christian Tradition and is available for purchase on Amazon.

St. Nersess the Graceful (Nersēs Shnorhali, 1102–1173 A.D.), = from 1166 until his death in 1173, was one of the great figures of the medieval Armenian Church. His most popular work is the prayer of twenty-four stanzas commonly known as “With Faith I Confess” (“Havadov Khosdovanim”), which has been translated into more than thirty languages. He was also a prolific author and composer of hymns and other poetic works, many of which remain little known today. This volume presents the Armenian text and an English translation of sixty of St. Nersess’s liturgical odes (tagh), fifty-eight of which have never been previously translated into English. These profound songs of praise were composed to enhance the celebration and reflect on the mystery of the various feasts and commemorations that make up the Christian liturgical year. The translation is accompanied by an introduction and extensive annotation, which brings to light the Biblical, theological, and poetic features of these literary treasures, making them accessible to the general reader in the twenty-first century.

Tarkmaneal Press was founded in 2024 by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen with thegoal of bringing bilingual editions of classical Armenian texts with annotated English translations available to a wide audience. Sarkisianis a self-taught translator of Classical Armenian who lives in the Binghamton, New York area. He previously collaborated with Jesse Arlen on an annotated translation of an Armenian prayer scroll (hmayil), published in 2022 by the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Arlenis the director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University. He has published a number of studies on late antique and medieval Christian spirituality and monastic literature.

“St. Nersess Shnorhali, Nersess the Graceful, belongs to the rank of those Church Fathers and Doctors who rightfully can be declared “the lyre of the Holy Spirit.” One of the earliest European Armenologists, the Jesuit Fr. Jacques Villote, admiring the sublime touches of heavenly inspiration emanating from Shnorhali’s verses, called his poetic masterpiece — named in Armenian Յիսուս, Որդի (Jesus, Son) from its incipit — ‘The Divine Elegy.’ Nersess Shnorhali is one of the most exceptional figures in the history of the universal Church for more than one reason, but above all for his passionate search for the unity of the Church, and for his deep understanding, in the wake of St. Gregory of Narek, of the fragility, the conventionality, the inadequacy of human language in speaking of Divine mystery. The Odes in this volume, masterfully translated and commented upon by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen, are among the most vibrant, genuine, and touching expressions of Shnorhali’s spirituality,” said Archbishop Levon Zekiyan, Emeritus Professor of Armenian Studies, Ca’ Foscari, Venice, and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome.

“St. Nersess Shnorhali’s hymns are known for their literary beauty and spiritual sublimity. Sarkisian and Arlen convey both aspects in their mellifluous translation. The substantial annotation they provide further defines their mastery of the classical text,” said Abraham Terian, Emeritus Professor of Armenian Patristics and Theology, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary.

“Thanks to Jesse Arlen and Matthew Sarkisian for this carefully prepared labor of love and learning. They have curated for us a trove of lesser-known, spiritual gems from the vast storehouse of St. Nersess Shnorhali’s writings,” said Roberta Ervine, Professor of Armenian Christian Studies, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary.