Armenia welcomed international festivals participants last week

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Freedom of Press: the Right to Know" was the theme of the exhibition that opened in Yerevan on May 3 to mark the World Press Freedom Day. The event, organized by the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia NGO as part of the Access to Information for Community Involvement project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in cooperation with the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the UN Department of Public Information, brought together journalists, representatives of state institutions and civil society in Armenia. The aim of the one week exhibition featuring over 30 unique images selected out of 300 submitted photos was to reflect ideas on the challenges and opportunities of exercising the right to know and to remind the government, media representatives and public at large of their role in achieving this right. All photos included in the exhibition will be published in a catalogue.

*

Armenian kanon player Hasmik Leyloyan was honored with a UAE supreme award, a medal with depiction of UAE sheikh, during Abu Dhabi Festival.

*

The days of Armenian culture in Georgia kicked off with gala-concert in Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theater. Sarajishvili State Conservatoire hosted a concert of Aram Khachaturian quartet. Meanwhile, Historical and Cultural Monuments of Armenia exhibition of Zaven Sargsyan opened at Kutateladze Arts Academy. Through Centuries-Old Friendship theater festival started at Petros Adamyan Theater. An exhibition of works by Armenian painter and designer Arevik Petrosyan opened in Grishashvili Museum of History. A memorial plaque dedicated to ninth chess champion of the world Tigran Petrosian was unveiled at Rustaveli avenue.

*

From Ararat to Zion documentary telling about the Armenian pilgrims and clergymen in Jerusalem was screened in Yerevan on May 5.

“The work on the film caused a cultural shock,” film director Edgar Baghdasaryan said.

“The uniqueness of the film is that the story is told not by Armenians but Europeans – Germans, Italians and French,” said Father Mesrop Aramian, the scriptwriter and producer. “We have filmed almost all Armenian inscriptions in Egypt and Palestine. The film was made up of materials provided Assyrian, Greek, Egyptian and other sources. It’s a discovery from the beginning to end.”

The world premiere will take place on May 12 in the UK.

* On May 7, the UN General Assembly hosted a concert of the CIS Youth Symphony Orchestra dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the World War II Victory. The orchestra's performance at the UN headquarters was very symbolic, as the orchestra consists of young musicians of those nations, who suffered the heaviest losses in this war and contributed significantly to the victory over fascism.

Since its establishment in 2007, the CIS Youth Symphony Orchestra has demonstrated high professionalism and rich potential in different performance schools. Armenia is represented by seven musicians: Aram Beknazaryan – percussion, Lusine Harutyunyan – violin, Ashot Dumanyan – violin, Shaghik Martirosyan – violin, Tatevik Shahinyan – violin, Veronika Vardpatrikyan – viola, Artem Nagdyan – violoncello.

This year, People's Artist of the USSR, worldwide known Vladimir Spivakov conducted the orchestra. Besides, famous pianist, laureate of prestigious international contests Denis Matsuyev performed during the concert.

*

Yerevan hosted One Small Step performance by Oxford Playhouse Productions on May 8 and 9. Following its UK tour and smash hit success at the Edinburgh Festival, One Small Step embarked on its worldwide tour. Encapsulating the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to send the first man to the moon, One Small Step is an eccentric, funny and surprisingly moving piece of visual theatre. During their stay in Yerevan, Oxford Playhouse actors hosted a news conference and conduct a master class for students of Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinema.

*

“Armenians: Ancient Christianity in a Young Country” exhibit opened in Leiden University (Netherlands) on May 6, 2010.

The exhibit dedicated to the 350th anniversary of Armenian book printing in Amsterdam will feature Armenian manuscripts and printings, including an 11th century parchment. The University possesses 56 manuscripts, 57 of which were conveyed during a massacre in Cilicia to Englishman Rendel Harris, who later on became the rector of Leiden University.

“Creation of Armenian letters in the 5th century was a stimulus for development of Armenian culture and spread of Christianity,” Armenia’s honorary consul in the Hague Arshak Manukian said in his opening remarks.

The exhibit will be open till July 31.

*

The Armenoid Team has shot Orphans of the Genocide, an 18-minute short documentary dedicated to over 150,000 Armenian orphans of the Genocide.

The inspiration to this story was a recent article by award winning journalist Robert Fisk of The Independent Magazine depicting Silicon Valley engineer Maurice Missak Kelechian's scientific research, which led to the unveiling of an Armenian orphanage in Antoura near Beirut-Lebanon, operated by Ahmad Jemal Pasha and served as a "turkification" center. This orphanage housed a thousand Armenian orphans.

Currently the producers of Orphans of the Genocide are working on a 60 minute version of the documentary featuring an exclusive interview by Robert Fisk.

*

The week was clouded with the death of Armenian People’s Artist, one of the most prominent representatives of modern Armenian painting art Eduard Arstrunyan, who passed away at the age of 81.

Civil funeral rites will took place in the Armenian Artists' Union on May 7 from 12 to 2 pm.

Eduard Arstrunyan was born in Leninakan (Gyumri) in 1929. Graduate of Merkulov and Terlemezyan art schools (1944-1951) and Leningrad Art Academy (1951-1957), he moved to Moscow in 1963. 13 years later, in 1976, he moved to Yerevan, where he lived and worked until his death.