Are you interested in volunteering in Armenia?

Come and learn more about Armenia’s premier full-service internship and volunteer placement organization, the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC). They are here to help you find a placement with their partners in a variety of sectors, including business, education, environment, culture, health, government, NGOs, and much more. With a Junior Corps for non-Armenians aged 21-31, a Professional Corps for Diasporans and non-Armenians aged 32-59, and a Senior Corps for Diasporans and non-Armenians aged 60+, there is something for everyone. Participants receive full logistical support from AVC to help them seamlessly integrate and discover Armenia, including optional homestay options; free Armenian language classes; weekly excursions, forums, and gatherings; networking opportunities, etc.

Join this virtual session to meet some of AVC representatives and ambassadors who have themselves taken part in the programme. Listen to their stories, ask questions, and get inspired to take the leap!

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary film director Sergey Parajanov, which coincides with the centenary of the Armenian film industry, the Armenian Institute is proud to partner with the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the Cinema Foundation of Armenia (CFA), and the British Film Institute (BFI) to host an enriching evening of Armenian film screenings at the renowned film theatre at BFI Southbank.

Born on 9 January 1924 in Tbilisi, Georgia to ethnic Armenian parents, Parajanov rose to become the icon of Armenian cinema. His most famous work, the 1969 film The Color of Pomegranates, loosely based on the life of 18th-century Armenian bard and poet Sayat Nova, has inspired countless artists since, among them Godard, Madonna, and Lady Gaga. A year before his birth, the Armenian film industry was officially nationalised as a key industry of Soviet Armenia, ushering in a prolific era in cinematic production. To celebrate this dual milestone, please join us for the rare opportunity to view two lesser-known masterpieces of Armenian cinema:

• Shor & Shorshor by Hamo Bek-Nazaryan - this 1926 silent film comedy features live accompaniment on electric cello by the internationally acclaimed cellist Artyom Manukyan. The film hilariously follows the adventures of two peasants sent by their wives to fetch food, who wind up exploiting superstitious villagers only for procuring drinks. Knowing that much of the acting and directing was improvised only adds to the charm of this hugely successful film in Armenia and abroad.

• Hakob Hovnatanyan by Sergei Parajanov - this 1967 short film is about the Armenian painter nicknamed “the Raphael of Tiflis,” who was a founder of modern Armenian painting and a master in portraiture and miniature. In this short, Parajanov brilliantly reveals the thriving culture of 19th century Tbilisi.

This event is held in partnership with the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the Cinema Foundation of Armenia (CFA), and the British Film Institute (BFI).

Image credit: Film still from Hakob Hovnatanyan by Parajanov, courtesy of CFA.

About Artyom Manukyan

Cellist Artyom Manukyan first made his name as a musician to watch in his native Armenia and travelled the world as the youngest member of the BBC World Music Award-winning Armenian Navy Band.Currently living in Los Angeles, Artyom is equally at home on the stages of jazz clubs, concert halls and rock festivals, performing with major international artists. Artyom’s genre-defying approach to playing the cello like a bass emerged from a combination of his conservatory training and exposure to the music of hallmark jazz bassists including Jaco Pastorius and Marcus Miller. A native of Yerevan, the Armenian capital, Artyom was influenced as a child by the music of both his mother, a classical piano teacher, and his father, a part-time DJ known as the biggest collector of jazz vinyl in Armenia. Artyom spent five years completing his classical cello education at the State Conservatory and began playing in jazz bands. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2010, Artyom has been in demand as a session musician and soundtrack composer. After the success of his debut solo album, “Citizen”, Artyom has gone on to release two additional albums, “Alone” in 2019 and “Rap-ertoire” in 2021. In his free time, Artyom teaches private lessons and has been an invited guest teacher at the world-renowned Tumo Center for Creative Technologies.

“There is nothing more human than sin, and there is nothing more human than the desire to overcome it”.

This year sees the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art. Between April and November, the international art world converges towards Venice to discover the 88 national pavilions and the main exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere. The Armenian pavilion is located a few steps from the prestigious Pinault Collection at Punta della Dogana, in an ancient salt warehouse. There, visitors can step into the hushed, mysterious world of Paris-based artist Nina Khemchyan, to see her two major new installations: Seven Deadly Sins and Echo.

Seven Deadly Sins is a masterful representation of each of the biblical sins in black ink drawings, on a 50-metre single-piece paper roll. It whimsically encourages introspection and a reflection on morality and forgiveness. In Echo, eleven blue ceramic spheres mysteriously float in an empty room. Each is adorned with golden incrustations of the eleven Armenian chants of repentance, also heard in a pure a capella voice throughout the room. They were written by the renowned Mesrop Mashtots, the mediaeval inventor of the Armenian alphabet. History, spirituality and beauty collide to form an unforgettable display.

Join us for an online encounter with the exhibition curator, Armen Yesayants (director of exhibitions at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan), in the presence of the artist, to hear about the background of these delicate works of art, and about the challenging but exciting process of putting on a Venice Biennale show.

This event is held in partnership with the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, Yerevan.

About Nina Khemchyan

Nina Khemchyan is a Paris-based Armenian artist. Graduating from the department of Industrial Design at the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Fine Arts, Nina has actively been working and presenting her works at varied galleries in Armenia since the early 1990s. Moving to France, she continued her education at the National School of Applied Arts and Crafts in Paris in 1996-1998. For more than 30 years Nina has worked as a sculptor and graphic artist. She has participated in dozens of group shows, art fairs and festivals, and had personal exhibitions not only in Armenia, but also in many cities in France, as well as in the USA, Italy, and Lebanon. Nina Khemchyan’s works are kept in many private collections in Armenia and abroad, and are part of the collections of Yerevan Modern Art Museum and Sergei Parajanov Museum.

About Armen Yesayants

Armen Yesayants is an art historian, curator, and lecturer based in Yerevan. He has served as the Director of Exhibitions at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts since 2016. Dr. Yesayants has curated or participated in the organization of numerous exhibitions and has written extensively on modern and contemporary Armenian art, among other topics. He holds an MA in Arts and Cultural Management from King’s College London and a PhD in Art History from Yerevan State University. The Cafesjian Center for the Arts is the general sponsor and patron of the Armenian National Pavilion at the 60th Venice Art Biennale and Armen Yesayants is the curator of the National Pavilion.

On 11-12 October 2024, the Armenian Institute invites you to a sparkling constellation of wordsmiths, multidisciplinary artists, documentary makers and theatre groups. Together, let’s celebrate the timeless wisdom of an ancient Armenian tradition which honours the foundational role of letters, arts and intercultural dialogue.

On Friday evening (6:30pm), at the Armenian House and online, join us for a scintillating evening of readings and discussions on the bridging role of literature across historical, political and cultural spheres. Register here for the first day of our event.

We will continue on Saturday afternoon (2pm) at the Armenian House and online, with talks and screenings showcasing the engagement of contemporary arts and culture with Armenian cultural heritage.

Contributors:

• Saturday: Dr Edita Gzoyan is an academic and the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation in Yerevan (Armenia); internationally recognised artist Karen Babayan is committed to raising awareness about the Armenian genocide and its ongoing impact; Betül Bakırcı is an academic, an editor, and a specialist in Armenian and Turkish literature; and finally, the independent theatre ensemble Hangardz was founded by a group of Istanbul-based cultural activists and actors.
  

This event was organised by Tamara Wilson, in collaboration with Exiled Writers Ink.

This event is part of Heritage of Displacement: Oral Histories from the UK Armenian Communities (2023–2026), funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, thanks to National Lottery players.

About Tamara Wilson

Tamara Wilson is an award-winning poet, activist and research fellow at the University of Roehampton, London. Alongside her multidisciplinary academic research on the postcolonial legacy of the Ottoman Empire, she aims to shine a light on the various demands, denials and struggles of survival and its politicized representations through her creative engagements.Her forthcoming genre-defying counter memory text which won the Award of Excellence in Literature in international Orthodox Arts Festival (2021) by unanimous vote, investigates the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide and Greek ethnic cleansing from the lens of social death. Currently, she is working on several interdisciplinary projects in addition to her ethnodrama play.

She is also a member of the events & editorial committee of Exiled Writers Ink, a literary organisation dedicated to human rights, social justice and cross-cultural dialogue through literature and literary activism.

On 11-12 October 2024, the Armenian Institute invites you to a sparkling constellation of wordsmiths, multidisciplinary artists, documentary makers and theatre groups. Together, let’s celebrate the timeless wisdom of an ancient Armenian tradition which honours the foundational role of letters, arts and intercultural dialogue.

On Friday evening (6:30pm), at the Armenian House and online, join us for a scintillating evening of readings and discussions on the bridging role of literature across historical, political and cultural spheres.

We will continue on Saturday afternoon (2pm) at the Armenian House and online, with talks and screenings showcasing the engagement of contemporary arts and culture with Armenian cultural heritage. Register here for the second day of our festival.

Contributors:

• Friday: Maureen Freely is a writer, translator and Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies and a member of English PEN. She is the author of six novels (Mother’s Helper, The Life of the Party, The Stork Club, Under the Vulcania, The Other Rebecca, and - most recently - Enlightenment) as well as three works of non-fiction (Pandora's Clock, What About Us? An Open Letter to the Mothers Feminism Forgot, and The Parent Trap). The translator of five books by the Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, she is active in various campaigns to champion free expression. Alongside her essays on feminism, social policy, Turkish politics and culture on national and international press, Freely works with campaigns aiming to promote world literature in English translation. Maia Elsner is an acclaimed Mexican-Polish-Jewish-British writer and interdisciplinary poet and translator who writes on her grandfather’s art and experiences post-WWII; Xaviera Ringeling is an environmental researcher, Spanish teacher, and New Voices prize-winning bilingual Chilean poet who supports NGOs with her poetry performances; and Shahé Mankerian is a poet, poetry coach, playwright and headteacher at St. Gregory Hovsepian School, whose debut collection, History of Forgetfulness, has been a finalist at prestigious poetry competitions.

This event was organised by Tamara Wilson, in collaboration with Exiled Writers Ink.

This event is part of Heritage of Displacement: Oral Histories from the UK Armenian Communities (2023–2026), funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, thanks to National Lottery players.

About Tamara Wilson

Tamara Wilson is an award-winning poet, activist and research fellow at the University of Roehampton, London. Alongside her multidisciplinary academic research on the postcolonial legacy of the Ottoman Empire, she aims to shine a light on the various demands, denials and struggles of survival and its politicized representations through her creative engagements.Her forthcoming genre-defying counter memory text which won the Award of Excellence in Literature in international Orthodox Arts Festival (2021) by unanimous vote, investigates the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide and Greek ethnic cleansing from the lens of social death. Currently, she is working on several interdisciplinary projects in addition to her ethnodrama play.

She is also a member of the events & editorial committee of Exiled Writers Ink, a literary organisation dedicated to human rights, social justice and cross-cultural dialogue through literature and literary activism.

As an accomplished New-York-based poet, editor and translator, Lola Koundakjian has led many poetry-writing workshops throughout her career. But never one quite like this, exclusively in London for the Armenian Institute, in which she will, for the first time, enable participants to take inspiration from the photographs of her father, the late photojournalist Harry Koundakjian.

Harry Koundakjian (1930-2014) was an outstanding international photographer, who roamed the world during the golden years of photojournalism to document political upheavals and weather disasters for the world-renowned news agency AP. Today, the Koundakjian family is generously donating Harry’s archive to the Armenian Institute, who thus becomes the guardian of thousands of prints and documents by the late photographer. As his daughter and the instigator for this high-profile donation, Lola has a uniquely detailed knowledge of his career and vision.

Come and engage in a completely unique way both with Harry’s pictures, through the eyes of his daughter, and with Lola’s skill as a writer and engagement for Armenian poetry. Lola will select pictures from her father’s archive and propose ways in which you can use them as points of departure for writing.

This event is held in association with the Poetry Society.

This event is part of Heritage of Displacement: Oral Histories from the UK Armenian Communities (2023–2026), funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, thanks to National Lottery players.

Many eyes go through the meadow,
but few see the flowers in it —Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Lola Koundakjian

After her degrees in Fine Arts at Hunter College and Ancient History at Columbia University, Lola honed her skills as an editorial board member at the Ararat Literary Quarterly, in New York. She runs the Dead Armenian Poetry Society and curates and produces poems and audio for the online Armenian Poetry Project. Lola’s translations from Western Armenian are in Ararat, Armenian Poetry Project, Rattapallax, Poetry International with more scheduled in Wasafiri in 2024. Since 2010, Lola has read her work throughout New York City and online. She was invited to read in person at international poetry festivals: Medellín, Colombia ; Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Ramallah, West Bank; Trois-Rivières, Quebec, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2021 her third book The Moon in the Cusp on my Hand won the Minas and Kohar Tololyan Prize in Contemporary Literature.
www.lolakoundakjian.com

The Armenians of Jerusalem & the Armenian Quarter: Historical, Legal & Existential Challenges.

Armenians have lived in Jerusalem since the 4th century. They are one of the Armenian diaspora's oldest communities. The Armenian Quarter is one of the famed four sectors of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. But their presence in Jerusalem has historically not always been easy, and this continues today, not least with the recent leasing of a considerable plot of land to Australian developers linked with expanding Israeli settlements.

Meanwhile, on 21 June 2024, Armenia recognised Palestine as a state, joining a growing number of UN countries worldwide in doing so. If we are to reflect on what the future of Armenians in the Holy Lands may resemble, it is of pressing importance today to understand the intricate dynamics surrounding those events. Dr Harry Hagopian, an interpreter of this region’s politics, a public international lawyer who was a second-track-negotiator on behalf of the Armenian and 12 other historical Churches in Jerusalem during the Oslo chapter, a lecturer, an author and a consultant, will expertly and cautiously guide us through the complex geopolitical positions of Armenians in the Holy Land. His talk will come back on the history of the Armenian community there, outlining ecumenical, legal and contemporary challenges befalling the Armenian Quarter. It will also tackle the latest issues associated with the settlers' movement.

This event is part of Living | Building | Together: The Armenian Institute's Festival of Architecture, funded by the British Council.

About Dr Harry Hagopian

Ever since the COVID pandemic, Dr Harry Hagopian has chosen to be a freelance consultant advising institutions, think-tanks, churches and lobbyists in the UK and the European Union on legal, political and ecumenical issues.

Previously, he was involved in Track II negotiations (backchannel diplomacy) on behalf of all 13 Churches of the Holy Land during the Oslo process between Israel and Palestine whilst simultaneously heading the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee. Earlier, he was Assistant General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches in Lebanon & Cyprus where he focused on international advocacy and humanitarian relief work in Iraq and Jordan.

Prior to this phase, and after practising law in Scotland, Dr Hagopian was appointed Legal Counsel of Saba & Co (legal practitioners for intellectual property rights, affiliates of Touche-Ross International) in Cyprus where he also participated in drafting the legislation for Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman.

Academically, first in France and then in the UK, Harry earned his law degrees in common (UK) and civil (French) laws, followed by a doctorate in Public International Law. He later achieved a Masters in Alternative Dispute Resolution & Legal Anthropology and has been involved with the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Harry has published books on the Armenian Church in the Holy Land, on the Israel-Palestine conflict, on blasphemy and the Satanic verses and on conflict resolution in Nagorno-Karabakh. He also features in a monthly flagship podcast, Middle East Analysis, in association with the Catholic Church.

He also worked for three years as political and legal enabler on the issue of the Armenian Genocide in the UK. His efforts, and those of his team, led to the recognition of the genocide in Wales & Scotland.

Harry speaks five languages, has been made a Knight of both the Orders of St Gregory & of the Ecumenical Order of St Lazarus and is a fellow at Sorbonne III University in Paris. A favourite hobby for relaxation is piano-playing.

Discover ceramicist Maria Gasparian’s work in this hands-on workshop. Maria will lead you through the process of making clay tiles and decorating them with underglaze colours and ornamental stamps. Learn from an expert to create your own unique tile, based on your personal background and stories!

As an Armenian artist, designer and architect, Maria Gasparian works with the medium of clay and its multi-sensory plastic capabilities to create works of public art. Her studio carries out research, practice and production, to offer socially inclusive and vibrant environments made out of original, colourful, and textured ceramics.

This event will be held at Studio Pottery London, a one-of-a-kind space dedicated to pottery in all its forms. Studio Pottery proposes group taster introductions, foundation courses, and runs a regular schedule of ongoing mixed-ability classes. Their membership scheme allows you to come in your own time and use their wheels’ workspaces.

No previous experience required. Materials will be provided. The one-hour workshop will be followed by an open Q&A with Maria Gasparian, drinks and nibbles!

This event is part of Living | Building | Together: The Armenian Institute's Festival of Architecture, funded by the British Council.

About Maria Gasparian

Maria Gasparian is an award-winning ceramic artist, designer and architect based in London. Originally trained as an architect in Armenia and London, she holds an MA and a PhD in ceramics from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.

Maria’s work celebrates the plasticity of clay and by using dynamic forms, texture and colour aims to affect people at an immediate level. Maria won the Unilever Sustain-Ability award and the Mullen Lowe Nova award for innovation in 2016. She was also awarded the Winston Churchill Fellowship to research the global applications of architectural ceramics.

In 2016 Maria founded Maria Gasparian Studio Ltd- a multidisciplinary practice that combines ceramic art, architecture and design. The mission of the studio is to provide multisensory experiences through bespoke tactile and coloured ceramic surfaces, sculptural elements and street furniture contributing to a unique, socially inclusive and vibrant environment and sense of place.

Join us for an online screening of The Art of Seeing, the Art of Remembering, in the presence of the director, Sascha Klamp.

Klamp worked closely with two communities residing in Armenian border villages to produce this award-winning documentary film. His captivating 23-minute short is informed by the discipline of ethnology, the study of cultures and societies. It delves deep into the customs, traditions, and collective memory of these communities. The film explores the establishment of a community archive, with village elders playing a crucial role in preserving their cultural heritage. Klamp captured the essence of intergenerational knowledge transfer and the significance of preserving a community's identity. Klamp’s work in Armenia is inspired by his wife's heritage and explores universal themes of memory and identity that resonate beyond the Armenian experience. This online screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director.

This event is part of Heritage of Displacement: Oral Histories from the UK Armenian Communities (2023–2026), funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, thanks to National Lottery players.

It is also part of Living | Building | Together: The Armenian Institute's Festival of Architecture, funded by the British Council.

About Sascha Klamp

Sascha Klamp is a London-based photojournalist and documentary filmmaker who highlights social impact and justice issues through his photography and films. Klamp's passion for storytelling is rooted in his background in social anthropology and ethnology. After a first career as an investor and entrepreneur, traveling globally for this work, Klamp found his calling as a photographer and filmmaker and completed his MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography with Distinction from the University of the Arts London. He was sponsored by the James Foley Foundation to take a course on Stress Management and Civil Unrest to aid his work in challenging environments.

Survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 took refuge across the globe. Traumatized by unspeakable brutalities, the idea of returning to their homeland was unthinkable. But decades later, some children and grandchildren felt compelled to travel back, having heard stories of family wholeness in beloved homes and of cherished ancestral towns and villages -and even houses- once in Ottoman Armenia. Today their homeland is in the Republic of Turkey, which they also perceive as a living trauma-scape, and a place of injustice where their history is actively denied.

Between 2007 and 2015, Carel Bertram joined scores of these pilgrims, and amassed accounts from hundreds who made these journeys. In telling their stories, she uncovers their soulful and creative resilience when their genocide-inflected histories of trauma, separation, and exile meet on-the-ground realities. Come and hear her speak at the Armenian Institute in London about her profound experience and the resulting award-winning book, A House in the Homeland: Armenian Pilgrimages to Places of Ancestral Memory, published by Stanford University Press in 2022. The book was awarded a Middle East Studies Association Award in 2023.

This event will be available both in-person and online.

This event is part of the Armenian Institute's current National Lottery Heritage Fund funded project, Heritage of Displacement, Oral Histories from the UK Armenian Communities (2023–2026), which aims to help British-Armenian communities to take part in preserving their heritage of displacement, migration, and resettlement, thanks to National Lottery players.

About Dr. Carel Bertram

Dr. Bertram is Professor Emerita of in Middle East and Islamic Studies, Dept. of Humanities, San Francisco State University. She holds an MA in Near Eastern Studies from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Islamic Art History from UCLA. Focusing on the visual culture of the Ottoman and post-Ottoman eras, she studies how we use space and place to represent ourselves, and to create historical consciousness.

Join us for an exciting opportunity to connect with fellow creatives, reminisce about the connections and collaborations forged during our past events, and explore each other's upcoming projects.

Whether you're an actor, director, writer, designer, poet, painter, composer, musician, choreographer, producer, craftworker, or any other creative actively shaping the arts landscape, we invite you to join us for coffee and the chance to network with other Armenian creatives.

As in the past, this gathering is hosted by theatre director Ed Stambollouian and playwright Abi Zakarian, with the gracious support of the Armenian Institute.

The Armenian Institute is delighted to announce its continued participation in the Armenian Summer Festival in 2024. The Armenian Institute has taken part in the festival since its early days in 2011 in Kensington. For over a decade, this wonderful event has been celebrating Armenian culture, food, dance, and music, joyfully bringing people together. Come and visit the Armenian Institute’s booth in North Acton Playing Fields on 16 June 2024 to browse and acquire a diverse range of books in English and Armenian, from history and art to novels, cookery, and books for children.

This event is brought to you by The Armenian Church Trust UK Ltd and supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation, AGBU, and NYRAFF.

Visit https://www.asflondon.co.uk/ for more information.

When Maria Gunko began her ethnographic fieldwork in a small Armenian town in late 2022, people in casual conversation would tell her that “there is nothing here” (stegh vochinch chka [ստեղ ոչինչ չկա]). This “nothingness” is similar to other local descriptors – emptiness, abandonment, ruination, lostness, etc. – found throughout the post-Soviet region and beyond. They pertain to life in places losing people, jobs, infrastructures, and welfare. Yet the “nothing here” does not mean an actual absence of things. It encompasses the condition of reordering, the changing relations between people, space, state, and capital after the collapse of state socialism. “Nothing” is actually “something,” produced by the combination of “shock therapy,” liberalisation, hectic privatisation, and the tensions of reterritorialisation.

In this presentation, Maria will lead us through her reading of a place that was described by its residents as being “created out of void” by the Soviet state and “collapsing back into void” after the dissolution of USSR. With the help of oral histories and participant observation, she will trace how these places are nevertheless kept habitable and recognizable by their inhabitants through constant practices of care and repair. She will also discuss the relevance of the extended Armenian family and diaspora in “placemaking.”

This event will be available both in-person and online.

This event is held in collaboration with the Emptiness research project, hosted by the Centre on Migration, Policy & Society (COMPAS) in the School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography (SAME) at the University of Oxford, UK, and the European Research Council.

Please note that all event tickets are sold online, no tickets are available at the door. To ensure a smooth experience for all attendees, please make sure to register in advance using Eventbrite.

About Maria Gunko

Maria Gunko holds an MSc and Kandidat Nauk (Russian postgraduate degree) in Human Geography. In 2022, she moved to Armenia and has worked for the Yerevan State University as a Visiting Professor. She was also a Visiting Fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (Leipzig) and at the Institute of Geography Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris). Alongside work, since 2021, Maria has been reading towards the DPhil in Migration Studies at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography University of Oxford. Her thesis is part of the ERC-funded project “Emptiness: living capitalism and democracy after post-socialism.” It focuses on place and placemaking in a small Armenian town and is based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork in one of the Northern provinces of Armenia.

Project EMPTINESS
Maria’s op-eds in EVN Report
Twitter

1855 Paris saw the appearance of La Colombe du Massis, a bilingual publication in Armenian and French. This made use of newly designed Armenian types bearing Western features.
While traditional Bolorgir types have continued to exist, latinised typefaces have gradually become integrated into Armenian culture. Attachment to tradition and openness to modernity have both contributed to the expression of Armenian cultural identity.
To discuss the modernisation of the Armenian typographic script and its impact on the development of subsequent Armenian typefaces, this talk is visiting three major moments in time and space.

The first one, as we said, took place in Paris in the 1850s when the Armenian printer and publisher Čanik Aramean (1820–1879) introduced latinised Armenian types in La Colombe du Massis. The second instance happened in Beirut in 1968 with artist Onnik Awetisean (1898–1974) publishing his New lowercase letters for printing in Armenian. Our last move takes us to twenty-first-century Yerevan and examines recent typographic trends.

This event is held in collaboration with St Bride Foundation.

About Dr. Elena Papassissa

Dr Elena Papassissa is a type designer, type consultant, independent researcher, and a Lecturer in Graphic Design and Typography at Oxford Brookes University. Since 2013 she has been running her own practice, collaborating with international type foundries and type designers, and graphic design studios in London. Notable clients and collaborations include Monotype, Dalton Maag, Google, Tiro Typeworks, Jeffery Keedy, and Fraser Muggeridge studio. Beside typefaces in the Latin script, Elena has designed several Armenian fonts such as: Noto Armenian, Avenir Next World Armenian, and Jaguar Armenian.

The topic of her doctoral thesis was ‘Conventions, traditionalism, Latinisation, and modernity in Armenian typefaces across type-making technologies from 1512 to 1977’. Elena presented her research at international conferences, such as: Colloque ‘Orient typographique’ (Paris 2023), Future Graphic Language (Warsaw, 2019), the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) (Paris 2023, Montréal 2019, Amsterdam 2013), and the 5th International Conference on Typography and Visual Communication, University of Nicosia (ICTVC) (Cyprus, 2013). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communication and an MA in Communication and Design for Publishing from the ISIA Urbino (Italy), and an MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading. She was awarded her PhD in Typography and Graphic Communication from the University of Reading in 2020; her PhD research was funded by (AHRC) Design Star.

Learn how to design and embroider motifs inspired by Armenian culture. Lizzy Vartanian will tell you about her work and then teach you how to stitch some of her designs which have been influenced by her Armenian heritage. Her embroidery is an effort to stitch a relationship with a culture she has been separated from as a consequence of migration. Much of her work is inspired by roots in Lebanon, Armenia, and Syria.

Materials will be provided.

Please note that all event tickets are sold online, no tickets are available at the door. To ensure a smooth experience for all attendees, please make sure to register in advance using Eventbrite.

About Lizzy Vartanian

Lizzy Vartanian is an embroidery artist inspired by family heritage in Lebanon, Armenia and Syria. She has been fortunate to spend time with female practitioners in Jordan, learning about traditional stitches from Palestine, Jordan and Syria. She has given workshops at institutions including Victoria & Albert Museum, Leighton House, The Other Art Fair and Darat Al Funun. Her work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art.

A literary shooting star of the 1920s, Michael Arlen (1895-1956) was the chronicler of Mayfair society. He became an international celebrity after the publication of his scandalous novel The Green Hat in 1924. Born into an immigrant Armenian community in Lancashire, following early breakthrough in London he led a millionaire’s life on the Riviera and dabbled in the Hollywood film industry before living out his final years in New York, all but forgotten.

Join us for an illustrated talk about Arlen’s life and career by Philip Ward, based on Ward’s recently published book Encounters with Michael Arlen. Ward will also offer some thoughts on how – and why – this complex individual, born Dikran Kouyoumdjian, reinvented himself as ‘Michael Arlen’.

A unique display of first editions of all of Arlen’s books, held by the Armenian Institute library, will be available for browsing during the event.

There will be the opportunity to purchase the book during the event, cash only please. 

This event is held in collaboration with Troubador Publishing.

Please note that all event tickets are sold online, no tickets are available at the door. To ensure a smooth experience for all attendees, please make sure to register in advance using Eventbrite.

About the Speaker

Philip Ward is a writer with particular interests in literature, music and drama. He worked for many years in the House of Commons Library. His publications include Hofmannsthal and Greek Myth, a translation of Frank Wedekind’s novella Mine-Haha, and studies of the work of Sandy Denny, Laura Nyro and Helen Mirren, as well as a volume of essays Instead of a Critic. He holds MA degrees from the universities of Oxford and London and a PhD from Cambridge, where he is a Senior Member of Wolfson College.

Join us for an Archive Discovery Day with the Armenian Institute and the Wiener Holocaust Library as part of the Holocaust and Genocide Research Partnership.

Discover and explore a wealth of resources, titles, online access to video testimonies, references, and books in different languages, all in the heart of London, to support your studies and research projects. Focus on histories of peoples and genocide, and see how memory is preserved for future generations in these two original institutions. Open in priority to postgraduate students.

Archive Discovery Day Timings:
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Introduction to Armenian Institute Archive and Library. This will include a presentation from the AI’s Archivist Kolya Abramsky and Librarians Eddie Arnavoudian and Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian.

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Grab some lunch and head over to the Wiener Holocaust Library (24 min walk/19 min public transport).

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Introduction to the USC Shoah Foundation Archive at the Wiener Holocaust Library with Dr. Becky Jinks. This session will focus on Armenian oral history testimonies. You will also have the opportunity to view the ‘Genocidal Captivity: Re-telling the stories of Armenian and Yezidi Women’ exhibition.

Please note, that for the session at the Wiener Holocaust Library, we’d recommend bringing a laptop and headphones if you can.

Saving the Survivors: Danish relief workers and Armenian women genocide survivors in the 1920s.

Between 1921 and 1930, 1,880 Armenian survivors who had escaped genocidal captivity were taken in by Karen Jeppe’s Rescue Home, on the outskirts of Aleppo. Most stayed a few months, some just days, some years. For each survivor she took in, Karen Jeppe recorded their names, ages, place of birth, parents’ names, photography, and a short version of their story: ten of these stories of survival are featured in the Wiener Holocaust Library's current exhibition: Genocidal Captivity. We will have a discussion about Jeppe’s work, led by Dr Rebecca Jinks.

There will also be a reading of a play, Sorrow is Turned into Joy, written and performed by a group of Armenian women survivors in 1924, in Thessaloniki, for visiting Danish humanitarians. The play addresses their recent experiences of genocide and loss. The reading is directed by the distinguished theatre and opera director Seta White.

About Seta White:

Seta is a theatre and opera director, theatre maker and actor. Trained at Bretton Hall University College – B.A. (Hons) Theatre Arts - there is a strong emphasis in multidisciplinary work throughout Seta's work, and she has devised work across dance, music and drama, most often in highly collaborative environments. Seta is particularly drawn to developing work with people who otherwise do not have a voice, to find their stories & discover how they want their stories told.

We are delighted to invite you to a private, curator-led tour by Dr. Rebecca Jinks of the Wiener Holocaust Library’s latest exhibition, Genocidal Captivity: Retelling the Stories of Armenian and Yezidi Women. This exhibition explores stories of Armenian and Yezidi women held in genocidal captivity, using humanitarian records of Armenian survivors from the 1920s and recent interviews with and compelling portraits of Yezidi survivors in Iraq. The exhibition, co-curated by Dr. Rebecca Jinks and Dr. Christine Schmidt (Deputy Director and Director of Research at the Wiener Holocaust Library), is hosted jointly through the Holocaust and Genocide Research Partnership with Free Yezidi Foundation and is part of an AHRC-funded research project led by Dr. Rebecca Jinks. It is also generously supported by the Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation. The exhibition runs from 21 Feb - 31 May 2024.

Learn more about the exhibition here.

About Dr. Rebecca Jinks

Dr. Becky Jinks is a historian of comparative genocide and humanitarianism at Royal Holloway, University of London. This exhibition, which she has co-curated with Dr. Christine Schmidt (Deputy Director and Director of Research at the Wiener Holocaust Library), forms part of her AHRC-funded research project Genocidal captivity: (Re)telling the stories of Armenian and Yezidi women survivors, 1915 and 2014. The project builds on her earlier work on international humanitarian organisations’ treatment of ‘absorbed’ Armenian women in the aftermath of the genocide.

Join us for an exciting opportunity to connect with fellow creatives, reminisce about the connections and collaborations forged during our past events, and explore each other's upcoming projects.

Whether you're an actor, director, writer, designer, poet, painter, composer, musician, choreographer, producer, craftworker, or any other creative actively shaping the arts landscape, we invite you to join us for coffee and the chance to network with other Armenian creatives.

As in the past, this gathering is hosted by theatre director Ed Stambollouian and playwright Abi Zakarian, with the gracious support of the Armenian Institute.

EngageArmenia Forum 2024: Revitalize your engagement with Armenia

In Armenia, the challenges are great, the times uncertain. To increase our engagement and get everyone involved, the Engage Armenia Forum 2024 is a call to action aimed at Armenians worldwide to come together, regardless of their expertise or experience, and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Armenia.

The tour is scheduled for March 6-13, 2024, and will span eight European cities: London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Alfortville, Geneva, Lyon, and Marseille.

Why engage with Armenia

The question of why one should engage with Armenia may already be on the minds of many in the Diaspora. Some have long standing connections, while others are considering this opportunity for the first time. The Engage Armenia Forum 2024 provides a platform to rethink, revitalize and put into practice your engagement with Armenia.

What the Forum offers

It features a diverse range of individuals, organizations, and programs, each offering valuable insights into how you can actively participate in Armenia's development.

Notable speakers at the Engage Armenia 2024 tour include:

● Vartan Marashlyan (Repat Armenia)

● Nelly Poliakov (H. Hovnanian Family Foundation)

● Sevan Kabakian (Birthright Armenia/Armenian Volunteer Corps)

● Nazareth Seferian (Impact Hub)

● Sisian Boghossian (RA State Tourism Committee)

● Gevorg Poghosyan (ReArmenia)

● Hrayr Barsoumian (Optimize Consulting)

● Garik Gevorgyan (Move2Armenia)

● Shoushan Keshishian (Hub Artsakh)

● Marie Lou Papazian (TUMO)

Engage Armenia 2024 has two key components: panel discussions and networking. The panel discussions provide a platform for speakers to share their personal experiences and insights. Topics will include volunteering, internships, expertise sharing, supporting projects, higher education opportunities, career options and business investments, repatriation and integration in Armenia. This interactive format allows attendees to ask questions and engage with the panelists directly.

By participating in #EngageArmenia 2024, you are taking a significant step towards reshaping your connection with Armenia.

You are invited to join us for an exclusive evening celebrating exceptional Armenian women throughout history. Tatiana Der Avedissian, the chair of trustees at the Armenian Institute and a champion of women’s rights, will take us on a journey evoking the lives of inspiring women, from mythical and historical figures such as goddess Anahit and Shajar al-Durr, sultana of Egypt, to contemporary divas hailing from Armenian roots, like iconic stars Cher and Kim Kardashian, and remarkable figures such as Agnes Joaquim, a 19th-century gardener who created the orchid hybrid that is now Singapore’s national flower, the delicate Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim.’

The event will celebrate Armenian women like never before to help mark International Women’s day and history month.

We hope you can join us and amplify the stories of these wonder women. Expect delicious food provided by Jakob's restaurant, as well as music, drinks, and plenty of surprises! Proceeds from the event will go towards supporting The Armenian Institute's mission to foster dialogue and connections with Armenia, the diaspora, and the cultures of the wider region, while collaborating with a diverse range of academics, artists, and creatives to deepen our understanding and awareness of Armenian culture. Please join us and support our efforts to make Armenian history and culture a living experience.

Thanks to the generous support from Armenian House and Jakob's.

About the Speaker:

Tatiana Der Avedissian, Chair of the trustees of the Armenian Institute, is a communications specialist who is passionate about sustainability, human rights, history, politics and philanthropy. Der Avedissian is head of business development for Economist Impact's World Ocean Initiative and sits on The Economist Group's sustainability steering committee. Outside of work, she uses her expertise to advise and support other organisations with their strategic communication and business needs. She is a trustee and co-president of Alkionides UK, co-president of the Harvard Kennedy School Women's Network, and sits on the board of the UK-Cyprus Enterprise Council. Der Avedissian has taught ethics and politics for the Escuela de Gobierno Universidad Hemisferios in Ecuador as a guest professor.

The podcast series “The Lost Voice: Aurora Mardiganian” is an investigation into what happened to the Armenian genocide survivor who became a film star, Aurora Mardiganian. The podcast recounts her story, Hollywood exploitation, her resilience, and reflects on how the movie, which broke box office records in America, is now officially a “lost film.” It also delves into the UK's position on the Armenian Genocide, by speaking with Tim Loughton, MP, who has been fighting for recognition in the country.

Join us at the Armenian Institute to discover this work and meet its creator, Maxim Saakyan, who will tell us more about the process of making the podcast and the importance of archiving. Conversation and debate about the important questions it raises will be encouraged.

The newly launched Uncovering Roots podcast is thought of as a journey into lesser-known narratives from the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region and indigenous people across the globe. Each episode is crafted to immerse listeners in a creative and personal storytelling experience. It has already received recognition, as Spotify featured it as #1 documentary and The Guardian chose it as their podcast of the week on 14 December 2023.

This event will be in-person and online.

About Maxim Saakyan

Maxim has a diverse background ranging from mathematics to story telling. His multicultural background and Armenian heritage sparked a passion in telling “must-be heard” stories from those who do no have the privilege to bring their stories to life.

Join us for an enchanting journey through the lyrical realm of award-winning Sarah Mnatzaganian's acclaimed poetry. In this intimate hour, Sarah gracefully celebrates her most recent book, Lemonade in the Armenian Quarter, taking the audience from the serene landscapes of her English upbringing to the vibrant tapestry of her Armenian heritage in Jerusalem.

Mnatzaganian's poetry is a feast for the soul —delicious, thought-provoking and unapologetically sincere. It brims with richly evocative imagery, depicting childhood, motherhood, and family dynamics, always attuned to the nuanced meanings embedded in food, clothes and community traditions. Sarah's words, woven into a narrative unlike any other, exude a captivating allure, crafting vivid portraits that rouse the senses.

About Sarah Mnatzaganian

Anglo-Armenian poet Sarah Mnatzaganian lives in Ely. Her work has been published widely in literary magazines and anthologies. Her first book, Lemonade in the Armenian Quarter, won the Saboteur Award in 2022 and has recently inspired a song cycle by the composer Noah Max. A special hand-stitched edition of cello themed love poems will be published in May 2024.

Get insight into life in Gaza in the 1940s-1970s through the work of Kegham Djeghalian.

Of Armenian descent, Kegham Djeghalian (1915-1981) moved to Palestine in the 1940s where he eventually set up a photo studio in Gaza in 1944. A prominent photographer, he documented everyday life in the city through turbulent periods of transition until the 1970s. From studio portraits and family gatherings to images of refugee camps and military personnel, his work is varied, giving insight into the social and political development of Gaza in that period.

Join us and his grandson, artist and educator Kegham Djeghalian Jr, take us through the life and legacy of one of Gaza’s most important photographers.

In partnership with The Barakat Trust and The Photographer’s Gallery.

Djeghalian has been a faculty member at Paris College of Art (PCA) since 2016 and is one of the faculty members who premiered the Master of Arts program in Fashion Film and Photography in 2016. He was the Acting Pedagogic Director of the Master of Image Design in fashion at l’Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) in 2018 & 2019. Moreover, he has been leading workshops and master classes in various educational and cultural institutes internationally since 2011. Djeghalian studied Image Design in Fashion at l’Institut Français de la Mode (IFM), Visual Arts at the American University of Cairo, Visual Culture and Design at Goldsmiths College University of London, and Fashion Studies at Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion. Djeghalian’s work was internationally exhibited in group and solo shows, and his shoots and articles were published in diverse print and online magazines. Four of his photo-shoots have won international awards. He has consulted and collaborated with many fashion houses and designers the likes of Dior, Kenzo, Louboutin, Hermès, Okhtein, Dior MajaS. In 2014, his short film ‘To Schiap with Love’ was selected and shown at Diane Pernet’s ‘A Shaded View on Fashion Film 7’ at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 2020, he was appointed as the Creative Director of the Egyptian footwear brand Zee with a mission to revamp and restructure its identity, image and product.

On January 19, 2007, the world was shaken by tragedy when Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian intellectual and the esteemed editor-in-chief of Agos newspaper, fell victim to a fatal shooting perpetrated by a misguided 17-year-old nationalist. This year, with the specter of his assailant's release from prison, the call for dialogue and reflection resonates with increased urgency.

Join us for our annual commemoration of Hrant Dink's life and ideals. Our event will feature a multidisciplinary presentation with the participation of author and actress Nouritza Matossian, Harvard University Fellow Ohannes Kılıçdağı, and the voice of Noemi Ducimetière.

About the speakers:

Nouritza Matossian

Nouritza Matossian, friend and documentarist of Hrant Dink has memorialized his life every year since his death in 2007. She recorded his innermost thoughts and feelings in conversations editing them later for the award winning video portrait, Hrant Dink, Heart of Two Nations.

Her acclaimed biographies on Iannis Xenakis, composer and Black Angel, A Life of Arshile Gorky, Armenian American artist were both made into films. She performed the story of Gorky in a one woman show internationally in three languages and 100 productions. She is a founder and former director of the Armenian Institute in London. Wife and partner of composer Rolf Gehlhaar.

Ohannes Kılıçdağı

Ohannes Kılıçdağı is a visiting fellows at the Center for the Middle Eastern Studies of Harvard University. After completing double major BA degrees from sociology and political science departments of Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey; continued to his doctoral studies at the department of history of the same university. He joined the research fellows of the Near Eastern Studies of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2012-2013. He received his PhD in 2014 with his dissertation titled “Socio-political Reflections and Expectations of the Ottoman Armenians after the 1908 Revolution: Between hope and Despair”. From 2003 to 2017, he extensively lectured at İstanbul Bilgi University Sociology Department on social and political history of the late Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey as well as history of Ottoman-Turkish social and political thought.

Noémie Ducimetière

Noémie Ducimetière is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and performer. Formerly lead vocalist of band Gentle Mystics now spearheads projects under the alias Noum, overlapping the experimental with the traditional. Her soundtracks featured in over 40 renowned festivals: Falling Tree, NOWNESS, REAL STORIES, GREENPEACE and BFI. Noémie studied Old Roman chant with expert Marcel Pérès of the Organum Ensemble, sang in monasteries in the mountains of northern Greece, trained with Corsican composer, researcher and specialist of Medieval music Thomas Fournil, and Palestinian-British oud player Kareem Samara and Greek modal professor Evgenios Voulgaris.

UNIQUE FUNDRAISING BOOKS SALE

An exceptional opportunity to acquire old and rare publications in Armenian, English, and various other languages, spanning the period from 1890 to 2000.

Over the years, the Armenian Institute Library has acquired numerous duplicate titles through donations and the merging of local collections. This event will free up much-needed space while also generating some revenue that will support other areas of the collection.

This is the perfect opportunity to pick up a favorite title or gift for as little as £1, or choose a bundle for a further discount! Sales prices will be available in person only. This is a one-day sale, so don’t miss out!

All proceeds will contribute to expanding our collection with new, relevant titles.

Watch Aurora's Sunrise in London

The Armenian Institute is excited to partner with Bertha DocHouse to promote new screenings of Aurora’s Sunrise.

The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

In 1919, the silent Hollywood film Auction of Souls told the story of a teenage girl’s experience through the horror of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Aurora Mardiganian played herself in the blockbuster film of her life, which brought the plight of the Armenians to the wider world. All copies of Auction of Souls were believed to be lost, until 1994 when 18 minutes of film were rediscovered, just a few months after Aurora’s death, aged 93.

Aurora’s Sunrise revives Aurora’s story through a blend of evocative animation, her own recollections and the 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic.

It vividly recalls an often-ignored 20th Century genocide, telling the tale of how one girl escaped, and then relived her life’s greatest pain to save her people.

Watch Aurora's Sunrise in London

The Armenian Institute is excited to partner with Bertha DocHouse to promote new screenings of Aurora’s Sunrise.

The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

In 1919, the silent Hollywood film Auction of Souls told the story of a teenage girl’s experience through the horror of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Aurora Mardiganian played herself in the blockbuster film of her life, which brought the plight of the Armenians to the wider world. All copies of Auction of Souls were believed to be lost, until 1994 when 18 minutes of film were rediscovered, just a few months after Aurora’s death, aged 93.

Aurora’s Sunrise revives Aurora’s story through a blend of evocative animation, her own recollections and the 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic.

It vividly recalls an often-ignored 20th Century genocide, telling the tale of how one girl escaped, and then relived her life’s greatest pain to save her people.

Watch Aurora's Sunrise in London

The Armenian Institute is excited to partner with Bertha DocHouse to promote new screenings of Aurora’s Sunrise.

The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

In 1919, the silent Hollywood film Auction of Souls told the story of a teenage girl’s experience through the horror of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Aurora Mardiganian played herself in the blockbuster film of her life, which brought the plight of the Armenians to the wider world. All copies of Auction of Souls were believed to be lost, until 1994 when 18 minutes of film were rediscovered, just a few months after Aurora’s death, aged 93.

Aurora’s Sunrise revives Aurora’s story through a blend of evocative animation, her own recollections and the 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic.

It vividly recalls an often-ignored 20th Century genocide, telling the tale of how one girl escaped, and then relived her life’s greatest pain to save her people.