Cultural Horizons of Armenians

[Siamanto]

WHETHER WE REALLY NEED `GOLDEN APRICOT'

`HAYOTS ASHKHARH'
14 July 07

The fourth international film festival `Golden Apricot' prompts us
about the futility of the existence.
Had a similar event taken place in our reality around 20 years back
it would have definitely been a real event in our social life, while
nowadays it is an imperceptible and unremarkable event.
Those who are ex-officio obliged to fulfill their duties they did
so, the other part of the society is quite indifferent towards it.
Of course it has an external reason as well.
During the Soviet times festival movies were windows towards the
great and prohibited world. People used to attack the movie halls to
watch these movies with half an eye. Whilst the demand of the
prohibited fruit was manifested not only in cinematography but also in
the markets where the cost of one pair of jeans was equal to one-month
salary.
By the way the admiration that prevailed not only in the cultural
but also political life was also conditioned by the before mentioned
phenomenon. Foreign press was considered to be the highest instance
truth and the wise and just political structure of the countries on the
other side of the iron curtain.
In the everyday mythology of that period it was considered a
`different kingdom' an island of dreams where golden pears grew on
poplars. Today nothing is left from the pure and bright conviction.
Not because our reality seems perfect, but because people understand
that anything can happen in the `island of the dreams'. Sometimes
astonishing justice triumphs, sometimes a gentleman talks to a
gentleman about something and reaches an agreement.
Thus we can't say that we are horned devils and they are angels with
wings. You can't say that life is bad in the West and you can't also
say that it is worthy of admiration.
This is the external reason of the indifference towards `Golden
Apricot', but there is a very important internal reason as well.
The festival proved - better overlooked then discredited. The latter
usually lies in ambush, when you don't manage to bring your desires in
conformity with your abilities, but you want pretend that things should
be like that. The international jury, formed in a hurried manner
introduced names quite unheard of. Probably these people where also
surprised to receive invitations.
During the days of the festival there was a feeling of shame for the
extremely weak and bad competition. With the persistency typical of the
fox that complains about the quality of the fruit when it fails to
reach for it, they were trying to clarify the principle of the festival
saying that they put emphasis on the young film-producers and films
produced by the authors. Probably world-famous masters who also
expressed desire to participate in the `Golden Apricot' were given the
same explanation.
The organization failings, old-fashioned techniques, the jury, the
empty halls, the self-admiration and pathos of the organizers, the
complaints about lack of money, all this was very shameful. By the way
most of this money belongs to us ` taxpayers. What do they spend it on?
And who benefits from the classical question of law. Most probably they
want to mislead the authorities regarding the place of the `Golden
Apricot' on the world film-map. And this place is usually characterized
by a word that is not proper to be published in the newspaper.
We don't appeal to radical measures ` such as `Do Away with Golden
Apricot'. But lets think about protecting the festival from shame. They
simply don't want to bring proper movies and provide a proper level,
even in case their financial means provide this opportunity. So why do
we need to hold festivals every year, in case when neither films nor
stars want to visit us. Let's find other ways.
Of course it is a pleasant and helpful job to be among the
organizers of International Film Festival. It brings money, foreign
tours, respect and good contacts. Should they conduct it by their own
financial means `Golden Apricot' would have been a real treasure.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg196063.html

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

Life as a series of bizarre theatrical sets
ByJackie Wullschlager

FT
July 13 2007 18:47

Every clown wants to play Hamlet; only rarely does Hamlet act the
clown. But in `Two Feet in One Shoe', his installation of furiously
gestural, slithery, smeared, chaotic canvases in dark or garish
colours, Armen Eloyan is such an actor-painter. Depicting life as a
series of bizarre theatrical sets, fantasy characters, masked players,
he creates a tragicomic universe where the performance of painting is
the most absurdist drama of all.

A figure is trapped in a giant book; another stands on top of a closed
volume, refusing access to knowledge. A skeletal creature in
18th-century dress stalks a night-time park, the sky scrawled with the
words `Hold My Bones Together'. Chained decapitated geese drip crimson
beaks; anthropomorphic sausages warily eye a kitchen knife; a landscape
of purple pineapples is hatched with prison bars.


Menace and beauty, despair and vitality: Eloyan was born in Armenia in
1966 and the traditions he is parodying are east European
expressionism, folklore, Kafkaesque narrative, all crossed with a
post-Disney cartoon vocabulary, the splashy pessimism of Los Angeles
artists such as Paul McCarthy, and, mostly, memories of Soviet
oppression and mental constraint. Spanker and victim in `Bend Over';
the puffed-up, uniformed fantasist in `Wishes and Wishes (Rex)'; the
`Nightsmoker' rigged in wig and salmon pink ruff; a solitary top-hatted
clown in a cavernous landscape in `The Man Who Tells Fairy Tales': what
makes Eloyan a significant talent is that his imaginary world is
brought into existence before our eyes through the exaggerations and
artifice of paint. The farcical costumes and masks of his prison guards
and dreamers are so thickly sculpted as to render them ridiculous, yet
the lack of definition makes them threatening, the harsh white light
interrogates and strips bare. It is a dashing spectacle with a strong
moral undercurrent: `The play's the thing/Wherein I'll catch the
conscience of the king.'

`Two Feet in One Shoe: Armen Eloyan' is at Parasol Unit, London N1, to
July 20. Tel: +44 (0)20-7490 7373

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg196040.html

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

[The following is an automatic translation using Systransoft of a review published in "Le Monde." Siamanto.]

Artavazd Pelechian, The Armenian poet filmmaker" : Pelechian, an exceptional filmmaker

The release of three films of Artavazd Pelechian has - this in only one Parisian room in full summer was [i.e. a slow season. Siamanto] - constitutes a considerable event. That for two reasons: its work makes figure of dazzling comet in the history of the cinema, and the man, of which the appearances are done increasingly rare, is nimbé of mystery. Born in 1938 in Leninakan, in Soviet Arménie, Pelechian was formed with the beginning of the year 1960 with the VGIK, school of Soviet cinema celebrates it, and is the author of thirteen films, since its film of studies entitled the Patrol of mountain (1964) until Vie (1993).


This work, which remains largely ignored general public, can actually be regarded as documentary, but made imploser, by its poetic lyricism, the usually allowed framework of the kind. It is a cinema without actors, neither dialogues nor stories, which takes with arm-the-body the filmed matter, introduces it and the régurgite into a succession of salvos vibratile, sometimes suaves, sometimes explosives, but always impregnated of the sharpest sensitivity, more insane inspiration. In truth, it would be righter to indicate Pelechian, after David W. Griffith, Serguei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, like one of the largest assemblers of the history of the cinema, and undoubtedly more hallucinated of all. If it were necessary to call upon the locatable image of a similar artistic insanity, that of Antonin Artaud would make the deal. The three samples which this programming invites us to discover in constitute very good examples.

We (1969) mingles thus with the catches of sights turned by the scenario writer with images of files to manufacture a subjective reality which condenses and incarnates in the manner the most expressive history of the Armenian people. The Seasons (1972) this project continues, by focusing the point of view on the seasonal life of the Armenian shepherds, on the sensual report/ratio of the men to the ground and the animal: the images of this film are made up so that they are registered in an inalterable way in the significant conscience of the spectator. Our century (1982) is finally a quasi surrealist evocation, starting from images of files as well American as Soviet, of the space conquest by the man. Countdowns with repetition in recurring explosions of fuselages, body in weightlessness in approximate landings, this film combines a reflexion distressing on technological disproportion and a glance frankly cocasse on the incommensurable vanity of the man.

AMBITION PROMÉTHÉENNE

The science of the rate/rhythm, the reinvented interlacing of the band and the picture strip, the art of the remote assembly, which separates more than it does not connect, evoke the ambition of this scenario writer except standards to propose, as while setting out again of zero halfway of the dumb man and of sound, a vision of the cinema such as it could have existed.

This ambition prométhéenne, the Pelechian man shows some as it is appropriate utopian dimension. Recluse some share in the East, not having carried out anything since 1993 more, opposing a certain force of resistance to the exploitation of his existing films, the scenario writer became of sound living a cinephilic kind of myth. Some fulgurating exits point out it, more and more seldom, with the good memory of the most attentive spectators, who discovered it in Occident only in the years 1980. The first, and one of the very rare retrospectives of its work in France, took place in 1992 thus, with the national Gallery of the Play of palm. A memorable dialogue between Artavazd Pelechian and Jean-Luc Godard followed in the columns of this newspaper (Le Monde of April 2, 1992). In spite of specific initiatives since then, silence ended up covering this remarkable work. These three small stones allow today those which wish it to go up the Pelechian track.


Jacques Mandelbaum

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3476,36-938699@51-936194,0.html

[The following is the original French text. Siamanto]

"Artavazd Pelechian, le poète cinéaste arménien" : Pelechian, un cinéaste hors normes
LE MONDE | 24.07.07 | 16h16 • Mis à jour le 24.07.07 | 16h16

La sortie en salles de trois films d'Artavazd Pelechian - fût-ce dans une seule salle parisienne en plein été - constitue un événement non négligeable. Cela pour deux raisons : son oeuvre fait figure d'éblouissante comète dans l'histoire du cinéma, et l'homme, dont les apparitions se font de plus en plus rares, est nimbé de mystère. Né en 1938 à Leninakan, en Arménie soviétique, Pelechian s'est formé au début des années 1960 au VGIK, la célèbre école de cinéma soviétique, et est l'auteur de treize films, depuis son film d'études intitulé La Patrouille de montagne (1964) jusqu'à Vie (1993).


Cette oeuvre, qui demeure largement méconnue du grand public, peut être considérée comme documentaire, mais fait imploser en réalité, par son lyrisme poétique, le cadre couramment admis du genre. C'est un cinéma sans acteurs, ni dialogues ni histoires, qui prend à bras-le-corps la matière filmée, l'ingère et la régurgite dans une succession de salves vibratiles, tantôt suaves, tantôt explosives, mais toujours imprégnées de la plus vive sensibilité, de la plus folle inspiration. En vérité, il serait plus juste de désigner Pelechian, après David W. Griffith, Serguei Eisenstein et Dziga Vertov, comme l'un des plus grands monteurs de l'histoire du cinéma, et assurément le plus halluciné de tous. S'il fallait faire appel à l'image repérable d'une semblable déraison artistique, celle d'Antonin Artaud ferait l'affaire. Les trois échantillons que cette programmation nous invite à découvrir en constituent de très bons exemples.

Nous (1969) mêle ainsi des prises de vues tournées par le cinéaste à des images d'archives pour fabriquer une réalité subjective qui condense et incarne de la manière la plus expressive l'histoire du peuple arménien. Les Saisons (1972) poursuit ce projet, en focalisant le point de vue sur la vie saisonnière des bergers arméniens, sur le rapport sensuel des hommes à la terre et à l'animal : les images de ce film sont composées de telle sorte qu'elles s'inscrivent de manière inaltérable dans la conscience sensible du spectateur. Notre siècle (1982) est enfin une évocation quasi surréaliste, à partir d'images d'archives tant américaines que soviétiques, de la conquête de l'espace par l'homme. De comptes à rebours à répétition en explosions récurrentes de carlingues, de corps en apesanteur en atterrissages approximatifs, ce film allie une réflexion angoissante sur la démesure technologique et un regard franchement cocasse sur l'incommensurable vanité de l'homme.

AMBITION PROMÉTHÉENNE

La science du rythme, l'entrelacs réinventé de la bande-son et de la bande-image, l'art du montage à distance, qui sépare plus qu'il ne relie, évoquent l'ambition de ce cinéaste hors normes de proposer, comme en repartant de zéro à mi-chemin du muet et du sonore, une vision du cinéma tel qu'il aurait pu exister.

Cette ambition prométhéenne, l'homme Pelechian en accuse comme il convient la dimension utopique. Reclus quelque part à l'Est, n'ayant plus rien réalisé depuis 1993, opposant une certaine force de résistance à l'exploitation de ses films existants, le cinéaste est devenu de son vivant une sorte de mythe cinéphilique. Quelques sorties fulgurantes le rappellent, de plus en plus rarement, au bon souvenir des spectateurs les plus attentifs, qui ne l'ont découvert en Occident que dans les années 1980. La première, et l'une des très rares rétrospectives de son oeuvre en France, eut lieu ainsi en 1992, à la Galerie nationale du Jeu de paume. Un mémorable dialogue entre Artavazd Pelechian et Jean-Luc Godard s'ensuivit dans les colonnes de ce journal (Le Monde du 2 avril 1992). En dépit d'initiatives ponctuelles depuis lors, le silence a fini par recouvrir cette oeuvre remarquable. Ces trois petits cailloux permettent aujourd'hui à ceux qui le souhaitent de remonter la piste Pelechian.

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

[Another review published in "l’Humanité." Siamanto.]


Do you know Artavazd Péléchian?

Cinema. The exhumation of the work of the large Armenian poet of reality is the single event of exception of this estival week.

Us, Seasons, Our century, of Artavazd Péléchian.

Arménie. 1:44.

There were Vertov, Dovjenko, Poudovkine, of the time of the large Soviet cinema, which, each one with their manner, worked lyricism. And also later Tarkovski and Paradjanov, which added to the precedents their amount of mysticism. Put all in the shaker, agitate well, leaves Péléchian, born there in 1938 and author of a dozen films, made between 1964 and 1993, one duration from seven to fifty minutes. Unknown, Péléchian? Not completely. Its films were seen and, of the national gallery of the Play of palm in Paris with the conference of Toulouse where it was present, while passing by the meetings of Gindou, the homages were not lacking to him. However, it is always a shock to find its work as that will be one to discover it. For this documentarist, which would be at very different an end, is for him only one starting material, the words of a lexicon whose purpose is of order poetic. The images, of files or rounds by him, are in black and white with the old format, dumb women, the music holding place of binder.

Rich composition moreover, which can draw from the traditional one, as in the folklore or the rock'n'roll, giving to film its tone, which goes from pastoral to the épique one. Thus of those included in this program entitled “Artavazd Péléchian, scenario writer and poet of reality”. We (1969, 25 min) could be the allegro of a concerto grosso practitioner the assembly of attractions, with the direction where heard Eisenstein. The face of a child, landscapes, working bloated faces, funeral and explosions compose a unit on the topic of the Armenian people.

The Seasons (1972, 29 min) is the rural variation in seizing images, energy of the descent of the haymaking so that the animals have to eat the winter until the help of sheep lost in water in fury. Our century (1982, 50 min) sticks to Youri Gagarine and the space conquest, not omitting neither the pioneers of aviation at the beginning of all, nor the fact that what is called progress also equipped the man of tools whom can be put at the service of death. It is necessary to attend Artavazd Péléchian.

Jean Roy

http://www.humanite.fr/2007-07-25_Cultures_Connaissez-vous-Artavazd-Pelechian

[The original French text. Siamanto.]

Connaissez-vous Artavazd Péléchian ?
Cinéma . L’exhumation de l’oeuvre du grand poète arménien du réel est l’unique sortie d’exception de cette semaine estivale.

Nous, les Saisons,

Notre siècle,

d’Artavazd Péléchian.

Arménie. 1 h 44.

Il y eut Vertov, Dovjenko, Poudovkine, du temps du grand cinéma soviétique, qui, chacun à leur manière, travaillèrent le lyrisme. Et aussi plus tard Tarkovski et Paradjanov, qui ajoutèrent aux précédents leur dose de mysticisme. Mettez tout dans le shaker, agitez bien, en sort un Péléchian, né en 1938 et auteur d’une douzaine de films, tournés entre 1964 et 1993, d’une durée de sept à cinquante minutes. Inconnu, Péléchian ? Pas tout à fait. Ses films ont été vus et, de la galerie nationale du Jeu de paume à Paris au colloque de Toulouse où il était présent, en passant par les rencontres de Gindou, les hommages ne lui ont pas fait défaut. Pourtant, c’est toujours un choc de retrouver son oeuvre comme cela en sera un de la découvrir. Pour ce documentariste, ce qui serait chez tout autre une fin, n’est pour lui qu’un matériau de départ, les mots d’un lexique dont la finalité est d’ordre poétique. Les images, d’archives ou tournées par lui, sont en noir et blanc au format ancien, muettes, la musique tenant lieu de liant. Composition riche au demeurant, qui peut puiser dans le classique, comme dans le folklore ou le rock, donnant au film son ton, qui va de la pastorale à l’épique. Ainsi de ceux repris dans ce programme intitulé « Artavazd Péléchian, cinéaste et poète du réel ». Nous (1969, 25 min) pourrait être l’allegro d’un concerto grosso pratiquant le montage des attractions, au sens où l’entendait Eisenstein. Le visage d’un enfant, des paysages, des trognes ouvrières, des funérailles et des explosions composent un ensemble sur le thème du peuple arménien. Les Saisons (1972, 29 min) en est la déclinaison rurale en images saisissantes, allant de la descente de la fenaison afin que les bêtes aient à manger l’hiver jusqu’au secours de moutons perdus dans des eaux en furie. Notre siècle (1982, 50 min) s’attache à Youri Gagarine et à la conquête spatiale, n’omettant ni les pionniers de l’aviation au départ de tout, ni le fait que ce qu’on appelle le progrès a aussi doté l’homme d’outils pouvant être mis au service de la mort. Il faut fréquenter Artavazd Péléchian.

Jean Roy

[axel]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

Some clips:

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player.html?cmedia=18738085&cfilm=815&hd=1

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18738086&cfilm=815&hd=1.html

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18738087&cfilm=815&hd=1.html

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO PHILOSOPHER GYURJIEV TO LAUNCH IN YEREVAN ON JULY 21

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 20 2007

YEREVAN, July 20. /ARKA/. The international scientific conference
dedicated to the life and doctrine of great philosopher Georgi
Gyurjiev will be held in Yerevan on July 21-22, the organizing
committee reported.

Within the conference the concept of education as well as the
philosopher's views on art will be presented. During the conference
special concert on the works of Gyurjiev and Komitas will take place.

Georgi Gyurjiev (1866-1949) is one of the brightest representatives
of philosophic and religious ideas of the 20th century, who still
remains to be rather influential. He was born in the Armenian city
of Gyumri where he lived with short intervals up to 1920.

His doctrine touches upon the most important issues of objective
reality and realization of human's place in this process.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg196874.html

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

SYSTEM OF A DOWN'S TANKIAN: TRACK LISTING, RELEASE DATE FOR SOLO DEBUT ANNOUNCED

Blabbermouth.net, NY
July 20 2007

Serj Tankian, the visionary frontman for multi-platinum rock band
SYSTEM OF A DOWN, will release his debut solo album, entitled "Elect
the Dead", on October 23 via Serjical Strike/Reprise Records this
fall. The track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Empty Walls
02. The Unthinking Majority
03. Money
04. Feed Us
05. Saving Us
06. Sky Is Over
07. Baby
08. Honking Antelope
09. Lie Lie Lie
10. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
11. Beethoven's C*nt
12. Elect the Dead

Known for his work with hard-rock agitators SOAD, Tankian says he
had no clue he was about to make a rock record when he began to
record at his home studio in Los Angeles last summer. "I was writing
more traditional type songs on my piano and acoustic guitar, with a
classical, almost operatic flavor; and lo and behold, it ended up being
a rock record. Funny what happens when you add distorted guitars and
drums," he says. "There are political songs, funny songs, love songs,
songs about painful experiences, vanity, and the environment. It has
a deep melancholy that runs from the personal to the global, with a
glimmer of hope in the solidarity of spirit."

Tankian produced "Elect the Dead" himself and played most of the
instruments, though the album does feature guest drummers John Dolmayan
(SOAD) and Brian "Brain" Mantia (GUNS N' ROSES, PRIMUS).

"The singularity of vision is strong when you work alone," he says.

"I was a bit skeptical about producing it myself, but I knew how I
wanted it to sound. And as I kept going, I realized it was coming
together really well so I just finished it on my own. But I had to be
careful to push myself like an outside producer would until it was
great. I had the same energy and enthusiasm making this album as I
did making the first SYSTEM record."

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Armenian parents, Tankian is known as an
outspoken political activist who puts his money where his mouth is.

In 2006, he and Dolmayan met with members of Congress in Washington,
D.C., to campaign for support for the Armenian Genocide Recognition
Bill. Tankian is also the co-founder, along with RAGE AGAINST THE
MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, of Axis Of Justice, a non-profit
dedicated to uniting musicians, music fans, and grassroots political
organizations to fight for social justice.

With SYSTEM OF A DOWN, which has released five best-selling
albums, including two Number Ones in 2005 - the critically acclaimed
"Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" - Tankian helped the band earn a reputation
for musically innovative, politically uncompromising rock.

Through it all, Tankian, who has also published a collection of his
poetry, has written his own songs, amassing an archive of material
from many different genres. "I write all the time for no reason but to
write," he says. "I'm just doing what I'm told to do by my heart and
nothing more. I just follow my vision and end up where it takes me."

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg196849.html

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

SERJ TANKIAN TO POST VIDEOS FOR EACH TRACK ON FORTHCOMING SOLO ALBUM -- "ELECT THE DEAD" -- DUE OCTOBER 23RD ON SERJICAL STRIKE/REPRISE RECORDS

Market Wire Incorporated
Published: Aug 27, 2007

Serj Tankian -- the visionary frontman for multi-platinum rock band
System Of A Down -- has asked a collection of video and film directors,
painters, and digital artists to each create a video for one of the
12 tracks on his forthcoming solo debut album, "Elect the Dead,"
which will be released on Serjical Strike/Reprise Records on October
23rd, 2007.

Videos will be posted periodically over the next few months on
Tankian's website www.serjtankian.com and other outlets to be
determined. The first video, an animated clip for the song "The
Unthinking Majority" directed by filmmaker/video director Tawd
Dorenfeld, is currently available.

"For me, the great pleasure of 'Elect the Dead' has been not only
to make the record with the pure vision of what I feel artistically
through my music and poetry, but also to multiply the art factor by
bringing in other great artists, in this case directors, and putting
forth their interpretations of my music and words. This serves two
functions: to create more art from the original source, the album,
and to offer more than just a CD to people interacting with the music,
thus giving us more points of connection with each other."

The directors involved in the project include a prestigious array
of artists whom Tankian has befriended over the last decade. They
include music video director Tony Petrossian (Taking Back Sunday,
Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold), who shot the video for "Empty Walls,"
the first single from "Elect The Dead," photographer/video director
Greg Watermann (Mudvayne, Lamb of God, Howie Day), Oscar-nominated
Puerto Rican playwright and screenwriter Jose Rivera ("The Motorcycle
Diaries"), French film director Diran Noubar ("Armenia: A Country Under
Blockade"), digital artist Roger Kupelian ("The Lord of the Rings";
"Flags of Our Fathers"), documentary director Sevag Vrej (System Of
A Down, Fair To Midland), and Beirut-born filmmaker Garin' Torossian
(Sparklehorse), among others.

"I asked each of the directors for their visual interpretation of
my work," Tankian explains. "They were asked not to write treatments
and that they could make whatever they liked. The results have been
overwhelmingly amazing!"

For news and updates on video debuts, please visit www.serjtankian.com
. A complete list of videos and directors is below:

1. "Empty Walls" - Director: Tony Petrossian

2. "The Unthinking Majority" - Director: Tawd Dorrnfeld

3. "Money" - Director: Ara Soudjian

4. "Feed Us" - Director: Sevag Verj

5. "Saving Us" - Director: Kevin Estrada

6. "Sky is Over" - Director: Jos' Rivera

7. "Baby" - Director: Diran Noubar

8. "Honking Antelope" - Director: Roger Kupelian

9. "Lie, Lie, Lie" - Director: Martha Colburn

10. "Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammo" - Director: Greg Watermann

11. "Beethoven's C***" - Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer

12. "Elect The Dead" - Director: Garin' Torossian

For further information, please contact Warner Bros. Records Publicity:
Brian Bumbery [email protected] 818-953-3203 Renee Harrison
[email protected] 818-953-3311

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg200359.html

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

MARCO GRIGORIAN
By Shahen Khachatrian

AZG Armenian Daily #158
01/09/2007

Culture

Marco Grigorian was already a famous artist. He was born in Kropotkin,
Russia and in 1930 moved to Tehran with his family. In 1950 he enrolled
at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and worked there for about ten
years. The artist had held exhibitions in Rome, Paris and London. The
first Italian period of his creative life included realistic pieces,
while later, the artist began working in the genre of expressionism.

This shift to expressionism was quite natural in the post-war Europe
among the artists who were mainly depicting the human tragedy,
depression and torture.

Grigorian made monumental canvases dwelling on the victims of
the Armenian Genocide and the immigrants from Van, the town of his
ancestors. The used such means of expression as deformation, mixture
of colors and ashes, which greatly emphasized the tragic content of
the canvases.

After achieving certain success in Italy, the artist returned to
Iran. Here he founded "Esthetic" gallery-studio, uniting young artists
under his roof, namely E. Ayvazian, R. Voskanian, S. Mekonian, as
well as Iranian painters. This group of artists was mainly working
in free and independent style.

In 1962 M. Grigorian settled down in New York city, where he
established the Archil Gorky Gallery that still functions. The gallery
becomes a unique art center. In the last period of his creative life,
Girgorian was working in the theme of the earth, which he considered
to be a sphere, basis and concept for higher human activities.

In early 1990ies when Armenia was proclaimed an independent state,
Grigorian brought a rich collection of unique artifacts to Yerevan and
opened "Middle East" exposition at the Charents Museum in Yerevan. A
bit later, In Garni, the artist established his second gallery-studio,
aiming to present the unknown and unique color plate of the Armenian
nature to the various artists of the world.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg200804.html

[Siamanto]

Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians

INTERNATIONAL PUPPET FESTIVAL TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 6-10 IN DSEGH

Noyan Tapan
Sep 6, 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN. International Puppet Festival under
the title Tale Day will be held on September 6-10 in the village
of Dsegh, Lori region, on the initiative of the Armenian Center of
the Union Internationale de la Marionette (UNIMA). Armen Safarian,
the Chairman of the Center, said this in his interview to Noyan
Tapan correspondent.

According to him, this year puppet theaters' creative groups from
Armenia, Javakhk, the Ukraine, Lithuania, and Russia will take part in
the festival being held for already the second year. 18 performances
created on the basis of tales created by various peoples will be shown
in the native village of great Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanian within
the framework of the festival.

A. Safarian said that the festival also gives newly created puppet
theaters the possibility to take part in it and to present their
performances. "One of festival's goals is to help newly created and
young puppet theaters' creative groups to get acquainted with the
rich experience of professional theaters and to establish immediate
contacts with them," he said.

Among Armenian regions, theater groups of Ijevan, Metsamor, Gyumri,
and Charentsavan, as well as the theater group of Khnko Aper National
Children's Library will take part in the festival.

As the Chairman of the UNIMA Armenian Center said, the Armenian
delegation represented by the UNIMA Armenian Center's Karapet puppet
theater will also take part in the Puppet Theaters' International
Congress to be held next year in Australia.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg201441.html