Houshamadyan Kicks off Preservation of Ottoman Armenian cultural lif

PRESS RELEASE
Houshamadyan e. V. (non-profit Organisation)
Berliner Str. 100
13189 Berlin, Germany
Email: houshamadyan(at)gmail.com
Web:

14 May 2011, Berlin

The Houshamadyan website, whose aim is to reconstruct and preserve the
memory, daily life and social environment of the Ottoman Armenians
through research, has now been operating for several months.

The owner and operator of the website is the Houshamadyan Association,
founded and officially registered in Berlin, Germany, in 2010.

Our research encompasses all aspects of the history of the Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire, including social history, the history of daily
life, local microhistory, dialects, music, literature, material
culture and so on. For this, the following are of special importance:
the collection and preservation of culturally valuable artefacts of
all kinds produced by the Ottoman Armenians such as musical recordings
of historical value, old photographs, pictures, old film footage and
so on. Similarly important to our work are documents bearing on
Ottoman Armenian history such as printed books, periodical
publications and archival material, or papers in individual
collections such as correspondence, unpublished notes, official
documents, autobiographical details etc. We also want documenting oral
history by recording interviews and related materials.

We are convinced that the internet is the most practical, influential
and immediate means of carrying out the wide scope of work required to
reconstruct the Ottoman Armenian memory. More than this, it is our aim
to create a collaborative website to which each individual visitor
will have the ability to make comments or input the things that are in
his possession – photographs, books, memoirs, information etc – so
that it’s pages may be enriched collaboratively.

The first place chosen by Houshamadyan was the district of Palu, with
its town and surrounding villages. Various articles may be seen on the
website about Palu’s local history, interethnic relations, geography,
agricultural activities, social structure, local songs and dances and
so forth.

The pages of the website are in the process of being gradually
enriched. In the next few weeks articles about other
Armenian-populated places in the Ottoman Empire will be put in the
public domain.

The website address is:

Yours sincerely,
Houshamadyan editorial board

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress