Author: Chmshkian Vicken

Works  by Armenian photographers are on display at Franz Kafka’s House in Prague within the framework of the Prague Quadrinale.

“The last room on the third floor of the Kafka house definitely makes one thing clear: Scenography is much more than stage design for theater. It is the art of combining images, sounds and objects to create something new,” writes.

The Armenian photographer Vahan Stepanyan and his three colleagues took 50,000 photos of schoolgirls with dolls in the ruins of a church and used 10,000 of them for an eerie film they show in Prague as part of the installation, “Red Hail… because it never ends.”

The photos are based on documents of the Norwegian missionary Bodil Katharine Biorn, who worked in Armenia in an orphanage in 1905. One year, she raised money in Norway to give each of the girls a doll for Christmas and photographed all the happy children with their new toys.

After the 1915 massacres of the Armenian people, Mother Katharine – as she was called – tried to find out what happened to those girls. She couldn’t find a single one of them. They had all been murdered. Altogether, 500,000 children were among the victims of the massacre.

“We’ve been wanting to work with these photos for a long time. Bodil Katharine Biorn’s grandson gave us access to the approximately 60 surviving shots in a Norwegian Archive,” explained Stepanyan. The black-and-white film they made also features sacred music specially written by the Armenian composer Tigran Hamasyan.

The soundtrack for the new staged pictures revives the atmosphere of the original ones, as if time had stopped and still held the laughter of these children. The result is a very aesthetic and moving work of art.

President Serzh Sargsyan today attended the opening of the office of Wikimedia Armenia scientific-educational NGO on 2 Arshakunyats Street in Yerevan.

The Armenian president toured the office, familiarized himself with the activities of Wikimedia Armenia and its upcoming development projects. The president was presented that the goal of Wikimedia Armenia, an Armenian branch of the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), is to encourage the distribution and development of wiki-based projects in Armenia and in the region and to popularize the idea of free knowledge.

At the conference hall of the office, Serzh Sargsyan took part in a discussion of issues pertaining to the development of wiki-based projects in Armenia which was also joined by RA Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan, RA Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, the Director of the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation, Hakob Hakobyan, its founder Artur Janibekyan, the President of Wikimedia Hayastan NGO Susanna Mkrtchyan, the Chair of the WMF Board of Trustees, Jan-Bart de Vreede, the Head of WMF Grants and Global South Partnerships, Asaf Bartov, the Manager of Wikipedia Education Program, Anna Koval, GLAM-Wiki Coordinator for Europeana Liam Wyatt, the Director of the Intellectual Veratsnund Foundation Marina Sultanyan and project coordinator Armen Martirosyan.

As part of the opening ceremony of the Wikimedia Armenia Office, the participants watched a video on the results of cooperation between the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation and Wikimedia Armenia scientific-educational NGO.

Gita Elibekyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Tbilisi

Tigran Hamasyan will provide the proceeds from his Tbilisi concert to the fund for assistance to the flood victims. The charity concert will take place at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire at 8 p.m. tonight. The pianist had another concert at St. Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi last night.

Within the framework of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Tigran Hamasyan plans concerts in over 100 churches around the world. The program is titled Luys i Luso (Light of Light), which has a religious meaning.

“I wanted the program to have a bright name, because we are performing religious music, a living music, which survives and develops,” Hamasyan said in an interview with Public Radio of Armenia.

With new improvisations Tigran Hamasyan gives a fresh breath to the Armenian religious music – the works by Mesrop Mashtots, Grigor Narekatsi, Nerses Shnorhali, Mkhitar Ayrivanetsi and Makar Yekmalyan.

“Our religious traditions are combined with improvisation here,” the pianist said.

The tour that kicked off in Yerevan will continue in different countries of the world and will conclude in Turkey.

From June 18-28 Armenia will present a scenographic installation on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide titled “Red Hail” at the 13th international Prague Quadrennial.

The project is implemented at the initiative of the “Eiva” Arts Foundation with the support of the Armenian Ministry of Culture, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and the Commission Coordinating the Armenian Genocide Centennial Events.

Armenia is ranked 84^th in the new FIFA World Ranking released today.

World Champion Germany remains on top of the list followed by Belgium and Argentina.

Armenia’s rivals in Euro-2016 qualification round are placed as follows: Portugal – 7th, Denmark – 29th, Serbia – 45th and Albania – 51^st.

On Tuesday, June 2, the student government at the University of California, Santa Cruz, unanimously passed “A Resolution to Divest from the Republic of Turkey to End the Perpetuation of the Armenian Genocide,” Asbarez reports.

The resolution ultimately called for UC Santa Cruz, the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, and the University of California to divest $72.6 million dollars worth of University of California bonds and investments in the Republic of Turkey for its crimes in, and continued denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Various students of UC Santa Cruz, members of the Armenian Students’ Association (ASA), along with members of the greater Armenian community gathered for the hearing of the resolution and spoke about the university’s investments in the Turkish government, its compliance in genocide denial, and the need for divestment.

” Going through the process of this divestment was an amazing feeling and experience. With this victory we are showing the Republic of Turkey, which is a remnant of the Ottoman Empire, that we are still here. This divestment proves that their ancestors failed in their mission. And not just us but a diverse body of people, like the students of UCSC, stand with us in solidarity to continue the fight until they acknowledge the crimes committed against our people and we achieve justice,” ASA member Kami Kahwedjian.

“I’m very grateful to have been a part of the divestment process here at UC Santa Cruz. It’s very important that, we, as students, take the initiative to make these types of things happen to show the Republic of Turkey that the Armenian Youth are stronger than ever and we will fight for the Armenian cause until we die. Lastly, I want to thank Kami Kahwedjian for working on the divestment process with me and the divest Turkey team as well,” said anothe ASA member Maral Tatoian.

The student governments of UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC RIverside, and UC Berkeley unanimously passed similar resolutions during the first half of this year. Moreover, just a few months ago, ASUCI unanimously passed a resolution “Commemorating the Armenian Genocide and Condemning its Denial,” raising further awareness on campus about the Armenian Genocide and its need for international recognition.

The resolution is an initiative started in part by the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Western United States- a grassroots community organization dedicated to justice for the Armenian cause and the Armenian people. For any questions, comments or inquiries on the #DivestTurkey campaign, please email [email protected]/* */

The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund delegation, led by Executive Director Ara Vardanyan and comprising trustees, representatives of affiliates worldwide, benefactors, and associates, visited Armenia’s Shirak region on May 25 to unveil the newly constructed indoor swimming pool at the Children’s Home of Gyumri.

The construction of the indoor therapy pool and related amenities has been made possible by the financial support of the fund’s Swiss affiliate. The 30-square-meter pool is complemented by a dressing room, a shower room with a separate section for massage therapy, and restrooms. Featuring a heating and ventilation system for year-round operation, the pool is designed to provide access to children with physical disabilities through a ramp as well as a mechanical crane for wheelchairs.

Through hydrotherapeutic procedures and aquatic exercises the trained medical staff will help the children with disabilities to develop motor skills and strengthen muscles.

The Children’s Home shelters and provides care to children with physical and mental disabilities. Close to 130 children under six years of age live and receive professional care here.

Mans Zemerlow from Sweden won the 2015 edition of Eurovision Song Contest, beating Russia and Italy in the big international talent show which will be held in his home country next year.

Zelmerlow won with his upbeat pop track Heroes, which was accompanied by innovative animated visuals.

A record 27 countries took part, including Australia, which was invited to compete for the first time to mark the event’s 60th anniversary.

Mans Zelmerlow was the bookmakers’ favourite throughout the build-up to this year’s contest.

Armenia was represented at the contest by the Genealogy band.

The final outcome was decided by a 50:50 split between professional juries and televoting from all 40 participants. The jury votes were decided during the Jury Final last night and the televotes decided during tonight’s show. The 27 finalists were made up of 20 qualifiers from the first and second Semi-Finals held on the 19th and 21st of May and seven automatic qualifiers including the Big 5 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), host country Austria and Australia.

In a ceremony at the Armenia Border Guard headquarters, U.S. Ambassador Richard M. Mills Jr., joined by National Security Service Deputy Director Lieutenant General Arzuman Harutyunyan and Border Guard Troops Commander Major General Armen Abrahamyan, inspected equipment from the U.S. government that will assist the border guards in keeping weapons of mass destruction, biological hazards, and other threats from crossing Armenia’s borders.  The equipment includes a multi-media lab that will be used in training Armenian border guards and other tools that will enhance the ability of border guards to control the flow of sensitive exports across the board and strengthen Armenia’s borders against transnational threats.

This assistance is part of the U.S. Government’s comprehensive nonproliferation programs that strengthen the ability of the Armenian Government to effectively counter transnational threats from international crime, arms smugglers, and risks from weapons of mass destruction.  The United States and Armenia are working together toward common goals of democracy, security, and peace, both in Armenia and in the region.

Over the past ten years, the U.S. Embassy has partnered with various ministries and agencies to develop Armenia’s border security capacity.  Leading the U.S. Embassy’s efforts in Armenia are the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program, the Defense Threat Reduction Office (DTRO), and Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC).  “Our border security cooperation is robust, and we are committed to an open door partnership with Armenia,” said Ambassador Mills during his remarks.

A Turkish woman who has been taking part in a talent show on national TV has been shot in the head while rehearsing at home, the reports, quiting Turkish media.

Mutlu Kaya, 19, was in a critical condition after being shot in Diyarbakir province early on Monday.

Diyarbakir is a conservative region in south-east Turkey and Ms Kaya had reportedly received death threats for singing on the show, Sesi Cok Guzel.

One person has reportedly been arrested in connection with the incident.

The gunman was said to have been in the garden and fired through a window into the house.

Ms Kaya’s mentor is Sibel Can, one of Turkey’s best-known folk singers.

Ms Can had visited Ms Kaya at the school canteen where she worked in March, in order to make sure she joined her team in the competition.

However, the Posta newspaper reported on Sunday that Ms Kaya had received death threats after appearing on the show.

“I am afraid,” Kaya was quoted as telling the show’s production team.

Ms Kaya’s father, Mehmet Kaya, told local media his daughter had been rehearsing to go back on the show when she was shot at her home in the Ergani district.