Art: New Illuminations: Armenian Women Artists Encounter the Book Arts in Gyumri

Asbarez Armenian News



BY SUZI BANKS BAUM
Special to Asbarez

Picture an American book artist visiting Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, entering the Matenadaran, a scriptorium and research center whose illuminated manuscripts are said to contain the “soul of the nation.” Picture that artist seeking out Armenian book artists in the 2nd largest city, Gyumri, called the home of Armenian culture and finding not one. This dilemma seeded a vision called New Illuminations. I wanted to return to Gyumri to lead an art and writing workshop with a group of women artists willing to learn this ancient bookmaking technique and integrate it in to their own _expression_.

I landed in Gyumri with John Stanmeyer, National Geographic photographer, and chair of the current Aurora Photo Competition. John and 4Plus, a team of Armenian documentary photographers, guided my initial interviews with women artists in March 2016 in Gyumri, then cheered me on as New Illuminations grew wings and I returned on my own in late October of the same year. The primary mission of New Illuminations is to engage Armenian women artists through interviews and in creative practice, in order to establish a connection and understanding of the challenges they experience in their daily lives. Through reviving the interrupted tradition of the book arts, New Illuminations cultivates a community of collaboration, inspiration and prosperity for the participants.

In my interviews, I was afforded an intimate view of women’s lives in a patriarchal society, complex perceptions of the native beauty and pride in Armenian culture, yet outside of the world in a way, separate and unseen as the lesser gender in their country. The interviews happened in their homes, in domics*, apartments, or in small houses within Gyumri or in the surrounding villages. Some occurred out on the street or in parks where they draped the sidewalks with their work. These conversations were often long and complex diatribes, colored by the historic sorrow that runs from the tap here, about Armenian culture and how few opportunities there are for women to move freely. An impressive young Armenian man, a professional in the creative arts, told me that the archetypical Armenian woman is strong. And silent.

The women I met wrestle this archetype daily. They are full of vitality and perceptions of beauty, caught in a patriarchic web that restricts their actions. My curiosity is fed by the stories of the real lives of these women–Nazik, Anush, Armine, Ani, Tiruhi, Rosa–women who work in restaurants instead of studios, work in offices or teach, raise children and make their art in the edge zones of their lives, who paint at night on the walls of their bedrooms. These women artists have families or live with their parents, and make their work in response to the realities of their daily life. Only a few of them live alone. Several teach art as a way of making a living. Some make a small income from their work. Others are supported as artists by their husbands or fathers. Each woman is finding her way in a culture that has strong expectations for how women look and behave.

I met Mariam Simonyan on International Women’s Day in March 2016 at the Aslamazyan Sister’s Gallery in central Gyumri. A sculptor who works in stone and fiber, I found Mariam standing in front of a wall-hanging constructed with a rainbow array of up-cycled fabrics, a spiral of color made from used clothing. The exhibit was a celebration of artwork by Gyumri women artists. Mariam’s wall hanging was vastly different from the landscape paintings and prints in the gallery. She seemed confused about why a Western woman would want to speak with her. When I arrived at her home for our first interview, there was a sense of urgency as she showed me her stone sculptures of the Genocide. While her sculptural fabric constructions are important, the portraits in stone are the work Mariam wants the world to see.

Mariam spoke of the lack of opportunities for women artists in Armenia. Without economic stability in a city still recovering from the 1988 earthquake, Mariam has helped support her family by making wooden dolls to sell in tourist markets. She and her husband live in a small stone home with her son and his family, many bodies in a very limited space. The dining room where she laid out a quintessential Armenian tea, pomegranate wine and sweets, cake and dried fruits, is also her studio, and it is also her and her husband’s bedroom. I asked Mariam how she takes notes or if she keeps a journal of her daily life. Again, she looked at me confused, as if writing about her daily life is something that never occurred to her. When I spoke of the illuminated manuscripts of the Matenadaran, it is clear that Mariam has never been to the museum.

Women artists in Armenia fly largely under the radar of contemporary world culture. I have interviewed several Armenian artists from Berlin, Paris, California, and Vermont who live productive, active lives. But within the boundaries of Armenia, these well-educated women fall silent once they leave the Academy or University. One writer I interviewed, who teaches young writers in Gyumri, works as a translator at the Department of Seismology. We exchanged treasured books of poetry. She quoted William Saroyan to me. I quoted Mary Oliver to her.

The illuminated manuscript is a cultural icon for Armenians. Monastic enclaves made these books for centuries. Embellished magnificently, housing ancient knowledge, highly venerated, the hand-bound books of the Matenadaran reveal an intellectual rigor that is distinctly Armenian. They see books as living objects. In the Matenadaran, the sacred books from the villages, now housed in the museum, are visited regularly by villagers who speak directly to the books, as if the tome has ears to listen, has a heart to offer companionship, has a self that receives the stories of the village and makes sense of them.

My perception on my initial visit is that the tradition of illuminated manuscripts is seen as a historic tradition carried out by men. But that phrase, “the soul of the nation” stayed with me. What if these women artists could reignite the book arts within Armenia, wed the truths of their souls to this revered art and raise the recognition of their work as they engage in an indigenous practice?

I returned home after my first visit to Gyumri to learn all I could about Armenian women artists in the diaspora, to see more illuminated manuscripts, and to raise money to fund New Illuminations. Every time I spoke about this project, I made positive connections. I met Dana Walrath, of Vermont, an Armenian American artist and writer who is now a collaborator. Dana contributed art to my fundraising campaign, and three pieces of her work were hung in the New Illuminations exhibition. New Illuminations became a beneficiary of WAM Theatre of the Berkshires, receiving a donation of $3000 to support stipends for the women artists and pay for supplies for the workshop. I raised $15,000 in four months, and I traveled back to Gyumri in late October 2016 to lead a four-day book building and writing workshop.

Now, you can picture a group of fifteen Armenian women artists handling the materials to make books for the first time. The Coptic stitched journals they make are beautiful, hand-painted and bound, alive with color; they are a contemporary _expression_ of an ancient practice, one that has never before been created by women. The work was featured in an exhibit curated by Anna Gargarian, of HAYP Pop-up Gallery of Yerevan, along with four international Armenian book artists housed in a unique exhibit in an old stone home on Shahumyan Street in the city center. Several hundred visitors took in the exhibit, many seeing book art for the first time.

The women of New Illuminations, a diverse group of painters, poets, sculptors, singers, and print-makers, had a surprising fluency of hand with book making. Fulbright Scholar Erin Piñon writes, “New Illuminations is not only an extension of the chronology of Armenian book arts into the twenty-first century and a return to the collaborative nature of traditional Armenian book production, but as a whole, the project takes a giant step in carving out a space for women to contribute to, and evolve the practice of bookmaking in Armenia today.” **

Yunona Kirakosyan, a 19-year-old student at the Art Academy in Gyumri, lives in a domic with her mother. Yunona illustrates stories she writes that take her out of Armenia to a place where opportunity is readily accessible. She has assembled very simple books at the Academy, but in the New Illuminations workshop, she constructed complex manuscripts painted in her unique style. She was quick with needle and waxed linen thread for the Coptic stitch binding. I interviewed Yunona at home with her mother Valya. She wept, explaining that in the New Illuminations workshop she felt part of a larger group creating together, different than her experience at the Academy. My questions challenged her. She felt she was taken seriously for the first time.

I am a visual artist and writer living in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. I had no connection to Armenia until I traveled there in March 2016. But during my initial time there, I found a budding community of women artists who are hungry to learn the art of bookmaking, which is distinctly Armenian, and to reveal new work by their own hands. If I can raise the money necessary, I will return in October 2017 to offer an advanced workshop to give the New Illuminations artists an opportunity to refine their skills and a workshop for a new set of artists, assisted by some of the advanced artists. This project will only succeed if Armenian artists carry the work forward.

To learn more about New Illuminations or make a donation towards the October 2017 residency, visit newilluminations.org. You may contact Suzi Banks Baum for more information.

Notes
*Domics are metal shipping containers supplied by the Soviets to survivors of the 1988 earthquake that devastated the Shirak region. Thirty years later, over 3% of the residents of Gyumri will live in domics, and a greater portion live in dwellings built around domics.

**Erin Piñon lived in Yerevan during the 2016-2017 academic year on a U.S. Fulbright Student Research Grant. The views expressed here are her own and not those of the U.S. Government.

Suzi Banks Baum is a writer, maker, teacher, and mother. Suzi lives in western Massachusetts, but she is most at home in the Upper Peninsula. She’s passionate about helping women find their creative voice and live focused, joy-filled lives. Suzi inspires hundreds of women internationally to live from the place of creative spirit and to value their contributions to the world and one another. She is on the faculty of the International Women’s Writing Guild. You may find her work on Rebelle Society, The Mid, Literary Mama, Mother Writer Mentor, Easy Street, Mothers Always Write, and her blog, suzibanksbaum.com.


Joseph Dunford: Turkey does not want to buy Russian S-400 air defense system

News.am, Armenia

Joseph Dunford: Turkey does not want to buy Russian S-400 air defense system
18:34, 23.07.2017 

Media reports noting that Turkey intends to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems were incorrect, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, United States Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford said at a security forum in the US Aspen, Colorado.

According to him, relations with Turkey are very important for the US, despite some disagreements across Syria. He added that US would be worried if the rumors about the sale of missiles were true, but, in fact, it did not happen.

The heads of Turkey and Russia Erdogan and Putin discussed the sale of the S-400 at the negotiations in Moscow in the spring of 2017.

UNICEF Representative highlights Armenian reforms aimed at the protection of children’s rights

Panorama, Armenia

Speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly (NA) Ara Babloyan receives today Tanja Radocaj, the Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), press service at the Parliament reported.

Welcoming the guest, Babloyan noted that the problem of the protection of women’s and children’s rights is always at the center of his attention. The Head of the parliament has assured that the events and programs being jointly implemented with the UN, which particularly relate to children’s problems, will be continuous and will promote the full protection of children’s rights.

Tanja Radocaj has highlighted the process of the reforms being implemented in Armenia, which is aimed at the protection of the children’s rights to grow up in the family atmosphere and receive qualified education.

At the meeting, the sides touched upon the problems of the children born with defects, the issues of adoption and custody, the gaps existing in protection of the rights of vulnerable children and being left out of attention.

Ara Babloyan and Tanja Radocaj expressed readiness to do the utmost in the solution of the problems directed to the protection of children’s rights. An agreement was reached to organize expanded discussions for raising the disputable issues of the sphere.

Jean-Claude Juncker: Death Penalty Will End Turkey’s EU Bid

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator




By Nikolaj Nielsen

BRUSSELS (EU Observer) — European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has warned against Turkey reimposing the death penalty.

Juncker in Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper has said the move would “slam the door to EU membership.”

The comments follow statements over the weekend by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that he would not hesitate to introduce capital punishment should the parliament back it.

Erdogan, addressing crowds in Istanbul on Saturday (15 July) to mark the one year anniversary of the failed military coup, vowed to avenge the deaths of some 250 people.

“We’ll first rip the heads off these traitors. We will cut their heads off,” he said.

Turkey says that the Fethullah Gulen movement, now labelled by Ankara as a terrorist organisation, was behind the coup. Gulen, an exiled cleric living in the United States, denies any direct involvement.

Turkish authorities have purged some 150,000 people since last July, including the chair and director of Amnesty International Turkey. Turkey says it has since reinstated over 30,000 public employees and set up an inquiry commission to probe wrongful detentions.

Erdogan was also critical of the European Union. He said the EU had failed to live up to its agreements with Turkey.

Turkey hosts over 3 million Syrian refugees as part of an agreement with the EU to prevent them from arriving in Greece.

Turkey wants short-term visas lifted on its nationals travelling throughout the passport-free Schengen bloc, as a result.

The EU refuses, given Turkey has yet to meet a half-dozen benchmarks, including demands to reform its counter-terrorism laws and implement a readmission agreement for non-Turkish nationals.

Those benchmarks will be discussed at a high-level political meeting between Turkey and the EU commission on 25 July.

The agreed “statement” also requires the EU to finance refugee projects inside Turkey to the tune of €3 billion. Some of that money has also gone to Turkey’s ministries of education and health.

The tug of war between the two sides is underpinned by conflicting messages. Senior diplomats and officials on both sides say membership remains a priority, despite Erdogan’s threats, as efforts remain to strengthen trade relations via the Customs Union agreement.

Tough path towards EU membership

Last week, Ankara had sent its deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmus, to Brussels where he met EU commission vice-president Frans Timmermans and European Parliament chief Antonio Tajani.

Mehmet Hakan Olcay, Turkey’s ambassador to Belgium, also told reporters on Friday, July 14, that “Turkey’s strategic position remains for full membership of the European Union.”

But he had also defended a BBC interview with Erdogan, where the president said Turkey could stand on its own “two feet” and that the EU was wasting Turkey’s time.

Turkey is the single largest beneficiary of the EU instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA), with more than 40 percent of all IPA fund allocation.

Turkey was allocated just under €5 billion over a seven-year period, with around a third of that geared towards areas such as building democracy and the rule of law.

Asked why the taxpayers in the EU should continue financing Turkey, given Erdogan’s comments, Olcay said the amount was small.

“It is not that much funding to start off with,” he said, noting that Turkey’s membership process dates back to the 1954 Ankara agreement.

The EU parliament wants talks, which are already frozen, to come to an official end following Turkey’s widespread crackdown on different sectors.

Turkey has opened 16 out of 35 of the EU’s accession negotiation chapters. Of those, only one has been completed so far.

Ankara’s path to membership has also been frustrated, in part, by Greek Cypriot demands, given the outstanding territorial dispute in Cyprus.

France, while under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, also opposed the opening of a number of accession chapters.

ANKARA: Jailed Turkish-Armenian writer Sevan Nişanyan announces his escape from prison on Twitter

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey



ISTANBUL

Turkish-Armenian linguist and writer Sevan Nişanyan, who was jailed in 2014 over charges of illegal construction in the town of Şirince in the Aegean province of İzmir, announced in a Twitter post on July 14 that he had escaped from prison.

“The bird has flown away. The same wishes to the remaining 80 million,” read the message on Nişanyan’s Twitter page.

Nişanyan changed his profile photo on Twitter in the evening hours of July 14 and replaced it with a photo of a flying bird.

Nişanyan, who had left the prison on sanctioned leave, was supposed to surrender to the Foça Open Prison in İzmir by 9:45 a.m. on July 14, but he did not do so, according to the information obtained by daily Hürriyet.

“I was in prison and now I am not. I am not thinking of going back to the prison,” said the writer by phone, confirming the reports to the Doğan News Agency.

“I do not know where I am either [but] I wish the same for everyone who is the victim of oppression,” he reportedly said when asked by the agency whether he was in Turkey or abroad.

The writer also confirmed his escape to the Turkish daily Habertürk indicating he could not yet give information as to when and how he fled from prison.

 “I do not want to comment on that topic. It is a bit too early to talk about methods and procedures. I will tell all the details when the time comes, let no one have a doubt. But, it is not yet the time,” Nişanyan reportedly told the daily when asked of how he had escaped.

“I thought the 3.5 years [I served in prison] was enough. Therefore, I thought it was now time to take a bit of a breath. This is what happened. Utilizing some unique circumstances or deficiencies of Turkey, in this situation, I have decided to go out of our state’s control,” he added further.

Nişanyan was imprisoned in Jan. 2, 2014 on nine different charges to serve for 11 years and six months in jail after completing the construction of a house in Şirince town despite a court decision. The court had previously ruled that Nişanyan should not enter the area, regarded as a natural site.

Nişanyan is one of Turkey’s leading linguists. He has penned columns for the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos and the daily Taraf.

July/16/2017


Armenia’s President congratulates France’s Macron on Bastille Day

Public Radio of Armenia

July 14 2017
14:44, 14 Jul 2017
Siranush Ghazanchyan

 

President Serzh Sargsyan has sent a congratulatory message to President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of Bastille Day – the National Day of France. The message reads:

“The centuries-old friendship between Armenia and France and the privileged relationship between our two countries, including the high-level political dialogue and the wealth of mutual trust provide a solid groundwork for the furtherance of the Armenian-French cooperation. I am confident that through joint effort we will be able to build on the ties in both bilateral and multilateral formats to the benefit of our two peoples.

Armenia highly values the efforts made by France jointly with Russia and the United States to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group for the sake of peace and stability in our region.

I very much appreciate France’s support for rapprochement between Armenia and the European family, as well as the close ties of cooperation maintained in the international arena, including our interaction in the framework of La Francophonie.

Reiterating my congratulations, I wish every success and all the best to you, as well as progress and prosperity to the friendly people of France,’ President Serzh Sargsyan said in his congratulatory message addressed to the President of the French Republic.”

Film: The 14th “Golden Apricot” Yerevan Film Festival has started

ArmInfo, Armenia

ArmInfo.Wih the traditional apricot blessing ceremony and with the opening of the stars of prominent Armenian directors started “Golden Apricot” Yerevan International Film Festival, one of the most anticipated cultural events of the year. For one week, July 9-16, Yerevan will live and breathe cinema. 

 

Among the other stars on Charles Aznavour Square the stars of directors Frunze Dovlatyan, Yuri Yerznkyan and film photographer Sergey Israelyan were placed.  The guests and participants of different programs walked on the red carpet. The official opening ceremony of the festival was held at Moscow Cinema.

 

Welcoming speeches were delivered by founding director of the festival Harutyun Khachatryan and Ralph Yirikian, the General Manager of VivaCell-MTS, which is the general partner of the festival. After the announcing the start of the festival the competition programs and the international jury boards were presented. After the opening ceremony the opening film “Khaspush” by Hamo Beknazaryan was screened.

 

“We have had a long way with the ‘Golden Apricot’ and I can say the festival is more than just a cinematographic event as it has a mission to complete. For fourteen years now it tries to keep the human illuminated mind awake and make humanity follow the civilized system of values. Cinema is a powerful means to know each other, to understand, and to respect people. I welcome the participants of the festival, its guests, and the movie-moving public, wishing joyous experience and success,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

 

The apricot-shaped geometric figure symbolizes the 14th edition of the festival.

 

The festival, which has received more 1100 film submissions from 96 countries, can be a real celebration of cinema with diverse and original films in competition and non-competition programs. The festival is a unique chance for the Armenian film loving people to get acquainted with the masterpieces of international cinema.

BAKU: OSCE PA urges MG co-chairs to redouble efforts for solving Karabakh conflict

Trend, Azerbaijan
July 9 2017
9 July 2017 23:30 (UTC+04:00)

  • Baku, Azerbaijan, July 9

    Trend:

    OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted Minsk declaration and resolutions at the twenty-sixth annual session.

    According to the declaration, OSCE PA expresses its deep regret over the lack of progress towards the settlement of the NagornoKarabakh conflict and calls on the parties to engage without further delay in substantive negotiations with a view to finding the earliest possible sustainable solution to the conflict.

    OSCE PA also urges the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to redouble their efforts to that end.

    The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

    The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

    Carpet, carpet coverings production decreased in Armenia

    Panorama, Armenia
    July 8 2017

    Carpet production decreased by 45.9% in January – May 2017 as compared to the production volume for the indicated period in the previous year, according to the National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia (NSS).

    According to the source, in January-May of 2016, 8.5 tons of carpets and carpet coverings have been produced in the republic, while the number is 4.6 tons for the indicated period of this year.

    According to NSS, for the indicated period hosiery production decreased by 23.9%. 5 044.8 thousand pairs have been produced in January- May 2017, compared to 6 627.3 thousand pairs manufactured for the indicated period in 2016.Thus, the production volume increased for three times.

    As to knitwear production, in January-May 2017, 1 596.7 thousand articles have been manufactured in Armenia, compared to 1 264 thousand articles of the same period in 2016. Overall, the knitwear production increased by 23.6% in Armenia.

    NSS data indicate cotton fabrics production levels increased by 58.3% with 1,9 tons manufactured in January-May 2017 to compare to 1,2 tons of articles.

    ՀՀ սփյուռքի նախարարությունում մեկնարկեց «Արի տուն» ծրագրի 3-րդ փուլը

    Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.
    
    Sincerely,
    Media and PR Department
    (+374 10) 585601, internal 805
    
    ----------------------
    Հարգանքով`
    Մամուլի և հասարակայնության հետ կապերի վարչություն
    
    (+374 10) 585601, ներքին 805
    


    231. Մեկնարկեց «Արի Տուն» ծրագրի 3-րդ փ��ւլը.docx

    application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document



    JPEG image


    IMG_0478.JPG

    JPEG image


    IMG_0494.JPG

    JPEG image


    IMG_0518.JPG

    JPEG image


    IMG_0546.JPG

    JPEG image


    IMG_0452.JPG

    JPEG image