Author: Takmazian

Parajanov.com
POB 17257
Beverly Hills, California 90209 US
[email protected]

[1 1 June 2009]

Artworks claimed to be by Sergei Paradjanov have been withdrawn from the
auction just hours before they were to go on sale. We welcome this decision
and would like to thank Mr. William MacDougall of the MacDougall Arts Ltd
Auction for withdrawing the works from today’s auction of Russian Art.
Following our extensive correspondence with Mr. MacDougall, we received a
letter from him early this morning stating that while they don’t necessarily
accept our view of the works, they err on the side of caution and only
include works in which they are very confident. This is a major step that
will help prevent future sales of unauthenticated art claimed to be by
Sergei Paradjanov.

[02 June 2009]/updated

COLLAGES claimed to be by legendary filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov will again
be on sale in London on June 11, 2009 at MacDougall’s Auction. In 2007,
MacDougall’s Auction sold 3 (of 4) collages claimed to be by Sergei
Parajanov (see our report from March 2, 2008 below). This time MacDougall’s
Auction has 6 collages claimed to be by Sergei Paradjanov: "Lady Serving
Tea", "Aladdin", "Lady with Vase with Flowers", "Lady with a Mirror",
"Princess with Butterflies", and "Princess of Taj Mahal". Well, that’s a
whole lot of "ladies", BUT NO Paradjanov, ladies and gentlemen. MacDougall’s
Auction lists provenance as "Private collection, France".[See our 11 June
2009 update above]

More on the French connection is below and these are the 6 collages in
London claimed to be by Paradjanov, which MacDougall’s Auction is going to
sell on June 11, 2009. If you are in London go to the auction (at 30A
Charles II St., London, telephone +44-20-7389-8160) and write to us about
it. [Updated 11 June 2009 – collages have been withdrawn from the auction;
see our June 11 2009 report above]

Now the French connection. We’ve received a letter from France, whose author
requested to remain annonymous, and we were informed about several fake
collages that were brought from Tbilisi, Georgia, according to the dealer
who was selling the fakes. At least one fake Paradjanov collage called
"Composition 1" was sold at the Aguttes Auction in France for EUR 10, 201 on
March 25, 2009. Aguttes often hold auctions in partnership with Cabinet
d’expertise Dan Coissard. Our letters to Claude Aguttes and Dan Coissard
remain unanswered. Here is the fake collages that was sold:

Two more fake Paradjanov collages have apparently not been sold – "Persian
fantasy I and II".

Here are the authentic Sergei Paradjanov collages at his museum.

Below is our report from March 2, 2008.

[02 March 2008]/updated

Collage claimed to be by Sergei Paradjanov was sold for GBP 89,950 (USD
178,000 / EUR 133,126) in London at the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auctions around
June 15th, 2007.

On February 29, 2008, Noyan Tapan News Agency reported from Moscow that
artist Valery Boyakhchian, who worked for Sergei Paradjanov in 1980s in
Tbilisi, informed Yerkramas Newspaper that he is in fact the author of the
fake collage, which he calls "A Mysterious Supper". Per Noyan Tapan, which
cites Yerkramas Newspaper, Boyakhchian (Boyakjian, Boyakhchian) made the
collage in New York (around 2001) and gave it to an art dealer in exchange
for an airline ticket to Moscow. Presently, it is unclear who the dealer was
and if he knew the work wasn’t by Paradjanov. In any case, very thorough
research should have been made to confirm the provenance.

According to the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auction’s press release of June 15th,
2007, the collage ("Last Supper") was sold for GBP 89,950 (USD 178,000 / EUR
133,126). The provenance is listed as "Glezer collection. Corporate
collection, USA." According to the auction’s website the collage had been
previously exhibited at "C.A.S.E. Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, Jersey
City, USA, 2003 and Bell Harbor, Miami, USA, 2006."

Currently there are also 3 collages listed on the auction’s website:
"Collage with Mona Lisa," (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007 for GBP
7,710 (USD 15,898); "Old Friends" (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007
for GBP 8,353 (USD 17,223) and "Family Portrait" (presumably not sold). The
provenance of the 1st collage is shown as "A. Gleizer collection. Roman
Tabakman collection, USA" and the provenance of the other 2 collages —
"Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Private collection,
USA", but it is not clear who that owner is. Paradjanov experts and closest
friends, the family of Sergei Parajanov, and Paradjanov museum, have all
confirmed these collages are fake. MacDougall’s Auction in London ignored
the letter from the museum and refused to answer any questions or produce
any evidence that the collages were "acquired directly from the artist by
the present owner" etc.

Back in 2003, Parajanov.com reported about a large exhibition of fake
Paradjanov collages on display from December 1, 2002 till March 16, 2003 at
the Rutgers University’s Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum and which came
from the collection of Norton and Nancy Dodge, collectors of Soviet
Nonconformist art. The Zimmerli Museum’s catalogue stated that some collages
in their exhibition were jointly made "by Sergei Paradjanov and Valerii
Boyakjian" and several were "attributed" to Paradjanov. We asked the
Zimmerli Museum to confirm when and where Norton and Nancy Dodge acquired
all the works, but they didn’t provide that information. The "Last Supper"
piece sold in London by MacDougall Arts Ltd auction listed "related
literature" for the "Last Supper" collage as "Collage and Assemblage in the
Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection, USA, 2001".

We believe that there are several persons involved in making forged collages
in United States and overseas, including Russia, Georgia, and Armenia, and
we strongly recommend to do a very extensive research before acquiring any
work said to be by Sergei Paradjanov as there are few works that can become
available and the number of fakes continues to increase.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED SNEZHANA STOILJKOVICH, IFC COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. IN ATTENDANCE WAS THOMAS LUBECK, HEAD OF THE ARMENIA AND GEORGIA OFFICE OF THE IFC

Wednesda y, 10 June 2009

Mrs. Snezhana Stoiljkovich outlined those investment, study and
consultancy programs carried out in Armenia by the Corporation. Then
the prospects and possibilities for upholding bilateral cooperation
amidst the global crisis have been discussed.

In conclusion, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan assured that the
government of Armenia will be supportive of IFC programs in Armenia
and expressed hope that they would meet the Government’s strategic
commitments and priorities.

PLAYERS INVOLVED IN DINK MURDER PROBED IN BOOK

Hurriyet
June 10 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – A book written by journalist Kemal GöktaÅ~_ delves into the
bigger picture behind the assasination of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink in front of his office in Istanbul in 2007. GöktaÅ~_
explores the role of the media in turning Dink into a target and
how the state and judiciary also played their part in the incident
leading to Dink’s murder

A new book released last week by a current affairs journalist delves
into the wider role of certain people and institutions that led to
the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Dink was gunned down in front of the Agos newspaper office, where
he was editor-in-chief, in central Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. At the
time he was being tried for "insulting Turkishness" under the infamous
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

One of the factors the book examines is the possible effect of the
widespread media coverage of the trial that might have gradually led
to him becoming a target. Other authors such as novelist Elif Å~^afaf
and Nobel winner Orhan Pamuk have also faced prosecution under the
same article and widespread media coverage of their trials forced
Pamuk to seek refuge abroad fearing for his life while Å~^afak opted
for silence.

Thesis of judiciary reporterbecomes a book Kemal GöktaÅ~_, a judiciary
reporter at the Ankara office of the daily Vatan since 2002, followed
the trials of Dink, Pamuk and Å~^afak in their entirety. Also a
doctorate student at Ankara University at the time, he prepared his
thesis on "The press forming public opinion in Turkey Ä~^ Exemplary
event: Transformation of Hrant Dink into a political target." He
deepened the scope of his work after the murder of Dink. GöktaÅ~_’s
book, which took a long time to prepare, was released by the Guncel
Publishing House last week under the title: "Hrant Dink Cinayeti –
Medya, Yargı, Devlet" (The Hrant Dink murder – The Media, Judiciary,
State)

‘Dink different from Orhan Pamuk and Elif Å~^afak’ In the first
chapter of the book, GöktaÅ~_ features in detail how Dink was made
into a target after his news story claiming that Sabiha Gökcen
Ä~^ Turkey’s first female pilot and adopted child of Mutsa Kemal
Ataturk, the founder of the Republic Ä~^ was of Armenian origin. In
this chapter, the statement by the Chief of General Staff after the
story’s publication and the media’s attitude is mentioned.

The second chapter deals with the judicial process of the trial based
on Article 301 and analyses on how Dink was found guilty despite the
expert report commenting to the contrary.

The third chapter focuses on the ties between Dink murder’s and the
alleged Ergenekon coup plot. The alleged Ergenekon gang reportedly
sought to topple the government by creating social unrest within
the country. The final chapter is on the state’s alleged role on
the assassination. "The trial of Dink was just as important to us
as those of Pamuk, Å~^afak and other intellectuals but that was a
great mistake because Dink was an alienated name due to his ethnic
background," GöktaÅ~_ told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

GöktaÅ~_ said Dink was expressing his views as an Armenian and a
leftist and added: "He had an original attitude that shook common
perceptions. Of course, other intellectuals and writers were also
targeted for what they said but the bullets found their way to Dink,
not them. We can only explain this by linking it to the values Dink
stood for against the common politics and his identity. We already
know that the murder was committed with the knowledge of the state."

GöktaÅ~_ said the reactions that followed the publication of the
Gökcen story in the daily Agos are very important ideological
indicators. "The mentioned story was both bringing the historical
myth into disrepute and pointing to a great danger in terms of the
debate on the Armenian problem. Gökcen was both a militarist and
the source of pride of modernization. A Turkish woman dropping bombs
on separatists in Dersim turning out to be of Armenian origin would
hurt that taboo greatly," GöktaÅ~_ said.

GöktaÅ~_ was among the 10 Turkish journalists that traveled to Armenia
last week in a joint venture by the International Hrant Dink Foundation
and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. "I went to Armenia for the first
time. It was a very impressive trip. The Armenians are experiencing
a trauma and mourning passed on from generation to generation. Most
of the people I’ve met had their roots in Anatolia; they were very
friendly to us," GöktaÅ~_ said.

TASK GROUP TO DECIDE ON RUSSIAN’S INVOLVEMENT IN IRAN-ARMENIA RAILWAY

/ARKA/
June 10, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. The issue of Russia’s involvement in the
construction of the Iran-Armenia railway will be decided by a task
group to be formed at the level of deputy ministers, RA Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan told ARKA.

A final agreement on the construction of the railway was signed in
Teheran on April 15 by Iranian Minister of Road and Transportation
Hamid Behbahani and RA Minister of Transport and Communications Gurgen
Sargsyan. The construction will last four-five years.

The construction of the Iran-Armenia railway is an open project, and
we invited our Russian partners. The Intergovernmental Commission has
appointed task group members, and the Russian side has nominated its
candidates," Premier Sargsyan told reporters.

In this context he also pointed out the Armenian President’s political
decision incorporated in a document signed during Serzh Sargsyan’s
visit to Iran.

"The Iranian side gave assurances that a similar political decision
was made. In any case, the work is under way," Sargsyan said.

Iran stated its readiness to issue a US $400mln credit to Armenia
for the project and fund the construction work in its own territory.

The length of the Iran-Armenia railway is 470 kilometers, with a
60-km-long section to run through the Iranian territory. The project
has several phases: a feasibility study, specification of financing,
routing and construction proper.=0 D

The railway will serve as an alternative way of transporting energy
resources and other products to Armenia. At present Armenia has
railway communication with the outer world through Georgia.

The investments in the project are estimated at US $2bln. The World
Bank, Asian Development Bank, as well as Russia, Iran and Ukraine
show interest in the project.

US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: "WE WILL CONTINUE OUR ACTIVE SUPPORT TO THE SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

APA
June 9 2009
Azerbaijan

Yerevan – APA. "US administration supports all efforts directed toward
the normalization of the Armenia-Turkey relations", US Assistant
Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon said
at his meeting with Armenian foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in
Yerevan, APA reports quoting Armtoday.

He said US would continue its active support to the solution to
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Gordon said the US gave important to the
meaningful relations with Armenia and showed an example that he paid
his first official visit to Armenia.

Gordon met with Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and discussed
the Armenia-Turkey relations and Nagorno Karabakh solution
process. Sargsyan said they supported peaceful solution to the conflict
and were ready to continue the negotiations on the basis of Madrid
proposals. Following the meeting the US Assistant Secretary of State
answered the questions of the journalists. He said self-determination
was an international principle like territorial integrity and non-use
of force. "The result must contain all three principles. Any voting
mechanism enabling the people to express their thoughts should be
included in the solution process".

Armenian chess players started with victories in Maia Chiburdanidze
Cup
06.06.2009 18:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian chess players WGM Lilit Lazarian, WGM
Lilit Galoyan and IM Siranush Andreasyan conquered the field in the
first round of the international chess tournament of Maia
Chiburdanidze to.
All three representatives of Armenia defeated Georgian chess players
and after first meetings share 1 to 29 places of the tournament table.
In the second round Lilit Lazarian and Lilit Galoyan will pit their
skill against Georgian chess players Sofico Tereladze and Titatin
Beridze respectively, Siranush Andreasyan will paly with Romanian
Adina-Maria Khamduchi.
This tournament will be by Swiss System and have 9 rounds. Time
control: 1 hour 30 minutes by the end of the game with additional 30
seconds for every move.
Tournament prize fund is USD16 800. The winner will receive USD 5000
and Maia Chiburdanidze Cup, for the second place – USD 4000, for the
third place – USD 3000.

GUAM NOT GOING TO FORM PEACEKEEPING BATTALION YET

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
06.06.2009 13:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Establishing GUAM peacekeeping battalion is not
priority for the organization at the moment, GUAM Secretary General
Valery Chechelashvili said.

"Currently, establishing peacekeeping battalion is not priority
of organization’s activities," Chechelashvili said. "Now we focus
on development of concrete programs and projects on cooperation in
economy, trade, transport, energy and tourism."

Chechelashvili did not rule out possibility of consideration of this
issue in future when there are good opportunities.

He said GUAM is already universal organization the regulations of
which allow to deal with any kind of activities.

The possibility of establishing GUAM peacekeeping battalion has been
considered in the next few years. It was envisaged that the battalion
will operate under the mandate of the UN Security Council or OSCE
for the implementation of peacekeeping operations in conflict zones
in the member countries of GUAM. GUAM members are Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova.

In May 2007, the establishment of peacekeeping units within the
framework of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development
– GUAM was suspended. Later the Moldova government said the country
was not yet ready for such talks, Trend Azeri news agency reported.

HEAD OF THE "GASPROM" COMPANY A. MILLER SAYS THE COOPERATION BETWEEN "GAZPROM" AND ARMENIA IS CONDUCTED ON A VERY SUCCESSFUL FORMULA

ARMENPRESS
June 5, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS: Within the frameworks of St. Petersburg
13th international economic forum the meeting of the head of "Gasprom"
company Alexei Miller and Karen Karapetian, head of "ArmRusgasprom"
company took place June 4.

Information department of "Gasprom" company told Armenpress that
A. Miller noted that the cooperation between "Gasprom" and Armenia
is conducted on a very successful formula.

"There was a time we reached an agreement that the transfer to the
European price system will be gradual, on a preferred regime for
Armenia by concurrent fortification of "Gasprom" positions in the
Armenian Energy market through the increase of our share in the
"ArmRusgasprom" company. This approach fully coincides with the
mutual interests of Armenia and Russia," head of the "Gasprom" board
of directors said.

He noted that our partnership has an "integrated character" and
involves not only the gas sector but also the energy one.

"The result of this approach of joint activity is the diversification
of gas supply to the republic and increase of the reliability of
the energy supply of Armenia. Particularly for these aims on the
"ArmRusgasprom" means the "Kajaran-Ararat" sector of Iran-Armenia
gas pipeline has been constructed," A. Miller stated.

ARMENIAN ECOLOGISTS HAVE WORKED AN AUTUMN ACTION PLAN ON FIGHT AGAINST CONSTRUCTION OF A GOLD RECOVERY PLANT NEAR SOTK

ArmInfo
2009-06-04 17:53:00

ArmInfo. Armenian ecologists have worked an autumn action plan on
the fight against construction of a gold recovery plant near Sotk.

As Chairwoman of EcoLur NGO Inga Zarafyan told journalists,
Thursday, in autumn ecological organizations, which were unified in
"SOS Sevan", intend to take measures in three directions: to hold a
public monitoring of GeoProMining’s implementation of its ecological
obligations; research the international experience of the companies
similar to GPM, and continue informing the public of the danger
connected with construction of the plant near the Sevan basin.

Zarafyan pointed out that the first stages of the fight against GPM’s
"Sevan appetites" have already given their results. For instance,
Armenian Environment Minister Aram Haroutyunyan has come out against
the plans of construction of such an enterprise in Sotk. "On April
15 we organized public hearings with participation of over 200
representatives of ministries and departments, National Assembly,
institutes of Armenian National Academy of Sciences, as well as
various public and international organizations. To tell the truth,
we didn’t expect such a wide response ourselves",- Zarafyan said.

According to her, the same day they started collecting signatures
against construction of the plant in Sotk. At the moment the document
is signed by 1600 people.

Zarafyan said that ecologists have all grounds to suppose that
the process on Sotk project has been transferred to the sphere of
political decisions, one of them may become amending the Armenian Law
"On Lake Sevan". The amendment bans setting up processing plants in
the Sevan basin.

"It is noteworthy that despite the recent statements of GPM about
unprofitability of production in Ararat, the company started melting
gold in the given recovery plant this month. This once again shows
that GPM fears about big losses were a little exaggerated",- Zarafyan
said. According to the information Zarafyan possesses, GPM has been
carrying cyanides near Lake Sevan for a long time, and this violates
the legislation. "We intend to apply to the Armenian Environment
Ministry",- she said.

WIVES OF CURRENT AND PREVIOUS RA PRESIDENTS JOIN SIGNATURE COLLECTION AGAINST TEGHUT MINE OPERATION

NOYAN TAPAN
JUNE 4, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Zaruhi Postanjian, a member of the RA NA
Zharangutiun (Heritage) faction and of Armenian delegation in PACE,
is going to raise the issue of environmental disaster threatening
the territory in case of Teghut mine operation at the PACE June
session. The deputy stated it at the June 3 press conference.

On June 5, the International Day of Environmental Protection, the Group
of Teghut Protection is organizing a procession dedicated to problems
of Teghut, Sevan, uranium ores, Sevan’s environmental problems. It
was mentioned that the Group of Teghut Protection has organized a
signature collection, and nearly 5000 people have joined it in the
past 10 days. The wives of the current and previous RA Presidents, Rita
Sargsyan and Bela Kocharian have also joined the signature collection.

Government’s decision on Teghut operation was made in 2007, when
the current President was the RA Prime Minister. The right of
mine operation was given to the Vallex group of enterprises for 25
years. It it envisaged to create 1500 jobs by the agreement. The
government has allotted an area of 2000 hectares for mine operation,
75% of which are forests. The agreement envisages that 357 hectares
of the mentioned territory should be deforested.

Environmentalists consider that Teghut mine operation will result
in an environmental disaster, in particular, the environment will
be polluted, diseases will spread among population in the vicinity,
as well as flora and fauna will be damaged, some species of which
are registered in the Red Book. Environmentalists demand that the
company operating the mine assess mine operation’s influence on the
environment for not 8 but 25 years, with involvement of society and
international experts, as well as perfection of the environmental
legislation. According to environmentalists, against government’s
assurances, no step has been taken in this direction.

Vahram Avagian, a representative of the Vallex group of enterprises
operating the mine, refuted environmentalists’ assertions in his
interview to journalists. According to him, the organization
has presented an assession of influence on environment for 25
years, and all statements on violations of legislative norms are
abstract. "We have never affirmed that we will entirely neutralize the
environmental harm. However, our working program envisages to reduce
to minimum a possible environmental damage," he said. In particular,
a program compensating deforestation will be implemented envisaging
planting forests in a territory two-fold larger than the deforested
one. According to the company representative, the average annual
deforestation volume will not exceed 10 hectares.

V. Avagian does not accept, either, environmentalists’ assertion on
water pollution. According to him, the most economizing technology
from environmental point of view has been chosen, a closed circulation
system of industrial waters excluding industrial waters’ outflow.