Category: News

Sergey Smbatyan, the artistic director and principal conductor of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia became the member of the outstanding organization “Swiss Gart” (Swiss Global Art Management Gart).

Having more than thirty years of experience in management, organizing exclusive events and international festivals, the Swiss Gart decided to bring together a team of experts from different countries in one Global Art Management. Collaborating with the most prestigious venues, concert halls and the leading orchestras, it worked both with big names, and with “the stars of tomorrow” – artists of the younger generation, helping them to build their career.

The activity of Swiss Gart is not limited to classical music as it also works with renowned jazz and pop musicians, famous actors and dancers, theatre and ballet collectives, opera houses and composers.

Swiss Gart produces exclusive art shows and delivers artistic programs. Numerous governmental and non-governmental organizations, international organizations, including UNESCO apply for the services of Swiss Gart.

Swiss Gart and its team initiate world’s leading cultural programs. Its large team provides services which are prepared very meticulously, considering every slightest details. The cast of Swiss Gart includes such artists as the conductor Sergey Smbatyan, violinist, conductor and pedagogue Pinchas Zukerman, American actor, producer, director and screenwriter John Malkovich, violinist Soyoung Yoon, mezzo-soprano Carlie Paoli, as well as artists and ensembles of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra and many others.

In the framework of cooperation with Swiss Gart, Sergey Smbatyan performed with John Malkovich and Pinchas Zukerman.

On 1 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The meeting addressed a number of issues related to the situation along the contact line between Nagorno Karabagh and Azerbaijan armed forces.

February 27-28 Armenia and Artsakh were represented at the LA Travel and Adventure Show in the city of Long Beach, California, with the support of the Armenian Consulate General in Los Angeles and the Armenian-American Business Council.

The visitors were introduced to the peculiarities of the tourism in Armenia and Artsakh, including the actively developing eco-tourism.

Attending the event were the Armenian Ambassador to the US Grigor Hovhannisyan, NKR Representative to Washington Robert Avetisyan and a business delegation from Armenia.

Armenia was represented at the show by LA-based Armenian travel agencies, which offer tours to Armenia and Artsakh.

The Armenian booth was recognized the most beautiful and the most visited.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today heads of delegations participating at the International Ministerial Conference titled New Challenges of Public Health which is being held in Yerevan on March 1-2. Present at the meeting were the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Veronica Skvortsova, Minister of Health and Medical Education of Iran Hassan Hashemi, Minister of Labor, Health and Social Issues of Georgia David Sergeenko, Minister of Health of the Republic of Belarus Vasiliy Zharko, and Deputy Minister of Health and Social Development of Kazakhstan Elzhan Birtanov.

The President of Armenia welcomed the guests to our country and stressed the importance of the Yerevan Conference on the modern issues and challenges of public health. Underscoring that public health all over the world is viewed as one of vital factors of national security, as well as one of the primary indicators of the countries’ successful social and economic policy, Serzh Sargsyan noted that in the contemporary world problems of public health recognize no boundaries: new viruses and epidemics are not confined within a state and today they pose the most serious threat to the peoples in every country. According to the President, such problems can be efficiently solved only through a closer cooperation, exchange of special experience, by sharing success and achievements with the partners which is exactly what the Ministerial Conference in Yerevan is convened for.

The participants of the meeting thanked the Armenian authorities and in the person of the RA Minister of Health Armen Muradian the officials of the health care system of Armenia for creating such an important platform for discussions and invitation to participate in the forum. They noted that in the area of public health the field for cooperation is extensive and there are many still unutilized opportunities. The guests stressed with satisfaction that at the Yerevan Conference there have been made pretty interesting and useful reports, presented were facts and references have been made to the programs implemented in the participating states based on best practices. Discussed were also reforms conducted in this area, existing problems and challenges. According to the Ministers, cooperation in this format will considerably promote relations and cooperation between the representatives of the area and will give an impetus to the development of health care.

The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to southeastern Turkey.  “Given the recent terrorist attacks and increased threats from international and indigenous groups, U.S. citizens should exercise caution when traveling throughout the country,” the Department of State said in a new

“Recent terrorist attacks from international and indigenous groups have targeted popular tourist sites, U.S. government buildings, police, and other local authorities throughout Turkey.  The threat of kidnapping remains a concern, especially in the southeast.  There have been incidents of cross-border shelling from Syria into Turkey,” the statement reads.

Therefore, the U.S. citizens are advised to avoid travel to southeastern Turkey, particularly near the Syrian border, stay away from large crowds, including at popular tourist destinations, exercise heightened vigilance and caution when visiting public access areas, especially those heavily frequented by tourists, stay away from political gatherings and rallies and follow the instructions of local authorities in an emergency.

A cross-stone dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims was unveiled in the French city of Aix-en-Provence on February 28.

The opening of the cross-stone became possible thanks to the joint efforts of the City Hall, the local Armenian community and the Hays Club with support from the Armenian Embassy in France and the Armenian Consulate General in Marseille.

Mayor of Aix-en-Provence Maryse Joissains-Masini noted in her opening remarks that the monument aims to honor the memory of the innocent victims and inform the future generations about the genocide perpetrated against Armenians in 1915.

President of the Hays Club organization Michele Der-Kevorkian thanked the Mayor for the installation of the khachkar and praised her pro-Armenian activity.

Armenian Ambassador to France Vigen Chitechyan referred to the friendly relations between the two countries, the cooperation between the Armenian community and the local authorities of Aix-en-Provence. He noted that the existence of any cross-stone or memorial shedding light on the pages of history is one of the best means to educate the coming generations.

The 88th Academy Awards paid tribute to  the Kirk Kerkorian, the late three-time owner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

During the 2016 Oscars, actor and Oscar winner Louis Gossett, Jr. introduced the In Memoriam tribute as Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters performed The Beatles hit “Blackbird.”

Once again, The Oscars took time to honor the many talents we lost during the previous year, the lives they touched and the art they made or made possible.

– PicsArt, a digital art app that lets users create drawings, paintings and edit photos has grown a sizable user base of more than 65 million monthly active users, about half as big as Pinterest.

Now, PicsArt’s first VP of product Argam DerHartunian is focused on a road map intended to ensure the app is simple enough for anyone to use, but nuanced enough that it still appeals to long-time users.

Many people discover the app through Instagram, where PicsArt users often share their creations. PicsArt’s focus on co-creation and public sharing helps set it apart from the wildly popular Instagram, whose 400 million monthly active users typically follow friends, celebrities and influencers. PicsArt and Instagram users can both post comments with their creations, but PicsArt gives users a much wider range of image editing and drawing tools, such as text bubbles and clipart, than what the Facebook-owned app offers.

“Not everyone comes to PicsArt knowing what to do and how and we will remove that barrier to creation,” DerHartunian said in an email. “PicsArt’s goal is to foster a place where everyone is creative. This means that everyone, regardless of artistic skill level, has the tools necessary to create, collaborate and share their work.”

What can users expect from DerHartunian? More image filters, new and simpler editing tools and a revamped onboarding process that will help people create sooner. He also wants to boost consumption on the app by making it easier for users to find other creators who spark their interest. The startup is constantly working to become better at curating content, as a large portion of users spend more time creating art on the app than consuming it. The app’s home screen, for example, shows users buckets of selected images, such as “daily inspiration” and “joined this week.”

Most importantly, DerHartunian says, he wants to promote collaboration among users. The app currently lets users invite Facebook friends to edit their photos asynchronously and share a video of the drawing process.

“There’s an untapped potential for people to create even more compelling and powerful images, things that will go viral, things that will inspire, if they’re creating with the help of others,” he said.

The app shows users step-by-step how different pieces were created, which has made the app popular in some schools. Musee D’Orsey in Paris, France, for example, of its own volition, incorporated the app into its children’s education program.

DerHartunian officially joined PicsArt in late October. He most recently served as VP of product at Vevo overseeing its mobile, web and TV apps. He helped the online music video service achieve a significant boost in registration and engagement, especially among teens, launched manually curated TV channels and led growth in Germany, Poland and Mexico. Before Vevo, he was a senior product manager at Electronic Arts  and cofounded AddVal Solutions, a consulting firm.

“Argam has built an engaging consumer experience at Vevo that has captured the attention of people worldwide,” PicsArt’s CEO, Hovhannes Avoyan said in a statement. “Similarly, PicsArt aims to become an experience for any creative-minded person in the world. With Argam’s help, we will continue to make great strides to get there.”

PicsArt has been downloaded roughly 250 million times. “The amount of engagement we have and the passion of our users drew me into PicsArt, as well as Hovhannes’ passion for the company,” DerHartunian said in a phone interview. “It fills the white space that’s outside of the selfie or sharing a news article, something more purpose-based, creative-based.”

“PicsArt has the potential to become a household name,” he added.

PicsArt, which was founded in Armenia, first launched on Android in 2012 and on iOS in 2014. The company was profitable when it first started raising funding. The app makes revenue from a combination of advertisements and sponsored contests, as well as through in-app purchases such as special font and image packages.

Avoyan said he was inspired to build the app after repeatedly seeing his young daughter, who loves to draw, resort to sketching on napkins at restaurants. His goal was to create a community that was welcoming to anyone.

PicsArt was among the top 10 most popular free apps in Apple’s App Store in 2014 and 2015. This year, it has remained among the top 20 U.S. photo and video apps by downloads, according to app analytics firm App Annie.

“If you ask people, ‘Do you need another social network?’ they’ll probably say no,” DerHartunian said. “The opportunity really is defining how people consume creative works of art and making it something that people don’t even know that they want.”

On a working visit to Switzerland, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Minister Nalbandian hailed the developing relations between the two countries, which, he said,  further the continuous high-level dialogue.

Didier Burkhalter noted, in turn, that Switzerland attaches importance to the deepening of relations with friendly Armenia.

The interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues related to bilateral cooperation. Reference was made to commercial-economic, cultural, inter-parliamentary ties and deepening of cooperation within te framework of international organizations.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Switzerland discussed urgent regional and international issues. They voiced hope that the Russian-American agreement on Syria truce would pave the way for th establishment of peace and stability in Syria.

Minister Nalbandian briefed his Swiss counterpart on the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

At the end of the meeting Edward Nalbandian and Didier Burkhalter signed an agreement on visa facilitation between the Republic of Armenia and the Swiss Confederation.

Photo: Reuters

The UN says it plans to deliver aid to about 150,000 Syrians in besieged areas over the next five days amid a partial truce in the country’s civil war, the BBC reports.

It said it was ready to help an estimated 1.7 million people in hard-to-reach areas by the end of March.

A cessation of hostilities began on Saturday and there have been complaints of breaches from both sides.

But it otherwise appears to be intact with a key Syrian opposition group saying the situation is much better.

The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator in Syria, Yacoub el-Hillo, called the truce “the best opportunity that the Syrian people have had over the last five years for lasting peace and stability”.

The organisation plans to use the lull to deliver food, water and medicine to towns like Madaya, where residents have reportedly been starving to death.

It says it needs the approval of Syria’s warring parties before it can further expand its deliveries.

Efforts to deliver aid to Islamic State-besieged Deir al-Zour by air last week failed when several pallets were damaged, disappeared or landed in no-man’s land.

Almost 500,000 people are living under siege in Syria, the UN estimates.

The cessation of hostilities was agreed as part of a plan by the US and Russia.