| Armenian Monuments of Nakhichevan - exhibitionNovember 10 2007 at 10:06 PM | VirtualAni |
Response to Talk on Nakhichevan Monuments at NAASR, Nov. 1 |
| Armenian Reporter - 3rd November 2007 - community section
"Armenian Monuments of Nakhichevan" now on display at Harvard University
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- This week an exhibition on the Armenian monuments
of Nakhichevan opened at Harvard University's Center for Government
and International Studies. The exhibit, by Argam Ayvazian and Steven
Sim, is on display in the building's Concourse Gallery, located at
1730 Cambridge Street, in Cambridge, and runs from November 2 through
19.
Harvard's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies is
sponsoring the presentation, which gives an overview of the cultural
heritage of Nakhichevan, focusing on the architectural and sculptural
monuments of 10th to 17th centuries. A special feature of the exhibit
is its series of "before and after" photographs, documenting the
demolition of Armenian churches and khatchkars in the Jugha cemetery.
Argam Ayvazian, a researcher on the Armenian cultural heritage of
Nakhichevan, is author of more than 20 monographs, including The
Historical Monuments of Nakhichevan (1990), translated into English by
Fr. Krikor Maksoudian. He currently serves as deputy director of the
Agency on Protection of Historical and Cultural Environment at the
Armenian Ministry of Culture.
Glasgow-based architect and architectural historian Steven Sim has
traveled throughout historic Armenia for the past two decades
documenting thousands of vanishing and at-risk monuments. In 2005 he
visited the Azerbaijan region of Nakhichevan to investigate the
current condition of the Armenian churches that were still standing
during Soviet times, only to find that they have been completely
destroyed. Sim was likely the last non-Armenian witness to observe the
Jugha graveyard before its final destruction in December 2005. In
2006, testimony Sim supplied to Charles Tannock, a member of the
European Parliament, led to the passing of the EU resolution
condemning Azerbaijan's actions at Jugha. In September 2006 he was
invited by the Switzerland-Armenia Parliamentary Group to be part of
the delegation that met with UNESCO president Koichiro Matsuura in
Paris to protest UNESCO's sustained inactivity on the issue of the
Jugha graveyard destruction.
Organizing the exhibition and its related events is Dr. Anahit
Ter-Stepanian, and funding is being provided by COPRIM Inc., of
Montreal, Canada.
* Related discussions and lectures
Related discussions in several different locations are scheduled to
coincide with the exhibit. To precede the exhibit, on November 1, the
National Association on Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) hosted a
panel discussion on the Armenian monuments of Nakhichevan chaired by
Dr. James R. Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at
Harvard University. Argam Ayvazian, Steven Sim, and curator Anahit
Ter-Stepanian participated in the panel discussion.
At the Glendale Public Library in California on November 11, at 6:00
p.m., Argam Ayvasian will speak on the history of the Jugha cemetery
khatchkars and the current state of the Armenian cultural heritage in
Nakhichevan. Mashdots College in Glendale, Calif., is coordinating the
event; for information call the college at (818) 548-9345.
At the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America in New York
City on November 15, Steven Sim will talk on the problems of
preserving the Armenian cultural heritage. The event is organized with
the support of the Diocese's Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information
Center; for information call (212) 686-0710.
* An important month
This month dedicated to examining the Armenian heritage of Nakhichevan
is especially important in the context of the recent developments in
the region. On October 18, Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
urged UNESCO to send a monitoring group to follow up on the factual
reports of the annihilation of the Jugha cemetery. During a press
conference on October 25, Mr. Oskanian stated that UNESCO president
Koichiro Matsuura had promised to do everything possible to ensure the
visit by a delegation, but so far Azerbaijani officials have not
agreed to that visit. An article published by the Azeri Trend news
agency (October 27) quotes "Hajifahraddin Safarli, the director of the
Nakhchivan Department of History, Ethnography and Archeology Institute
and National Academy of Science of Azerbaijan (NASA)," as saying:
"there is no monument belonging to Armenians in the Nakhchivan
Autonomous Republic (NAR) of Azerbaijan."
In the same article Dr. Safarli labeled as groundless the statements
by Armenians concerning the destruction of the Armenian cemetery in
Jugha. As quoted in the article, he said: "There have never been
monuments belonging to Armenians in the territory of Nakhchivan."
For information on the exhibit at Harvard University, call the Davis
Center at (617) 495-4037. The exhibition website is
www.nakhichevanmonuments.org.
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