1999_05 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper May 1999

              May 1999
Hye Sharzhoom-20th Anniversary
3
Hovannisian Introduces New Book
By Matthew Maroot
Staff Writer
One of the world's foremost
experts on Armenian History, Dr.
Richard Hovannisian, spoke Thursday, April 8, 1999 on the occasion
ofthe publication of his latest work,
Remembrance and Denial: The
Case ofthe Armenian Genocide.
Dr. Hovannisian holds the AEF
Chair of Modern Armenian History at UCLA where he has taught
for over 35 years. According to Dr.
Kouymjian, "Richard Hovannisian
has shown us what ought to be done
and what can be done with the
study of Armenian History.. .He has
been a tireless champion of bringing the truth forward, on the Genocide and on fighting against the
denial and the negation ofthe Genocide."
According to Wayne State
University Press, the publisher of
Dr. Hovannisian's latest work, Remembrance and Denial "squarely
confronts the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish government, which has expended considerable political and financial resources to repress the facts surrounding this event and even enlisted American and European
pseudo-academics to neutralize the
issue."
Among the many contributors
to this volume are Stephan
Astourian, Ara Sarafian, Hilmar
Kaiser and Levon Marashlian, all
active participants in the study of
the Armenian Genocide.
Hovannisian's latest work details the Armenian Genocide in a
new light by revealing many issues
surrounding the Genocide which
have gone largely unpublished. In
his book Hovannisian draws a
strong comparison with the Holocaust, in addition to an extensive
Dr. Richard Hovannisian
discussion which explores the denial ofthe Armenian Genocide by
the Turkish government, quite possibly the most damaging wound
left by the Genocide of 1915-1923.
"We are in what I would say
the struggle of remembrance
against forgetting," Dr.
Hovannisian said. "The way to
keep the battle going is through
remembrance because as long as
you remember and as long as you
can make other people remember,
then the struggle goes on."
Dr. Hovannisian stated that
the study and the openness in speaking about the Genocide only began
in the mid-1960s, some 50 years
after the massacres took place. He
believes this is because the Armenians who experienced the Genocide firsthand internalized much
of their grief as they spent all of
their energy on putting their lives
back together. Thus, it was not until
the children of the victims came of
age that Genocide discussion became more prominent and political
activity on this issue began.
Another factor
for the internalization of the terrors
of the Genocide
came from what
Dr. Hovannisian
called a rush to assimilation.
As Armenians
fled their homeland
and settled
throughout the
world, they were
forced to repress their heritage, culture and history in order to become
more quickly assimilated into their
new cultures.
Dr. Hovannisian's work provides a firm platform on which Armenians can continue their undying
quest to gain recognition for the
heinous events of 1915-1923.
More than 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the first
Genocide ofthe twentieth century,
yet many, including the Turkish
government, continue to deny its
very occurrence.
Fortunately, however, the work
of Dr. Richard Hovannisian has not
only helped keep the Genocide on
the minds and in the hearts of those
who remember its horrors all too
well, but more importantly has
served as a powerful reminder to
those who have heretofore ignored
the Genocide or failed to honor its
victims.
Armenians and the Internet
By Ara Mekhitarian
Staff Writer
You don't believe Armenia is the most beautiful place in the world?
Armscape.com says check out their "Beauty of Armenia" section, and
you will change your mind. These two web sites are just a couple of the
very interesting Armenian web sites I have explored. Both sites are filled
with current Armenian news, pictures and so much more. Whether you
are looking to learn more about Armenia and Armenians, or just want to
chat and read some funny Armenian jokes, log on to these sites and you'll
find what your looking for.
Armscape
Students Gain Interest in Armenian Art
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Address: http://armscape.com/
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Categories: News from Armenia, Enterprises and Organizations, Armenian Rugs and Carpets, Armenian Churches, Armenian Painters, 1700 Years of
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How to use: All categories and
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click on the section where you would like to go.
Comments: Armscape is a very professional looking web site. Its offers
tons of information on Armenian Churches, Painters, Rugs and Carpets.
Also, it has a section on the "1700 years of adopting Christianity in
Armenia" and the big celebration in 2001. Through Armscape, you can
even subscribe to get your free weekly digest of news'from'Armenia'.
Hve Toon
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Categories: News, Chat, History, Culture, Religion, Education, Politics,
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cellaneous.
How to use: Easy to use navigation pop down menu on the left hand side
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Comments: Hye Toon has everything from Armenian Recipes to Businesses. There you can search for any info related to Armenia, submit your
own entries, and even chat in there own Chat Room. Over all its a well
developed site, and definitely worth the visit.
By Matthew Maroot
Staff Writer
For three consecutiVe weekends beginning Friday, February
26, 1999, 35 Fresno State students
undertook an intensive study of one
ofthe most cherished aspects ofthe
Armenian culture, Armenian miniature painting.
In this three-unit-course titled,
Armenian Studies 121: Armenian
Miniature Painting, taught by Dr.
Dickran Kouymjian, Haig and
Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies, students had the
opportunity to gain an in-depth
knowledge of Armenian painting
through the presentation of hundreds of color slide illustrations of
miniature paintings, also known as
illuminated manuscripts.
Many students took advantage
of this weekend course to gain a
greater appreciation of Armenian
art. In fact, enrollment far surpassed that of previous offerings of
this specialized upper-division
course. "I was pleased but also
surprised. Why all ofthe sudden 35
students in an upper-division specialized three-credit course in medieval Armenian miniature painting?" asked Dr. Kouymjian.
While the answer to that question may not have been obvious,
student appreciation for the study
of Armenian painting certainly was.
Through quick, yet thorough ex
planation, Dr. Kouymjian covered
the development of Armenian miniature painting from its beginnings
in the sixth century up through its
Golden Age and beyond the eighteenth century. In addition, he also
made numerous comparisons to
other contemporary works along
the way including examples in
Byzantine, Syrian, Islamic and
Western art.
Dr. Kouymjian's ability to
explain the topic of Armenian art
to students with relatively little
background in art history was remarkable. By the end of the three-
week session, students not only
gained a greater understanding of
Armenian art, but a working knowledge of the study of art history as
well.
In addition to studying the
iconographical elements of various illuminated manuscripts, students also learned how a manuscript is copied and bound and how
its contents are arranged. Dr.
Kouymjian also spoke extensively
about the major repositories of
Armenian manuscripts throughout
the world including the
Matenadaran in Erevan, and other
centers such as the Patriarchate of
Jerusalem and the Mekhitarist
Brotherhood in Venice. "This information will prove valuable when
they [students] visit the great museums of the world and come before medieval Italian and Renaissance paintings, whose subject mat
ter is predominantly Christian," Dr.
Kouymjian said.
With Armenian Studies20: The
Arts of Armenia, the prerequisite
course to Armenian Studies 121,
becoming part of the Fresno State
decade Professor Thomas Mathews
has been teaching Armenian iconography at the Art Institute of
New York University and has seen
some brilliant younger scholars
through their Ph.D. in art history
Participants in the Armenian Painting course
revised General Education Program,
interest in Armenian art will undoubtedly grow. It may also influence what Dr. Kouymjian describes
as a growing interest in this area of
study.
"No one taught Armenian art
in this country when I began doing
it upon my arrival from Paris in
1977. Now we have an endowed
chair in Armenian art at Tufts University headed by Professor Lucy
Der Manuelian, and for more than a
with an emphasis on Armenian art,"
Dr. Kouymjian said.
When I started it was much
neglected, now there is a greater
interest in it and publications have
been flowing from scholars in Europe and the United States as well
as from Erevan. The important
thing is to bring an awareness of an
incredible cultural legacy to students who simply did not know of
its very existence" Dr. Kouymjian
said.
Dr. Kouymjian recognizes the
complexities in teaching a subject
about which most students have
very little prior knowledge. However, he takes that challenge in
stride. "Though they could probably recognize an eleventh century
Armenian primitive or a painting
by T'oros Roslin [a famous thirteenth century Armenian painter]
pretty easily, the irony is that most
students have never had another art
history course and probably
couldn't tell a Duccio from a
Rubens. Yet, they can identify the
subjects .these latter painters used
in their works," Dr. Kouymjian said.
While students who do not
pursue any further study in the area
of Armenian art may not remember
all ofthe manuscripts they viewed
over this three-weekend course, Dr.
Kouymjian is confident that they
will remember many other valuable lessons.
"In short, through Armenian
miniature painting, students have
learned the language and content
of all Christian painting," Dr.
Kouymjian said. "What is certain
is that they will know forever that
Armenians had a rich and complex
tradition of manuscript painting,
that such information is available
through monographic studies and
exhibition catalogues and that Armenian art is extremely important
to the early history of Christian
art."