The Year of Armenia in France has a sound and multi-shaded palette. The incentives for the events dedicated to Armenian art, history and cinema can be seen on the windows of stores, the doors of cafes, the walls of buildings, and the symbol of the Year of Armenia seen on the buses of Paris – “Armenia, my friend”. It seems as though this is the revelation of Armenia starting from its origin, the pre-Christian period up to the actual art, and Armenia becomes not a friend, but most exactly a close acquaintance for the French – an acquaintance whom they meet and communicate and then proudly say: “Oh, Armenia…”
This large country is presenting our treasures to its citizens and guests, and is doing that in a rich manner, interlacing Armenian culture with a global context. Indeed, the Year of Armenia in France is of huge political significance; it required diplomatic perseverance and huge efforts by diplomats and politicians. After the Year of Brazil and the Year of China, France had made a decision to not allow any country to be presented for a whole year, rather limit itself to a season of the nation at best. However, an exception was made for Armenia and Armenia received, as the dear French say, the “carte blanche”, and presented its rich culture and modern art.
While discussing with a group of journalists and intellectuals from Armenia, Armenian Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to France, Edward Nalbandyan, said:
“We wanted to show not only what we have in Armenia, but also what Armenians spread across the world have. First, we had foreseen organizing 100 events, but when we did the “inventory” of our richness, we realized that there had to be incomparably more events.”
There have been 850 events held in more than 160 cities of France, and that is not a small number. Each event was prepared and advertised in detail, had its symbol and catalogue, booklet or leaflet.
Adviser to the President of Armenia and program coordinator for the Year of Armenia in France, Vigen Sargsyan, rates the passing of the events as successful. A huge amount of work has been done and will still be done. The agreements reached at different levels, the coordination of the joint work between the two countries, the transfer of samples, guests and experts is something which is not only time-consuming, but also requires huge professionalism.
“Our success is the outcome of the work of a coordinated team. France has a very big bureaucratic mechanism, even bigger than we can imagine, and everything must be done the right way. The most important thing, I think, was that we elaborated our model for holding the events, in some sense, our matrix, which we may later use and hold large art exhibitions.”
Sargsyan mentioned that besides the cultural events, many practical agreements were signed by both countries, and 1000 Armenian children had come to France as the small ambassadors of Armenia, getting acquainted with the country by living with French families. The main emphasis of the events was, of course, on culture and history. Armenia has so many cultural values that if we start to show them, the series of exhibitions will go on and on. As member of the Armenian delegation and writer David Muradyan said, “Culture comes to the rescue of Armenians at the most difficult times. As a state that has lived through centuries, seen disasters, an earthquake and wars, we are interesting to the world with our amazing culture; the culture by which we are proud, yet don’t really appreciate. Our richness is with us in museums and on film, but we don’t see it. But the French do. They see it and value us as the carriers of that culture. Armenians are turning not only into people of a third-world country who have seen a Genocide and an earthquake, but also into an amazing people with whom they are enriched by looking at what we have created. The Year of Armenia in France is establishing mutually beneficial relations for both countries and that is happening, first and foremost, thanks to the professional diplomats and art critics.”
EXHIBITIONS
Paris
The cultural events in France are presented by three fulcrum exhibitions. The first is the well-known “Armenia Sacra” exhibition in Louvre, which includes samples of the history of Yerevan and the museums of Etchmiadzin and the cross-stones brought from different regions of Armenia. The “Saint Armenia” exhibition of cross-stones played a pivotal role. Armenians have interlaced their ornaments made out of rock, and each cross-stone has turned into a small masterpiece. In Louvre’s 1000 square meter Melpomena hall, which is located on the first floor of the museum, there are 40 cross-stones on display, and the weight exceeds 7 tons. All of those cross-stones have been transferred to Paris by plane. That was not the only means of transportation, rather the only safe one. Edward Nalbandyan, Armenian Ambassador to France, said that in the beginning, everyone thought that it was crazy to transfer all the cross-stones, but they worked on bringing the cross-stones that are located in different locations in Armenia, like Yeghegnadzor and Artsakh, instead of the samples on display in the museum.
This is the first time that Armenia, the first country that adopted Christianity as a state religion, has shown its treasures (cross-stones, icons and scrolls) out of its borders. It is not hard to imagine how hard the event organizers worked to transfer and install the tons of cross-stones. However, it has been done and “Sacred Armenia” is revealing itself in front of the French, step-by-step. The secret of the Armenian cross-stones is being revealed from the Louvre with the enormous poster with the title “Armenia Sacra” on the façade. As Nalbandyan said, the idea of giving a Latin name to the exhibition came up during a conversation with the director of the museum of Louvre. The director of the museum, Anri Luaret, had been in Russia, was fascinated by the Russian icons, and wished to open the “Saint Russia” exhibition. During that conversation, the ambassador and director decided that the Latin “sacra” would characterize Christian Armenia.
What’s surprising is that the cross-stones, which symbolize faith, look very beautiful and harmonious in the Louvre, because the walls of the hall and the general style has been prepared consistent with nature. The walls are built from tiles that remind one of bricks, and that allows the viewer to look at the cross-stones in an environment that seems to be ancient. It is worth mentioning first and foremost the indices near the samples which reveal the history of Christian Armenia, and through which each sample tells the legend and stays in the memories of people. As you tour the hall, you feel like saying ‘we’re showing you our best, France, and we are discovering our treasures for ourselves.’
Arl
The continuation of “Armenia Sacra” was the exhibition entitled “The wonders of Ancient Armenia on the Slopes of Mount Ararat” which was opened in the art city of Arl. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to visit the city, but our history on the slopes of Mount Ararat plays a very big role in the series of exhibitions in light of the Year of Armenia because it represents ancient, pre-Christian, pagan Armenia and the roots of the Armenian people.
Arl is considered to be a city of arts; it goes back to Roman times. The soul and aura of that ancient city have been preserved. It is an amazing city where the ruins of old buildings remain on the edges of sidewalks and squares. The city presents its history at every step. The museum building is being built in a totally modern style, and the walls of the museum building open from the inside so that it will be possible to bring anything to the museum without the stairs or elevator. The Art Museum of Arl is known as the Blue Museum because it is completely blue. The second large exhibition was opened in that museum. There was a deep sub-context in the title: our Ararat is our origin. During the opening ceremony, Ambassador Nalbandyan said:
“Ararat is more than simply a holy mountain. Ararat is the symbol of Armenia and the Armenian people that the people carry with them in their songs, legends and in the soul.”
The French press, which responded quickly to almost all of the events dedicated to the Year of Armenia in France. The journal “Mond” dedicated an entire edition to Armenia, calling the country biblical, and presented not only historical Armenia, but also modern-day Yerevan and reports on Armenians. Art magazines and newspapers have dedicated many in-depth and beautiful articles to Armenia, and that is the success of our diplomacy, which can be felt more in France than in Armenia. The cultural events in Armenia are rarely on the front pages of newspapers and billboards. We have a lot to learn from the French in terms of that, as the French put the title “Armenia: the passion of the French” on the front page of “Mond” without having any fear of seeming arrogant in their feelings towards Armenians.
Marseilles
The third pivotal exhibition was opened in Marseilles presenting the wonder of the Armenian alphabet. The name of the exhibition was “Armenia: the magic of letters”. From the Aramaic cuneiforms, the Greek and Roman inscriptions, up to the creation of the Armenian alphabet…The inscriptions made from textiles, metal, wood, clay and rock presented all that Armenia had inscribed, preserved and passed on to the world. This exhibition was also set to accomplish the important goal as with the previous two exhibitions: it went to show that Armenia continues to carry its writings and art today as well, and that that richness is not only a memory, but rather an inseparable part of our everyday life, unique its own way and the continuation of our traditions.
The styling of the exhibition was done by French-Armenian architect Edward Sargsyan who, according to director of the History Museum of Armenia Anelka Grigoryan, did his job with dedication, taste and soul. Sargsyan’s father, Vardan Sargsyan, was one of the students of the great Komitas.
All Armenian museums chose the items up for exhibition based on professional principles, and thanks to that approach the exhibitions are impressive and built based on one ideology. By showing what we have created millennia ago, it seems as though we are telling the world ‘we own what we have today as well. We put what we had five thousand years ago besides what we have today, and represent ourselves as the owner of that heritage. That idea becomes the locomotive of all of the exhibitions. The French side didn’t interrupt the organizing of the exhibitions; there were only some minor corrections and/or proposals. The Armenian side provided the ideas and mode of exhibition. Armenia transferred its historical treasures to the Paris airport, and then the French took it from there – the transfer of items to the museum, organizing the exhibition, and printing the catalogues. There has not been one event that has been cancelled or failed. All exhibitions were organized with respect and care. Anelka Grigoryan, who has participated in the preparatory works of almost all of the important and large exhibitions, says:
“The French were charmed from within. Professionally speaking, the workers of the French museums discovered something for themselves. They didn’t even imagine that we had these kinds of treasures.”
General charge d’ affaires of French-Armenian cultural ties, Nelly Tardivie, was even worried that the museums of Armenia would stop operating if all of the samples were transported to France. But when she found out that the 600 samples that had been brought to France were not going to interfere with the work of the Armenian museums, she was very surprised:
“You have an admirable richness,” said Madame Nelly. France is proud that when a carrier of a different culture brings its riches and invests them in the French culture. That is necessary for the French, who have been living in a country that has created art for centuries, to lure artists, poets and actors of different nationalities into the world of art, form French taste, and shape generations of artists. It is not easy to present one’s art in Paris. Paris is the most difficult stage to pass, and after passing this stage, roads open up for you. Paris has always been the unique spot, the amazing crater where art mingles and is born, and Armenia not only seized its spot in the crater, but also showed that it still has a lot to show. As you walked the streets of Paris and told French citizens that you were Armenian, everybody would point to the “Armenia Sacra” and say that Armenia is a fantastic country. Even if we Armenians don’t consider our country fantastic, be certain that it is very pleasing to hear that. It is incomparably more pleasing than hearing Europeans recall the Genocide and the earthquake when they say Armenia. We were able to use our culture at the right time, and in a very literate way. France also used our richness very reasonably and tactfully. Nobody takes into consideration the country’s economic and political status when it comes to culture; there can only be mutual benefits when we deal with culture. If France wished to organize such exhibitions, it had to pay for transferring each sample to France; in this case we are ready to take our best to France because we need new achievements in our culture. Of course, culture doesn’t end in itself; the goal is to create a good image about the country of Armenia. However, it turns out that besides showing our culture, today we see no other means to reach our goal.
Ayvazovski, Parajanov, Gorky
Armenia is represented in France with its greatest strengths and the most beautiful pages and images of the past. The exhibitions in Lyon, Paris, Toulouse and Sant Etiens were local, small, sound and impressive.
The exhibition entitled “Armenia’s 12 capitals”, which was opened in the “Consiergieri” museum of Paris, leaves a great impression on the French with its name. It is amazing that one country has had that many capitals, with the evidence of all the cities having been more or less preserved; they have been preserved through the means of churches. Ani, Vagharshapat, Armavir, Dvin, Tigranakert, and Artashat are presented with their half-ruined constructions and ruins. Each ruin is a story, and is documented by a photograph. The interpretation of the photographs is very concrete: this monastery has turned into a mosque, while this one is on the verge of elimination as a result of the goals of the Turkish government. We lost this one, but this has been preserved. Our chain of capitals ends with the photographs of modern-day Yerevan and the plan of the newly constructed North Avenue of Yerevan. This is our history, which goes back to the centuries, and reminds us that a period of prosperity is just going to begin for Armenia. This is an exhibition with a very patriotic message, and it reminds us of the connection between the past and the present. It can say a lot to Armenians who often prefer to live in the present and forget that we are not the first and last people in the country. The three great Armenian painters Hovhannes Ayvazovski, Sergey Parajanov and Arshille Gorky have secured their spot in Paris. The exhibition “Ayvazovski-poetry of the sea” has been opened in the Marine Museum of France (“Trokadero”). The exhibition “Amazing Parajanov” has been opened in the museum of contemporary art of Sant Etiens and includes 72 paintings of the painter/cinematographer, including collages and assemblages. The small exhibition of fresco paintings and drawings of Arshille Gorky (Vostanik Adoyan) has been opened in the “George Pompidi center”. There is very little of the works of the worldwide founder of abstract expressionism, Gorky, as this exhibition is a compilation of his individual collection and the works brought from American museums. As you visit Gorky’s exhibition hall, you realize that no reproduction can have the same inner, emotional effect as the original. After escaping to America from the Armenian massacres in 1920, Gorky prepared a series of paintings dedicated to his native village of Khorgom, which he called “The gardens of Sochi”. Those gardens look like Armenian gardens, and have a perplexing beauty. The “Pompidi” center for art also exhibits the most famous “Agony”, which is a tangle of imagination and pain. That painting spellbinds each visitor and compels him or her to stand immobile as long as the artist tells about his pain.
Genocide
The issues of memory and identification are very important for Armenians living in 70 countries of the world. It’s not said in vain that wherever Armenians are, they are trying to create a small Armenia in their communities and also infect their neighbors with Armenian values. Armenians are trying to share their tragedies and happiness with the whole world. In France, where there is a large Armenian community quite integrated in French society, it’s impossible to find someone who wouldn’t tell you something about Armenia or someone who hadn’t ever read something about the fatherland. The number of Armenian public squares and monuments in France is over 100. This year, 8 new squares and monuments were opened for Armenians. In one of the suburbs of Paris, Me don la Fore, a monument commemorating the Armenian Genocide, and which portrayed Mt. Ararat, was opened. It had a very symbolic inscription, “to the memory of all Armenians, who lost their lives during the great Genocide, and the ones who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of France”. The important thing is that the Armenians are connected with French history as well. The author of the monument is a young Armenian, Isabelle Dzyamdzyan, who has never been to Armenia and doesn’t speak Armenian but tries to use Armenian stones in her compositions. She received obsidian from Armenia for the monument. “Three things are associated with Armenians in the world – the cross, eagle and Ararat. The cross and eagle belongs to everybody but Ararat is only ours. I think no one has any doubt in France that Ararat is an Armenian mountain,” says Isabelle.
In another town close to Paris, in Plessis Robinson, the “Armenia” square was opened, which became the friendship symbol for the Arabkir community of Yerevan. On April 28, mayor of Plessis Robinson, Philip Pemezek, and the head of Arabkir community, Hovhannes Shahinyan, placed wreaths at General Andranik’s monument, located in that town. On that day, when the second round of presidential election campaign was proceeding in France, a wreath was sent to Andranik’s monument from Nikola Sarkozie. The inauguration of the square was followed by a large concert of Armenian singers. It proceeded with the participation of not only the mayor but also many Armenians and Frenchmen from other cities of France.
There is a surprising regularity. The tragedies and sacrifices of our people are turned into art now. And now people are speaking in the language of art about their tragedies. The Armenian Ambassador to France, Edward Nalbandyan, mentioned that more events about the Armenian Genocide were held in France than in Armenia.
On April 23, a service was held for the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. After this service, in the most gothic cathedral in the world, protestors gathered near it with signs reading, “No to Genocide”. The countries, which deny genocide, commit a crime to humanity and history, as they close eyes to what had happened. The crowd of people was leaving their signatures in the signature book of the rally organized by the “Van” organization. After the Armenian genocide, the Darfur and Rwanda genocides were started. On that sunny day, people were leaving their colored fingerprints on the walls to commemorate the Armenian Genocide. On the next day, April 24, a service was held in the Armenian Apostolic St. Hovhannes Church in Paris. On that same day, the city council of Paris held a reception for the Armenian community. The mayor of Paris, Bernard Delanone, mentioned in his speech that nations need to have courage to recognize their past and live without sins on their shoulders. He ended his speech with the words, “Armenians, I am with you.” Coordinator of Armenian-French relations in France, Alexi Govchean, said that this had been the seventh reception in Paris so far. “When the state denies genocide, it encourages racism and terrorism. The policy of denial must be eradicated,” he said, and called Turkey’s policy unacceptable and condemned the acts of Turks to impede the events dedicated to the memory of the Genocide in France. As an example, he mentioned the clashes in the city of Valence and desecration of the monument in Lyon. Edward Nalbandyan mentioned in his speech that the Armenian-Turkish border is the last closed border of Europe and that this fact surely troubles the European states. Referring to the city council of Paris, MP of the French Parliament, Patrick Ghevejyan said, “You always kept your promises given to Armenians but one is left. The “Memory Center” has not been opened yet. We are impatiently waiting for that opening.” The activities of creating an Armenian Center are still continuing. We spoke about that to the chief executive of French-Armenian relations, Nelli Tardivier.
-There were numerous people in the city council of Paris who commemorated the victims of the genocide. During their speeches the guests spoke about the Memory Center. What’s the status of that?
-That is going to be a cultural and scientific center, which will show Armenian history. We have been on working on creating such a center for years. There are similar small centers and museums in France, but we want to unite all those and open a large center, all the exponents of which must be associated with Armenia. The most important issue for us is to find the right venue for that center. We want it to be located in Paris, by all means. We are negotiating with the mayor, who must make our initiatives specific and allot us a venue in Paris.
-Madam Nelli, the Year of Armenia must accepted ambiguously by Turkey. Have you felt any pressure on the part of Turkish diplomats in terms of limiting certain events?
-Nothing like that.
-Can we expect that the Armenian events in France will be continuous and will proceed in the next years as well?
-I have been working with the Armenian community of France for twenty years. We have held numerous events for the year and I don’t see any reasons why those events must be stopped after the official termination of the Armenian year in France. I have many Armenian friends and employees and am willing to keep working with them.
Interview with the priest of Lyon church
The priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Lyon, bishop of Ron Alp region Norvan Zakaryan, received the Armenian delegation in Lyon, and told them the history of the establishment of the Armenian Church in Lyon. The church has close ties with the “Papazyan” clerical school. The school and the church have a common door, which leads to the cafeteria. During breaks, the Armenian children come to the church to have lunch and speak Armenian to each other. The Armenian church of Lyon is a young church. It was built later than the churches of Paris and Marseilles. In 1994 Armenian tufa stone was imported from Armenia to Lyon. The sculptures of the church were built by an Armenian sculptor, Davit Bejanyan. Father Zakaryan told that the stones were imported with great difficulties. Once, the rocks were broken on the way, and once the church didn’t like the sculptures. Zakaryan is sure that the church will play a significant role in Armenian-French relations.
– Believe me that sooner or later the buildings of the Diaspora will be no more, but the churches will stay forever. Those will communicate the Armenian spirit to others. In the Diaspora, there are certain complications as well. Armenians like and support the church, but it’s not part of their daily life. Armenians in the Diaspora go to church whenever they need to organize something there – weddings, funerals, etc. But unfortunately few come to church every Sunday to pray. Fortunately Armenians have great respect for their ancestors, and that’s why they visit the church from time to time to pray for their souls. Perhaps it is only the ties with the older generation that make the young ones go to church. In Armenia people go to churches more often than here.
– Do you think Armenians and tourists in general would like to go to Armenia after listening to your stories about Armenia?
– Indeed, it was France that declared 2007 the year of Armenia in France. French respect cultures and nations. They are also open to other cultures and respect the history of other nations. This is very important for the French-Armenian young generation, which has to a certain extent become estranged from the main Armenian roots. Now the young French-Armenians themselves are trying to delve into the Armenian culture and explore as much as they can. The French have great relations with Armenians here, and they are also interested in the Armenian culture overall. Many of they even wish to go to Armenia after listening to the stories of their Armenian friends.
– Of course the Year of Armenia will mark an essential sign in the memories of people. In your opinion, how can this be used productively to connect the Armenians to Armenia?
-One cannot immediately feel the changes. But I am sure that the overall environment will change. This year is a year of soaring. Of course this soaring is important but the main work starts after the end of the Armenian year. If the French-Armenian don’t efficiently use this chance given by the French state, we won’t be able to accuse anybody of not knowing or recognizing our culture and nation. Armenians must continue this mission. This is my opinion, but I think that during the year Armenians have not focused much on the Armenian scientists. They haven’t introduced Victor Hambardzumyan, Alikhanyan, Mamikonyan and others. During this year, only names of culture sector representatives were mentioned, and no names of scientists. It means that next year we need to fix that omission and introduce our scientists to France. The Armenian embassy and the French government have done a lot as a first step. Now it’s the turn of the Armenian community to maintain what has been achieved and even continue it deeper. This has great meaning to us because the French state made a gesture and much effort to enable Armenians to present their culture and national values. For 80 years we were afraid to emphasize our origins, as we had certain complexes in doing that. We were not able to openly say, “We are Armenians.” And now this complex is gone. France told us, “Don’t be scared to be Armenian.” Of course, this doesn’t mean that we must build a state within the state but we must maintain our values and use those to develop the French science and economy.
Tradition, which is always beautiful
Our delegation visited the museum of textiles and decorative art of Lyon, where the exhibition named, “Armenia’s gold and treasures” was inaugurated. Lyon is famous for its textile production and it’s not an accident that Armenian textiles are exhibited here.
From all over the world – India, Iran, Georgia and Armenia clerical curtains, ornaments and decorations were brought to Lyon. In the exhibition hall, Armenian church service music was playing. The story about Armenian clerical curtains, which was presented to us by a very attractive French excursion guide, was very interesting for us as we hadn’t seen or heard anything like that before. The clerical curtains looked like messages delivered to religious people. Sometimes they looked the same, and sometimes they were decorated with various decorations and drawings. There were also numerous symbols on those. All the curtains exposed the cultural peculiarity of the country where they were made and used. Curtains brought from Madras were decorated with Eastern traceries, and the “Kenac” tree reminded us of a mosque with its structure. The color hues of the curtains was amazing. The red was made from pomegranate, the yellow from the pear tree. “We are glad to see the origins of Christianity in our region,” our excursion guide said, and asked us to give a few key points about our Armenian alphabet, which our delegation did with pleasure. “Many visitors ask me what’s written on the carpet but unfortunately I don’t speak Armenian, although I understand how important it is to understand the secret of the structure of the Armenian letters.” Armenian traditional holiday apparels have a very long history. French people also spend a lot of time preparing for holiday events. During festivals, the ones who are holding flags or playing flutes do their work consciously. They stand, walk and talk to people. This is a real tradition and every Frenchman does this with pride. Uniforms with medals and white gloves are necessary attributes. Main participants of such festivals are retired men and women, who don’t have anything in common with the spoilt young generation of French. In France they respect the elders. The old men holding the Armenian flags on the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24 made the most influential image of the ceremony. They were silent, focused, and were listening to the speeches of Armenian diplomats and statesmen. They were proud of their country and sorry for Armenians.
Epilogue
In 2007, the Year of Armenia launched specific and much warmer relations with France. Various legends, portraits and masterpieces have started to be displayed. The various legends and symbols have started to communicate with each other in a new way. The most important thing was the original idea, which in itself was very valuable, and started a new, important method of representing the country.
Photo by Arnos Martirosyan
France-Armenia