The U.S. Embassy in Armenia publicly honored on Wednesday a young Armenian activist controversially prosecuted after publicizing alleged sexual and other abuse at a Yerevan boarding school. Mariam Sukhudian, a leader of the environment protection group SOS Teghut, received the Women of Courage Award from Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch at a high-profile ceremony attended by Armenian politicians, civic activists and other public figures. Speaking at the ceremony, Yovanovitch confirmed that the award is an appreciation of Sukhudian’s work at the public school for children with special needs located in Yerevan’s southern Nubarashen suburb.

“When she arrived at Nubarashen Special School Number 11 and found neglect and abuse of children in its care, she acted to stop it … not for her own benefit, but for justice and the welfare of all children in Armenia,” said the ambassador. A separate statement by the Embassy lauded the activist’s “courage” and “determination to act in order to right a wrong, in spite of the personal sacrifices it entailed.” Sukhudian, 30, was among about a dozen young people who worked as volunteers at the boarding school in April-June 2008.

Read More »Indicted Armenian Activist Honored By U.S. Embassy

The name of the exhibition organized by the British Council – “Rock, Paper, Scissors” – is associated with a favorite childish game for many, however it symbolizes the interaction between sculpture and painting, the two and three-dimensional. On January 20-28 about 50 exponents of the British Council Collection are being exhibited in Albert & Tove Boyajian Gallery of the Yerevan Academy of Fine Arts. Some of the works are shown for the first time promising to be a revelation for many students and lecturers.

The exhibition presents works by outstanding sculptors Henry Moore, Bernard Meadows, William Turnbull and others created via various printing methods from the 1950s to the present day. One of the methods is screen printing which makes possible to get copies almost identical with the originals, linocut or etching.

“This is a small albeit interesting and encouraging surprise in the dull reality of Yerevan. For years, the artists whose works are being exhibited were like a dream for me,” says art critic Nazaret Karoyan: “Of course, I had a chance to see their works before, but not in Armenia.”

Read More »Exhibition within Armenian Walls: The British Collection of Worldwide Modern Art in Yerevan

New Year, Amanor (New Year), Kaghand (Armenian Santa Claus), Tareglukh (the first day of the next year), Avetis (good news), Navasard – it doesn’t matter the name, as in all cases the meaning is the same – a start for something new. The oldest nations marked New Year in March. Then the cultivation activities began and March was considered as the first month of the year. January 1 was declared the New Year beginning only in 46 B.C. by Julius Cesar.

In Armenia, the New Year is celebrated since the times when, according to a legend, the forefather Haik defeated Bel. Navasard was the first day of the year and was celebrated in August. Then the pagan Armenians began to celebrate New Year in November and since the 18th century – on January 1. According to Armenian mythology Amanor was Amatur’s wife – the God of nature and harvest, Kenats Tsar (Tree of Life) – symbol of fertility. According to artist Lusik Aguletsi the New Year ceremonies lasted 12 days and were closely related to church rituals.

Read More »Тraditions: Old Armenians Met New Year Focused on Spiritual Values

Ani Sargsyan, 16, has a favorite season. It is winter. She is waiting for it not only for the New Year holidays but also for figure skating. And she doesn’t imagine her life without it. Four days per week she goes for skating to Karapi Lich (“Swan Lake”) near the Opera House.

“It is something different for me; every time I feel freedom while skating. Skating is flying for me. I can’t give up,” says Ani. She says first time she went figure skating school with her parents when she was four. And when she heard that a rink has been opened in Karapi Lich she decided to attend there because the ice in the figure skating school was not so good.

“The skating rink of Karapi Lich is really the only way for me to be in the form. I like everything there: it is an open air area where people watch how we skate and we do our best like an actor on the stage,” says Ani. In Armenia the traditions of figure skating were formed more than 30 years ago, when the first figure skating school was opened in 1972. It was very popular in the Soviet Armenia, being also a rink for the Armenian hockey players. During Soviet times it had about 600 students annually. Over the last several years it has about 200 skaters.

Read More »Ice Age in Yerevan: Figure Skating becoming Fashionable, Frozen Traditions Turning Into Life

The first blogs in Armenia were registered more than 5 years ago, though last year only deserving public attention. For the first time in 2008 the press service of the president of Armenia invited the bloggers to Serzh Sargsyan’s press conference. After a month the president had another meeting with them and answered their questions. Before that event a few journalists only knew about the blogs and bloggers.

“At first we were “loggers”, and then considered as somewhat extraordinary and new, without whom however it was impossible to pass the way to Europeanization and democratization,” says blogger Sergey Chamanyan. According to him, the invitation to the president’s press conference became a significant event, as it was an opportunity to explain their civic position. However the bloggers’ initiative to address questions to the president was responded differently by the Armenian mass-media. The press began to discuss the appropriateness of engaging bloggers in such events.

Read More »Armenian Politicians Getting Interested in Blogosphere

Every Saturday the “Farewell to Arms: from Belfast to Balkans” film-series have been screened at the hall of Internews Armenia NGO office, then at the Narekatsi Art Union since May 27. The films have been created through partnership of Yerevan and Baku offices of Internews and with the support of the British Embassy in Armenia.

“Six films on six European conflicts and the ways of their solution have been created by a joint effort of Internews representatives in Armenia and Azerbaijan within the framework of this project,” says Nouneh Sarkissian, the executive director of Yerevan Internews office. The films are about the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Southern Tirol, as well as in Cyprus and Aland Islands.

According to Sarkissyan the film authors have tried to represent the conflicts in eyes of those people who are directly linked or are victims of those conflicts. Director Tigran Paskevichyan has shot the film “Ordinary Utopia” on the Basque conflict within the framework of this project.

Read More »Farewell to Arms:

The Caucasus Journalists’ Team expresses its condolences to relatives of all 168 passengers who perished in the plane crash of the Tehran-Yerevan route of flight 7908 on Wednesday. We mourn over each passenger and offer our support to their relatives. This crash joined the fates of Armenian, Iranian and Georgian passengers flying in the same plane.

Unfortunately, through the taking lives, the pain is being shared by the three nationalities. We call upon the Armenian, Iranian and Georgian authorities to take measures to ease the pain of the victims’ relatives, who henceforth are to live quite different lives after the crash, a life without their relatives’ presence.

We urge the authorities to do their best to discover the real causes of the crash, which is expected by the relatives of the victims, as well as by thousands of other passengers regularly using this flight. Surely the crash is not a reason to stop the Tehran-Yerevan flight. However, people using the flight must be sure of its security. The next time they board the plane they should not be anxious that they are flying en route to death. R.I.P

Read More »En Route to Death: Iran, Armenia and Georgia Mourning for 168 Victims of Plane Crash

A protest demonstration was organized by about 10 relatives and colleagues of the chief editor Arman Babajanyan of “Zhamanak” daily under arrest in front of the Presidential Residence on June 26, which, however, was interrupted by the police interference. The policemen, who were far more than the picket participants and journalists covering the event, pushed them away from the intended place of gathering step by step via creating a police wall along the pavement.

The police reasoned that demonstrators were disturbing public order. Whereas the picket participants said they intended to stand only 30 minutes in front of the Presidential Residence and if possible transfer the president a text of announcement. Three years ago this day Babajanyan was sentenced to a 3, 5-year imprisonment for avoiding military service. The imprisonment expires in September, but the demonstrators were announcing that Babajanyan has appeared in jail because of his political views and were demanding amnesty to be granted him too, like dozens of other prisoners during the last week, who were released as a result of the amnesty declared on June 19 by the RA Parliament.

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Read More »Pushed Picket: Colleagues of Arrested Editor Demanding His Release

Golden Apricot 6th international film festival will be launched on July 12. Films of both renowned and still non-revealed directors will be screened within festival frameworks. Overall 110 films from 40 countries will be shown during the seven days of the festival in Yerevan cinema halls. The organizers assure that the number of applications submitted for participation in the festival has been almost four times more. The film by French director Laurent Tuel “Le Premier Cercle”, where the lead role of an Armenian gangster Milo Malakian has been played by the famous French actor Jean Reno, will open the festival. Though neither Tuel, nor Reno participate in the festival, the film producer, French-Armenian distributor Alain Terzian will visit Yerevan.

“This is a new film, it was produced this year and the lead actor embodies an Armenian personage. That is why we applied to the film director to show his film during the festival. But one of the main reasons is also that the film producer is an Armenian famous in the world as a great cinematographer,” says Seda Papoyan, the Press Secretary of the film festival Golden Apricot.

Read More »Great Cinema in Yerevan:

Today the problem to properly organize journalistic education at the departments of journalism of higher educational institutions of Armenia is very urgent and deserves special attention. Changes are needed both in organizing the educational process and in more intensive conduct of practical activities. This notion is supported by the students of journalism departments and the veteran journalists of the country.

“First it’s important that the time allocated for hands-on experience in educational process exceeds or at least is equal with the time assigned for theoretical knowledge. The universities have a deficit of textbooks, and the existing ones do not coincide with our reality,” says Ashot Melikyan, Head of the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Speech. Melikyan has his own formula on organizing the young journalists’ education. According to him journalism and education model in general should be like a chain where each ring is linked with the others.

Read More »More Practice Demanded: