Armenian
Painters
"Life
is an island. People come out of the sea, cross the island, and return
to the sea. But this short life is long and beautiful. In getting
to know nature man exalts the wonder and beauty of life"
These
words belong to the one of the most celebrated Armenian painters of
the 20-th century Martiros
Saryan.
Through
this link you can visit the online gallary of a number of famous Armenian
painters of the 19-th and 20-th century.
www.armsite.com
National
Gallery of Armenia
This
is the official site of the national gallery of Armenia, where you
will find paintings, drawings and sculptures of Armenian, Russian
and foreign artists.
The
gallery has sections on Armenian art (medieval miniature, frescoes,
sculpture replicas, XVIII – XX cc. paintings, sculptures, drawings,
applied art, art of the Armenian Diaspora), Russian art (XVIII –
XX cc. paintings, sculptures and drawings), and foreign art (XIV –
XX cc. Italian, French, Dutch, Flemish art, XIX c. Romanian art, XV
– XX cc. English, German, Spanish, Belgian and American art,
Egyptian, Greek, Chinese, Persian art).
The museum organizes guest exhibitions in various countries of the
world to promote the global recognition of the Armenian culture.
www.gallery.am
Armenian Rugs and Carpets
From
ancient times carpets and rugs have been regarded as a vital necessity
in the Armenian domestic life. Probably it was the lack of wood as a
building material that made the people to cover the ground floors of
palaces, public and ecclesiastical buildings with bast mats, matting,
carpets and rugs.
The
carpets and rugs formed an indispensable part in the dowry of the Armenian
girls, who familiarised themselves at an early age with that art and,
till their marriage, prepared their own dowry of rugs and carpets themselves.
Under this link you can find very detailed information about this field
of Armenian Art and two Rags and Carpets galleries.On this site you
can also find Armenian Miniatures galleries.
www.armsite.com
Matenadaran
The
Matenadaran is one of the oldest and richest book-depositories in the
world. Its collection of about 17000 manuscripts includes almost all
the areas of ancient and medieval armenian culture and sciences - history,
geography, grammar, philosophy, law, medicine, mathematics-cosmography,
theory of calendar, alchemy-chemistry, translations, literature, chronology,
art history, miniature, music and theatre, as well as manuscripts in
Arabic, Persian, Greek, Syrian, Latin, Ethiopian, Indian, Japanese and
others. In this center of cultural heritage many originals, lost in
their mother languages and known only of their Armenian translations,
have been saved from loss.
The
history of the Matenadaran dates back to the creation of the Armenian
alphabet in 405. This center of manuscripts has a history of centuries
and the history continues now as well.
www.matenadaran.am
For
information in French click
here.
Armenian
Cinema
Atom Egoyan a Canadian director, writer and producer
of Armenian origin is one of the most celebrated contemporary filmmakers
on the international scene. One of his last most ambitious projects
is the film Ararat,
which tells of the production of an epic film about the Armenian Genocide
of 1915. It is a contemporary story which weaves between history in
the making and the effects of history on modern culture.
To
visit Atom Egoyan's official site click here
For
information in French click
here
"Everything
is beautiful if you look at everything through beauty."
Cinema
Masterpieces by surralist film director Sergej
Parajanov appear on list of Top 100 greatest films ever made.
Parajanov created an unique film language, immortalized in his revolutionary
Shadows
of Forgotten Ancestors, The Color of Pomegranates - Sayat Nova, Legend
of Suram Fortress, Ashik
Kerib and The
Confession.
For
information in French click
here
To
know more about Armenian Cinema visit the site of Armenian
assosiation of film critics and cinema journalists.
Armenian
Music
Sayat-Nova (Haroutiun Sahakian at birth) is an 18th-century
Armenian troubadour, the poet of love, whose beautiful music and poetry
captures the essence of the Armenian soul and spirit.
His poems are sung and recited by Armenians all over the world.
For
information in French click
here
Komitas (Sogomon Sogomonyan), is revered by Armenians as their
most brilliant songwriter. Composer, priest, philosopher, poet, ethnomusicologist,
collector of folk songs, writer of sacred and secular music that bridged
the old and the new.
Komitas
was born in 1869, in Kuthaia, Ottoman Turkey. Orphaned at an early age,
he was sent in 1881 to Ejmiatsin, the spiritual center of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, to study at the Gevorkian Seminary where he mastered
the art of Armenian liturgical singing and conducted research on Armenian
folk and sacred music. He graduates from the Ejmiatsin seminary in 1894,
becomes a vardapet (doctor in theology) in 1896, continues his musical
studies in Berlin (1896-9), then returns to Ejmiatsin. In 1910, he moves
to Constantinople where he founds a choir and a music school. There,
in 1912, he publishes a tract entitled "Armenians possess their
own unique music."
The
1915-1917 Ottoman genocide of the Armenians was the beginning of Komitas'
tragic period which was marked by psychic trauma and artistic loss.
In April 1915, Komitas was arrested and deported to the interior of
the Empire.
He died in Paris in 1935. His remains where taken to Yerevan the following
year.
Today
the Yerevan State Conservatory is named after Komitas.
For
information in French click
here
A
great Armenian composer Aram
Khachaturian best known for his Piano Concerto (1936) and his
ballet Gayane (1942), which includes the popular, rhythmically stirring
Sabre Dance, was born in Tbilisi in 1903.
Khachaturian's works include concertos for violin, cello and piano (the
latter originally including an early part for the flexatone), three
symphonies and the ballets Spartacus and Gayane. He also composed the
music for the Armenian national anthem.
In
1979 the Grand Concert Hall of Yerevan was named after Aram Khachaturian.
In connection with the composer’s 100th anniversary, UNESCO announced
2003 the Year of Khachaturian.
To
visit the Virtual Museum of Aram Khachaturian click
here
To
visit t he official site of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra
click
here
Armenian
Literature
St.
Gregory of Narek - St. Grigor Narekatsi - is known as one of the most
prominent figures of medieval Armenian religious thought and literature.
He lived from 951-1003 in the monastery of Narek near Lake Van (currently
in Turkey). These were the relatively peaceful times in the history
of Armenia. A period marked by the blossoming of various aspects of
Armenian culture: arts, church building, miniature painting, science,
literature and theology.
The
mystic poet is praised for his gentleness and humanity in more than
24 tales and legends. His masterpiece is his famous book of prayers
entitled "The Book of Lamentations." Written near the end
of his life, it is an intensely personal lyric poem that has been compared
with Augustine's "Confessions".
From
his original manuscript, some 150 copies of his work were copied by
hand and passed from generation to generation and were said to have
healing and magical powers.
Recently
Grigor Narekatsi's famous poem was translated into English by linguist
Thomas Samuelian. Samuelian's translation consists of 95 prayers, presented
in both English and Classical Armenian. Click
here to see the English translation.
For
information in French click
here
Yeghishe
Charents
is the armenian poet of the 20th century. His work mirrors the
history and misery of Armenia of the first half of the twentieth century:
from the times of sultan Abdul Hamid II to the 1915 genocid to Bolshevism
and Stalinism.
Yeghishe
Charents fell victim to Stalin's purgest because of the patriotic content
of his writings.
To
know more about Armenian Literature please visit the following sites:
ArmenianHouse.org
is an electronic library featuring a huge collection of documents on
Armenian literature, history, religion.
Languages:
English, Armenian, Russian
Armenian
Literature from
The Armenian Research Center, University of Michigan-Dearborn. This
site includes English translations of selected Armenian authors.
Languages:
English
Armenian
Literature Online
Lessons Plans by Project
Harmony Armenia
Languages:
Armenian only
Armenian
Architecture
Armenian
architecture, a particularly rich part of the Armenian heritage, is
widely recognized as a unique contribution to international architecture.
The tradition of architectural engineering has ancient origins on the
Armenian highlands.
Armenia
has thousands of historical buildings including many churches and monasteries.
The World Heritage site has listed three of Armenia's religious sites.
The first of these is the early Armenian cathedral and churches of Echmiatsin
which were built at the site where St Gregory (the Illuminator)
was said to have seen a vision. The second World Heritage site lists
the Byzantine monasteries of S. Nshan in Haghpat
and Sanahin,
and the third site is the medieval monastery of Geghard
with its churches and tombs carved into surrounding cliffs.
A
unique manifestation of Armenian medieval national art is comprised
by the monuments called khachkars
or cross stones which were used widely in Armenia. The cross stones
were used for a variety of purposes: to mark military victory, to commemorate
events of historic significance, to dedicate the conclusion of the construction
of churches, fountains, bridges and other structures.
Following
the Sovietization of Armenia in 1920, two architectural directions competed
for dominance: the national and the modern. This dual track of architecture
produced various phases of Armenian architecture, even during the short
Soviet period. In Armenia today one can easily see the differences in
style between the national; the Government
Buildings of Republic Square, the State
Opera House, the Matenadaran, the Genocide
Monument, and the modern: the
Youth Palace, the Sports
complex, and the Zvartnots
Airport.
For
more information about Armenian Architecture:
Armenian
Architecture and its history by Armenian
Highland
Armenian
Churches, Monasteries and Cathedrals by Armenian
Highland
Musasir
- The Prototype for the Classical Greek Temples by
Armenian
Highland
The
Holy City of Ts. Echmiatsin by Armenian
Highland
Languages:
English
Visit
also The
World Heritage Site.
