Entertainment

Weekend Fun: Pride Festival, Tour Town’s Oldest House, Author’s Trip Down Charles River & More

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A “Proud” flag is displayed during the 2022 Watertown Pride Parade. Watertown will celebrate its Pride this weekend, with the annual Pride Parade and Festival. History buffs have a couple of options, including taking a look inside a house built in the 1600, and a narrated slide show focusing on the Charles River. Mount Auburn Cemetery has a pair of events: a walking tour and a writing workshop. Also, enjoy Armenian music from the comfort of your home, or wherever, with an online concert.

Around Town

Armenian Museum’s Statement on the 109th Anniversary of the Genocide

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Photo from the Armenian Museum of AmericaAnnually we host thousands of visitors who learn about the Genocide, as well as the history and culture of Armenia thought artifacts and exhibitions; historian Khatchig Mouradian conducted several educational workshops this month with students visiting our galleries. The Watertown-based Armenian Museum of America released a statement on the 109th Anniversary of the Genocide. Read it below. The Armenian Genocide was the attempted annihilation of the Armenian people – physically and culturally – from their ancestral homeland. This brutal murder of the Armenian nation by the Ottoman Turks constitutes the first genocide of the 20th century.

Entertainment

Gandzaran/Treasury Exhibition Spotlights Armenian Museum of America’s Art Collection

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Courtesy of Armenian Museum of AmericaMartin Barooshian (1929-2022), “Gomidas Vartabed 4/50,” c. 1970-1979, signed color intaglio etching, 24×22, donated by Haig Der Manuelian. The following announcement was provided by the Armenian Museum of America:

The Armenian Museum of America in Watertown has recently opened its latest exhibition in the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries, “Gandzaran! Notable Selections from Our Collection.” The show is curated by Ryann Casey, and co-curated by Gary Lind-Sinanian and Elias Trout.  “Gandzaran!” showcases 39 works by 24 artists from around the world. It is scheduled to run through August 4, 2024. In recent centuries, Armenian fine art often focused on illuminations, reliquaries, and other pious objects, the most significant of which were secured and hidden in the gandzaran (գանձարան), or treasury, of a monastery. These treasure vaults were designed to protect religious works, which would be displayed periodically for the faithful, then returned to the vaults to be preserved for the ages.

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Digital Archive of Armenian Music Accessible via Armenian Museum of America Website

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78 rpm records from the collection of the Armenian Museum of America are
being digitized, restored, and shared on its website under the Virtual Resources tab (Photo by
Jonathan Lizcano)

The following piece was provided by the Armenian Museum of America:

By Jesse Kenas Collins

Over the past year, the Armenian Museum of America’s Sound Archive program has taken a giant step forward. Each month, the Museum posts a handful of songs digitized and restored from its collection of 78 rpm records on its website along with a historical writeup about the artists. Along with more conventional musical recordings, some of the recordings touch on Armenian cultural, political, and educational history, as well as the history of recording technologies. The program is sponsored by a generous grant from the SJS Charitable Trust. The Museum hosted musicologist Ian Nagoski to its galleries to weave the story of the influential but largely forgotten soprano Zabelle Panosian, who was born in Bardizag and emigrated to Boston in 1907.

Entertainment

Armenian Museum of America Presents “Early Recordings of Armenian Classics” by Ara Dinkjian

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Musician and composer Ara Dinkjian will play Armenian recordings made over 100 years ago and share vintage photographs from that time period. The following announcement was provided by the Armenian Museum of America:

The Armenian Museum of America is elated to present “Early Recordings of Armenian Classics” featuring the eminent musician and composer Ara Dinkjian, on Nov. 9, 2023, at 7 p.m. In this distinctive event, Ara Dinkjian will discuss early recordings of well-known Armenian songs, play recordings made more than 100 years ago, and share historic photographs. “We invite music enthusiasts from all backgrounds, both Armenian and non-Armenian, to join us for this unique exploration,” says Jason Sohigian, AMA’s Executive Director. “Our Sound Archive, a digital repository of rare historic recordings, offers an auditory journey through time.

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Armenian Museum Hosting Artist Panel on Free Museum Weekend

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The Armenian Museum of America is offering a series of events on September 23-24 including a panel discussion on “The Image as Disruption and Identity.” (Courtesy of Armenian Museum of America)

The following announcement was provided by the Armenian Museum of America:

The Armenian Museum of America will host a series of programs the weekend of Sept. 23-24 highlighted by an artist panel discussing Ara Oshagan’s “Disrupted, Borders” exhibition currently showing in the Museum’s contemporary galleries. 

The event will bring Oshagan together with curator Ryann Casey, art critic Hrag Vartanian, and Professor Christina Maranci, all of whom touch upon contemporary art and politics in their respective work. The panel, titled “The Image as Disruption and Identity,” is free and open to the public, and will take place in the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 2 p.m., followed by a light reception. The Museum is also offering free admission for all visitors that weekend, along with free guided tours of “Ara Oshagan: Disrupted, Borders” to its members.

Entertainment

Exhibit Featuring Artworks of Saroyan Artworks Opens at Armenian Museum

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This watercolor by William Saroyan was donated to the Armenian
Museum of America by Joan Agajanian Quinn; it was drawn on the back of a menu from “The
Ararat” restaurant in New York City on February 21, 1969. (Courtesy of Armenian Museum of America)

The following announcement was written by Elias Trout and provided by the Armenian Museum of America:

Following the donation of Ruben Amirian’s “Homage to Mesrop Mashtots,” a 14-foot composite work celebrating the Armenian alphabet, art collector and Museum Trustee Joan Agajanian Quinn has gifted two watercolors by literary genius William Saroyan and two drawings from his son Aram Saroyan to the Armenian Museum of America. All five works are now on display in the new exhibit “My Name Is Saroyan,” inspired by Armenian literary culture both past and present. “After the success of our 2022 exhibition ‘On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection’ at the Armenian Museum, the Quinn family is happy to broaden the Museum’s collection of contemporary artists with these donations,” explains Quinn. “We continue to be impressed with the way the Museum displays Armenian art which spans the time frame from ancient to modern times.