UNIQUE FUNDRAISING BOOKS SALE

An exceptional opportunity to acquire old and rare publications in Armenian, English, and various other languages, spanning the period from 1890 to 2000.

Over the years, the Armenian Institute Library has acquired numerous duplicate titles through donations and the merging of local collections. This event will free up much-needed space while also generating some revenue that will support other areas of the collection.

This is the perfect opportunity to pick up a favorite title or gift for as little as £1, or choose a bundle for a further discount! Sales prices will be available in person only. This is a one-day sale, so don’t miss out!

All proceeds will contribute to expanding our collection with new, relevant titles.

Watch Aurora's Sunrise in London

The Armenian Institute is excited to partner with Bertha DocHouse to promote new screenings of Aurora’s Sunrise.

The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

In 1919, the silent Hollywood film Auction of Souls told the story of a teenage girl’s experience through the horror of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Aurora Mardiganian played herself in the blockbuster film of her life, which brought the plight of the Armenians to the wider world. All copies of Auction of Souls were believed to be lost, until 1994 when 18 minutes of film were rediscovered, just a few months after Aurora’s death, aged 93.

Aurora’s Sunrise revives Aurora’s story through a blend of evocative animation, her own recollections and the 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic.

It vividly recalls an often-ignored 20th Century genocide, telling the tale of how one girl escaped, and then relived her life’s greatest pain to save her people.

Watch Aurora's Sunrise in London

The Armenian Institute is excited to partner with Bertha DocHouse to promote new screenings of Aurora’s Sunrise.

The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

In 1919, the silent Hollywood film Auction of Souls told the story of a teenage girl’s experience through the horror of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Aurora Mardiganian played herself in the blockbuster film of her life, which brought the plight of the Armenians to the wider world. All copies of Auction of Souls were believed to be lost, until 1994 when 18 minutes of film were rediscovered, just a few months after Aurora’s death, aged 93.

Aurora’s Sunrise revives Aurora’s story through a blend of evocative animation, her own recollections and the 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic.

It vividly recalls an often-ignored 20th Century genocide, telling the tale of how one girl escaped, and then relived her life’s greatest pain to save her people.

Watch Aurora's Sunrise in London

The Armenian Institute is excited to partner with Bertha DocHouse to promote new screenings of Aurora’s Sunrise.

The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

In 1919, the silent Hollywood film Auction of Souls told the story of a teenage girl’s experience through the horror of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Aurora Mardiganian played herself in the blockbuster film of her life, which brought the plight of the Armenians to the wider world. All copies of Auction of Souls were believed to be lost, until 1994 when 18 minutes of film were rediscovered, just a few months after Aurora’s death, aged 93.

Aurora’s Sunrise revives Aurora’s story through a blend of evocative animation, her own recollections and the 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic.

It vividly recalls an often-ignored 20th Century genocide, telling the tale of how one girl escaped, and then relived her life’s greatest pain to save her people.

Watch Aurora's Sunrise in London

The Armenian Institute is excited to partner with Bertha DocHouse to promote new screenings of Aurora’s Sunrise.

The true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl escaped the slaughter of the Armenian genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom.

In 1919, the silent Hollywood film Auction of Souls told the story of a teenage girl’s experience through the horror of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Aurora Mardiganian played herself in the blockbuster film of her life, which brought the plight of the Armenians to the wider world. All copies of Auction of Souls were believed to be lost, until 1994 when 18 minutes of film were rediscovered, just a few months after Aurora’s death, aged 93.

Aurora’s Sunrise revives Aurora’s story through a blend of evocative animation, her own recollections and the 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic.

It vividly recalls an often-ignored 20th Century genocide, telling the tale of how one girl escaped, and then relived her life’s greatest pain to save her people.

Please join us for a panel discussion where we will explore the recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh after the fall of the Republic of Artsakh. Our expert panel comprises Simon Maghakyan, PhD candidate in heritage crime at Great Britain's Defense Academy (Cranfield University); Jasmine Dum-Tragut, Head of Armenian Studies Division and Center for the Studies of the Christian East, University of Salzburg; and Harutyun Vanyan, Head of the Department of Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments within the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia. Together they will examine the consequences of the mass departure of ethnic Armenians from the region, taking into account both cultural and humanitarian aspects, as well as the loss of ancestral lands brimming with heritage. In this context, as the historical custodians of these monuments are no longer present, and considering Azerbaijan's political stance that disregards the land's integrity, we are confronted with the challenge of safeguarding the tangible and intangible heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh for the generations to come. This thought-provoking panel will try to address these and other questions while exploring different scenarios we can expect to see in the future development of the region.

This event will be fully online, but it’s necessary to register.

About the Speakers

Harutyun Vanyan is a heritage professional who works at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia as the Head of the Departement of Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments. Harutyun believes that the preservation of cultural heritage is not only the responsibility of the state, but also of every conscious citizen and community. In addition to managing the Departement of Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments, he is the Focal Point of 1972 World Heritage Convention, National Coordinator of European Heritage Days and European Archaeology Days for Armenia. He has also participated in many International Capacity Building porgrammes in the field of Cultural Heritage, including 2022 World Leadership Porgramme People.Nature.Culture in South Korea. Harutyun holds a BA in History and a Master’s Degree in Archaeology from the Yerevan State University.

Jasmine Dum-Tragut is Associate Professor of Armenian Studies and Linguistics. She directs the University of Salzburg’s Centre for the Study of the Christian East and its Armenian Studies Division, and senior scientist at the Department of Biblical Studies and Church History. She is an honorary doctor of the RA Academy of Sciences and of Yerevan State University. For many years she has been working on various interdisciplinary research projects on Armenian cultural heritage (with field work in Armenia), and since 2022 heads an international project on knowledge transfer in medieval equine (Armenian, Arabic, Georgian and European) manuscripts ‘Meeting in the body of the horse‘. She is consultant and board member of the ecumenical foundation PRO ORIENTE, heads the Austrian Committee for the Protection of Armenian Cultural Heritage in Artsakh and is member of the Blue Shield Austria, and founding member of the Blue Shield Armenia. In late 2021 she was co-opted as team-member and scientific advisor at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin’s Office for Artsakh Spiritual-Cultural Heritage Issues. Since Sept. 1, 2023 she heads the laboratory ‘Interdisciplinary Armenian Cultural heritage studies’ as adjunct professor and Principal investigator, which is based at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of RA Academy of Sciences.

Simon Maghakyan is a Denver-based investigative researcher and cultural heritage defender. He is a PhD candidate in heritage crime at Great Britain's Defense Academy (Cranfield University), a Visiting Scholar at Tufts University and an incoming Postdoctoral Fellow at the Oxford University’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Previously, he worked with advocacy organizations, including the largest Armenian-American grassroots organization and Amnesty International, and lectured in international relations at the University of Colorado Denver. He also served as a senior nonpartisan staffer at the Colorado legislature. Maghakyan's investigative exposés on Azerbaijan's state-sponsored erasure of Armenian cultural heritage have been cited at the International Court of Justice and praised as 'rock solid' by The Guardian. His writing has been featured in numerous popular media outlets, including Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, and his spoken word has appeared, among other outlets, on Democracy Now! and the BBC World Service.

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at Raindance Film Festival

We are honoured to be collaborating with Raindance Film Festival on the London Premiere of Aurora’s Sunrise, a poignant docu-animation directed by Inna Sahakyan, which follows the historic true story of Armenian genocide survivor-turned film star, Arshaluys Mardiganian. Standing as Armenia’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Academy Awards, Aurora’s Sunrise is a remarkable odyssey fragmented by and consisting of tragedy and endurance, through which hope is ultimately found.

Don’t miss this unbelievable and touching film, screening at Vue Piccadilly on 2 Nov, 6PM followed by a Q&A. Use the code RDFF23 for 15% off at checkout. Limited seats available.

The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) are currently facing a humanitarian crisis. Please consider making a donation to support their urgent needs through the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Global Relief Fund. Raindance will be donating 50% of their ticket sales to the AGBU Relief Fund.

Join Olivia Melkonian and the Armenian Institute at a musical and auditory journey in memory of the victims and survivors of the Armenian genocide. Part travelogue, part investigation of fading memories, the film both records a process of remembering, and sculpts a memorial itself.

The event will happen on Saturday 30 September at Cafe OTO.
 

The Armenian Institute in partnership with FemInno will host a business workshop in order to teach our audience how to structure a business model, using Canva Business Model and SWOT Analysis. The workshop will be presented by Angelika Ghazaryan, FemInno ambassador to the UK, and you will have the opportunity to learn about FemInno - the biggest female innovation conference in Armenia and in the region.

About FemInno:

With the experience of more than 5 years of women empowerment in the technology field on behalf of Girls in Tech Armenia, FemInno is now on a mission to position Armenia as a new innovation hub for diversity and inclusion. The proven successful record of 50+ projects and campaigns are allowing us to be this bold and go the extra mile.

2023 Conference Theme: Sustainable Future: Heading to Metaverse

In these turbulent days, it’s becoming crucial to adopt fundamental principles of a sustainable future for the sake of the globe. The tech industry is expanding daily, and we ought to track the latest technological breakthroughs to survive and be ahead of the curve. Thus, we decided to gather bright minds from all over the world and dedicate Feminno 2023 to discussing how the Metaverse could bring us closer to a sustainable future.

The 2023 Feminno Conference will take place in Yerevan on July 29-30 

About our Speaker - Angelika Ghazaryan

Angelika was born and raised in London but her heart has always been in Armenia. Previously, she studied business and management at Queen Mary, University of London. Now as a postgraduate student, Angelika studies the political economy of emerging markets at King’s College London, and she is currently working on a dissertation project researching the barriers and challenges that female tech entrepreneurs experience in Armenia and how society can support them to enhance their contribution to Armenia’s technological development. If you cannot tell already, Angelika is super passionate about all things Armenia, and she is a FemInno ambassador for the UK and will be in Yerevan this summer to join in the fun that FemInno has coming up!  

The Armenian Institute is happy to once again take part in the exciting, community-building Armenian Summer Festival.

AI has been part of the Festival since its early days in Iverna Gardens and has appreciated how, for over a decade, this wonderful event brings people together to celebrate Armenian culture, enjoy delicious food, dance, and sing together

This year the Armenian Institute booth provides a diverse range of important books in English and in Armenian, from history and art to novels, cookery, and books for children. We also have greeting cards and, for the first time --- embroidery kits.

The embroidery kits are created by Lizzy Vartanian who will be at the booth and happy to chat about the history behind these beautiful designs. She notes that her embroidery is an effort to stitch a relationship with a culture she has been separated from as a consequence of migration. Much of her work is inspired by roots in Lebanon, Armenia, and Syria, transforming twentieth-century family photographs into embroidered works of art.

The Armenian Embroidery Kits are original patterns with names in Western Armenian and English, and each kit includes fabric, needles, and thread.

You can see below some examples of what we will be selling.

The Armenian Institute is happy to present the book launch: Mobility and Armenian Belonging in Contemporary Turkey: Migratory Routes and the Meaning of the Local by Salim Ayküt Öztürk.

“Imagine traveling through landscapes haunted by a genocide that is not officially acknowledged, but leaves its traces everywhere: scattered fragments, but not destroyed. In rich ethnographic detail, Salim Ayküt Öztürk describes some of the constant journeys taken in rebuilding Armenian belonging to these places, creating a different kind of geometry in the process.” Sarah Green, University of Helsinki, Finland.

What remains and becomes Armenian in a historically informed moment of increased mobility?

Looking at case studies ranging from bus and taxi drivers travelling between Armenia and Turkey to undocumented migrants deported from Turkey and now living in Armenian cities, as well as Armenian residents of Istanbul, Dr. Salim Ayküt Öztürk provides a vivid description of contemporary non-Muslim life in Turkey through the lives of Armenian Turkish citizens and undocumented migrants from Armenia, as well as Greek, Jewish and Kurdish communities.

Taking an anthropological approach with ethnographic data collected from Turkey and Armenia over the course of almost 10 years, this book focuses on themes of migration, human movement, community-making and the conditions that facilitate mobility and place-making. Salim Ayküt Öztürk provides both a critical account of how historical and more contemporary forms of violence and structural discrimination have targeted Armenians in the country. He also focuses on the re-articulations and appropriation of a sense of belonging by these and other minority communities.

Dr. Salim Ayküt Öztürk  (PhD in Anthropology, University College London) conducted his doctoral research in Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey.  Later research continued in different postcolonial urban contexts including Jerusalem, London, and Nairobi. Öztürk holds an MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies from SOAS and a BA in Political Science from Boğaziçi University. He is a former Hrant Dink Foundation Fellow and was involved in civil society initiatives between Armenia and Turkey. Currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark, he continues teaching a variety of anthropology/sociology courses.

The Armenian Institute is excited to host the London launch of Prof Sebouh David Aslanian’s latest book: Early Modernity and Mobility: Port Cities and Printers in the Armenian Diaspora 1512 – 1800

“This beautifully written, extraordinarily original work is a major contribution, not only to Armenian history, but to the history of the book and to understanding the origins of both early modern commercial capitalism and the confessional identities that previsioned the modern nation.”—Ronald Grigor Suny, author of “They Can Live in the Desert But Nowhere Else”: A History of the Armenian Genocide.

A history of the continent-spanning Armenian print tradition in the early modern period, Early Modernity and Mobility explores the disparate yet connected histories of Armenian printing establishments in early modern Europe and Asia. From 1512, when the first Armenian printed codex appeared in Venice, to the end of the early modern period in 1800, Armenian presses operated in nineteen locations across the Armenian diaspora. Linking far-flung locations in Amsterdam, Livorno, Marseille, Saint Petersburg, and Astrakhan to New Julfa, Madras, and Calcutta, Armenian presses published a thousand editions with more than half a million printed volumes in Armenian script.

Drawing on extensive archival research, Sebouh David Aslanian explores why certain books were published at certain times, how books were sold across the diaspora, who read them, and how the printed word helped fashion a new collective identity for early modern Armenians. In examining the Armenian print tradition Aslanian tells a larger story about the making of the diaspora itself. Arguing that “confessionalism” and the hardening of boundaries between the Armenian and Roman churches was the “driving engine” of Armenian book history, Aslanian makes a revisionist contribution to the early modern origins of Armenian nationalism.

Sebouh David Aslanian is professor of History and Richard Hovannisian Chair of Modern Armenian History at the Department of History at UCLA and the inaugural director of the Armenian Studies Center at the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute. Aslanian has published numerous research essays on early modern Armenian and global history in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of the award-winning From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean: The Global Trade Networks of Armenian Merchants from New Julfa (Berkeley: UC Press, 2011) and most recently of Early Modernity and Mobility: Port Cities and Printers Across the Armenian Diaspora, 1512-1800 (Yale University Press in June of 2023).

AI’s Salon Zanazan is a welcoming space for open discussions on various topics, a series of lively evenings of sharing ideas and breaking bread together. Each evening will have a different theme with a short presentation on wide-ranging subjects from current affairs to arts and culture. We’ll finish the evening each time sharing a simple meal of soup, salad, bread, and further conversation.

Comedian, artist, and writer Vahe Berberian’s latest novel, Diary of a Dead Man, will be the focus of this first evening in the series. We will listen to readings from the book, chosen for us by Vahe, and discuss this well-received, exciting novel, his third. For those who wish to read the book ahead of the meeting, it is available here.

Note: Zanazan is Armenian for “varied” or “various”

Event outline:

6:30 -- Our evening begins with a glass of wine and nibbles

7:00 – We watch a short video of Vahe Berberian doing one of his incomparable routines. Then the participants of the event will take turns reading selections from Vahe’s latest book, Diary of a Dead Man.

7:30 - Discussion, ending with another short video.

8: 00 – We share a simple meal and continue talking.

Please register for this event so we prepare enough soup and salad share!

￡15 per person, ￡12 concessions.

Chess Afternoon led by Dr. David Zakarian and Dimitrios Levon Zakarian

This in-person event will be divided into two activities: a short lecture about chess followed by simultaneous chess games.

The Armenian Institute invites you to delve into the rich heritage and exceptional accomplishments of Armenia as a chess superpower. Discover the unique distinction of Armenia as the sole country in the world where chess is part of the school curriculum. Despite its modest size, Armenia has garnered widespread acclaim for its formidable national chess team, renowned for producing some of the world's most exceptional players. Notably, Armenia boasts two world chess champions and on three separate occasions has achieved victory in the prestigious World Chess Olympiad.

The present talk will explore the history of chess in Armenia and will be followed by a simultaneous display where you will be able to play against a FIDE chess Master, David Zakarian, and promising junior talent Dimitrios Levon Zakarian. If you wish to participate in the simultaneous event, please bring your chess board.

Entry for lecture only -- ￡5, students free

Ticket for playing chess ￡5 per person

We will have a short break for drinks and nibbles between the talk and playing chess

Dr. David Zakarian is an Associate of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. Besides his academic career as a historian, he has been playing competitive chess for over 30 years. He is a FIDE Master representing the Armenian chess federation, with 2408 being the highest international rating achieved. For several years he has been the top board for Oxford's chess team in the UK's Four Nations Chess League, as well as the Varsity captain of the Oxford University chess team in 2014.

Dimitrios Levon Zakarian is a young chess player who is currently a student at the Magdalen College School, Oxford. He has been representing England in the international arena since 2017. He has numerous achievements in multiple junior chess events, such as winning the prestigious UK Chess Challenge Terafinal three times (2017, 2020, 2022), English U14 Chess Championship (2022), and English U12 Online Blitz Championship (2020).

In-person event

After the huge success of the first UK Armenian Creatives meet-up, we’re delighted to announce the date for the next one.

Please join us for an opportunity to meet new creatives, catch up on the connections and collaborations made after our last event and get to know about each other’s upcoming work.

If you’re an actor, director, writer, designer, poet, painter, composer, musician, choreographer, producer, craftworker, or any kind of creative actively making and working then please join us for coffee and the opportunity to meet other Armenian creatives.

As before, this meeting is hosted by theatre director Ed Stambollouian and playwright Abi Zakarian with the support of the Armenian Institute.

In order to ensure we can continue holding and growing these events we’d like to ask for Pay What You Can donations from anyone attending and entirely at your own discretion.

Join us for an evening of shared family and community narratives. We will be highlighting the important ways in which a household item, favourite song, poem or story can transmit memories of family’s journey from the destruction of the Genocide to new life.  We begin with by listening to a few invited speakers and then open the floor to those of you who volunteer to share your object and its story.  These might include a short story from your personal memory bank, perhaps accompanied by the object that plays a role within it. It may be a song your grandmother sang or a poem that you found especially inspiring. Come to listen to others, come to share your own treasured object and story. 

Contact Susan Pattie if you wish to discuss an object or story you might present.

Entry is £5 to include drinks and refreshments.

Join us online for a conversation with filmmaker Gary Gananian, historian Dr. Heitor Loureiro, and co-producer Armen Karaoghlanian to discuss living history as it applies to Armenian resilience, tracing the threads of time through their newly released documentary The Peace Of All. This event will be held in collaboration with the Armenian Film Society. 

The Peace Of All is a feature documentary about the history of Nagorno Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, its people and their fight for survival in their historical lands. Covering the Armenian Genocide, the end of the Ottoman Empire, the fall of the Soviet Union up to the 2020 conflict that changed the region's geography, the film captures the different layers of this conflictual story. Amidst the geopolitics associated with Artsakh, certain themes stand out, such as - human rights of originary peoples, the effects of war, crimes against humanity and the impunity of the perpetrators.

Gary Gananian is an independent filmmaker. Working in film production companies since 2010 he has been involved in producing many short films, feature films, music videos and documentaries. The Peace Of All is his latest work. Gananian studied Social Communication at Santa Monica College in California and completed his studies at ESPM in São Paulo, Brazil.

Heitor Loureiro holds a PhD in History (Unesp) and completed a research internship at Matenadaran in the Republic of Armenia. He is also an Associate Researcher at the Studies and Research on the Middle East (Gepom-Brazil).

Armenian Film Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to shining a spotlight on Armenian films and filmmakers. Founded in 2015 by husband and wife Armen and Mary Karaoghlanian, Armenian Film Society has held events around the world with guests such as Atom Eogyan, Mardik Martin, Sev Ohanian, and more.

The Peace of All is their second production as an organization, following the short documentary, Back to Ashtarak. In joining the production as executive producers, Armenian Film Society provide strategic marketing support to the film.

This event is in-person and online.

Join us for an evening with Ani Jilozian of Armenia’s Women's Support Center, to discuss new developments and trends around domestic violence in Armenia. Societal awareness around women's rights has grown and a package of legislative amendments set to be approved this year will improve prevention efforts and offer greater protection for victims of domestic violence. Yet, there are gaps in response. State service providers still lack gender sensitivity and the state insists on perpetrator programs at a time when there are still not enough protection mechanisms in place for victims. This all comes at a time when COVID and the 2020 Artsakh War have changed the landscape for women’s rights and safety in the country.

Ani Jilozian is a women’s rights advocate with a master's degree in global public health from the Icahn School of Public Health at Mount Sinai in New York. Ani works as Director of Development at the Women's Support Center. In her role at the Center, Ani has mobilized resources for the Center, led gender-based violence programming and published research studies that examine gender-based violence, women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender politics in Armenia. She is also involved in high-level advocacy and has contributed to shadow and alternative reports.

To attend in person, please book by writing to us at info@armenianinstitute.org.

To attend online, please register here.

Entry is ￡5 per person to include wine and refreshments.

The Armenian Institute is excited to host the Arsen Petrosyan Quartet for the first time in London on Saturday 11th March, 2023 at St. Sarkis Church, London.

The Arsen Petrosyan Quartet plays traditional and sacred Armenian classical music, spanning different eras and genres within Armenia's historical timeline.

The instruments used are the Duduk, Santur, Qanun and Percussion. Our programme will include music from Grigor Narekatsi (10th century), Simeon Yerevantsi (18th century), Sayat-Nova (18th century), Komitas (20th century) among others.

The Quartet is promoting Arsen Petrosyan's new album 'Hokin Janapar'. 'Hokin janapar' means 'my soul's journey' in Armenian. It is Petrosyan's nostalgic exploration into music that has stirred his soul and reflects the continued odyssey of the Armenian people. The album manifests into a journey of a nation and culture that refuses to die. Musicians: Arsen Petrosyan - Duduk; Astghik Snetsunts - Qanun; Vladimir Papikyan - Santur; Avetis Keoseyan - Percussion.

This event is made possible by the gracious support of Diana and Panos Katsouris, Violet Tatevossian, and Assadour Guzelian.

Time: 11 March, 7:15 pm-10:00 pm in person at St. Sarkis Armenian Church, London.

Tickets £35. To purchase your tickets please click here to be taken to KindLink. Please do not tick the gift aid box as this is a ticket sale.

Seats are limited so it is advised you book early. Concessions available for those under 18. Please email info@armenianinstitute.org.uk for details.

The Armenian Apostolic Church often stresses its unique history and autocephaly, its hierarchal independence from other churches. At the same time, the Church has always been connected to other parts of the Christian world, most notably the “family” of churches known as “Oriental Orthodox.” These churches share a basic theological understanding of who Jesus Christ is, known as Miaphysite Christology and grounded in the common rejection of the Council of Chalcedon. Yet each of the autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches—the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Indo-Malankaran, and Syriac Churches— are incredibly diverse. While some of the churches have long and historic connections, for instance the Armenian and Syriac churches, it is a quite recent phenomenon that these diverse independent churches recognized themselves as part of a single family. In fact, the ecumenical encounter and the sense of a shared Orthodox and specifically Oriental Orthodox sensibility is often worked out in Diaspora.

This presentation explores the way the Armenian Apostolic Church fits into this broader Oriental Orthodox family of churches by looking at several examples from the Armenian diaspora in Europe. In addition to the “top-down” official ecumenical meetings of church hierarchs, the presentation will look at shared spirituality such as a common devotion to saints, the ways the teachings and booklets of other churches are used by Armenian Christians, and the day-to-day interactions between Christians of this family of Oriental Orthodox churches in diasporic settings. How, the presentation asks, does a sense of shared (Oriental) Orthodox Christianity shape the lives of Armenian Christian believers in the Diaspora?

Dr. Christopher Sheklian is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Radboud University in the Netherlands, part of the “Rewriting Global Orthodoxy Project” in the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religion. He received his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago in 2017 with his dissertation, “Theology and the Community: The Armenian Minority, Tradition, and Secularism in Turkey.” From 2018-2020, Dr. Sheklian served as the Director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. He has been a Manoogian Post-Doctoral Fellow in Armenian Studies at the University of Michigan, an Adjunct Professor at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, and has published work on liturgy and law in the lives of religious minorities. Currently, he is working on a monograph entitled Liturgical Rights: Armenian Religious Minority Belonging in Turkey.

Please book to attend in-person. 

Entry is ￡5 per person to include wine and refreshments.

We regret that the lift at the Armenian Institute is currently out of order. As we are on the 2nd floor, this makes it difficult for some visitors and we apologise for this.

Arshak Sarkissian, How To Be Not Perfect

Film preview and conversation between Nouritza Matossian and Artist Arshak Sarkissian

We are delighted to welcome artist Arshak Sarkissian to the Armenian Institute once again, giving us a sneak preview of the documentary Arshak Sarkissian, How To Be Not Perfect. The short film, not yet on public release, has garnered 40 prizes in international festivals.  Arshak stands in his Yerevan studio painting a canvas for five hours from start to finish, listening to the music of his friend and mentor, composer Rolf Gehlhaar. He was filmed by the distinguished cinematographer, Vahagn Der Hagopian and film maker/camera man, David Sarkissian, collaborators of the world-famous Artavazd Peleshian. 

This ravishing work gives a thrillingly concentrated insight into the brushwork, rhythms, and near-dance movements of one of Armenia’s most exciting artists at work. His last solo show in Italy received rave reviews in the national press. 

Nouritza Matossian, the writer who first introduced him to London, will continue her ongoing dialogue with Arshak on the filming and his latest work. She writes:

“Arshak is a virtuoso of the unconscious. He can make the unreal seem ordinary and the ordinary seem unreal. He watches with a keen impartial eye dipping in and out of the material world. He draws his people, often glaring at us with a baleful eye, groups them as if on stage, in lines or cavorting around each other fully conscious. 

Curator Dominique Lora writes in the Repubblica newspaper, “Arshak Sarkissian, born in 1981, an Armenian artist, is an emerging figure in contemporary art. He lives and works between Yerevan and London. The artist is an emblematic son of his era since he experienced the end of the Soviet empire and the complex transition that resulted from it.”

Arshak Sarkissian, born in Gyumri, Armenia, is part of a family of highly regarded artists.  Educated at the National Aesthetic Center of Art in Yerevan and the Cyprus College of Art, Sarkissian has shown his work in solo and group exhibitions around the world, including the U.S., U.K., Russia, Cyprus, Germany and Armenia. His work is included in public collections such as the Modern Art Museum in Yerevan and the Vatican Museum.  He continues to work in his Yerevan studio. 

Nouritza Matossian is a writer, performer and human rights activist with documentary films to her credit including award-winning Hrant Dink, Heart of Two Nations. Her biographies of composer Iannis Xenakis and artist Arshile Gorky were filmed by the BBC TV and Atom Egoyan's award winning movie Ararat respectively. Nouritza was a consultant on the film whose female lead Ani was based on her. She has performed her own monodrama on Gorky to audiences internationally. She is a founder member and organizer of activities of the Armenian Institute and is a former Director.  

This evening will be in-person only. Tickets at the door are £5. To secure a spot please email info@armenianinstitute.org.uk as spaces are limited.

We regret that the lift at the Armenian Institute is currently out of order. As we are on the 2nd floor, this makes it difficult for some visitors and we apologise for this. 

Date: Saturday 21st Jan

Time: 7:15pm-9:30pm

Location: Armenian Institute and online (in-person space limited)

Tickets at door: £5 - to secure a spot please email info@armenianinstitute.org.uk 

The Armenian Institute was fortunate to have hosted Hrant Dink in 2005 for a lecture in London on his only trip to the UK. Two years later he was cruelly murdered at the doorstep of his newspaper office, AGOS. Since then AI has hosted an event every year remembering an exceptionally courageous man who played a critical role in modern-day Turkey. An Armenian by birth, Hrant Dink was the first newspaper editor openly speaking up about societal and political issues affecting his fellow countrymen. Sixteen years later and his memory is still very much alive and he remains in the hearts of the public through the Hrant Dink Foundation which was set up in 2007 to carry on his legacy.  The Foundation works to develop a culture of dialogue, empathy and peace through its activities. 

This year the Armenian Institute will be hosting on Saturday 21st January a hybrid (in-person and online) event to commemorate Dink's legacy.

 Nayat Karaköse, programme coordinator of the award-winning 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory will take us on a virtual tour depicting the history of the paper and the work of the foundation to date. Nouritza Matossian, a friend of  Dink's and director of the first Hrant Dink documentary, will interview Karin Karakasli, a former editor of AGOS. She will be sharing with us what it was like working at AGOS with Dink, the impact of AGOS on the Armenian community in Turkey and on the wider public's perspective of the Armenians.

The event will close with an Armenian folk song from Noémie Ducimetière and a drink in remembrance of Dink.

Space for in-person attendance is limited so we recommend booking your seat early. 

Speakers:

• Karin Karakaslı

Karin Karakaşlı graduated in Translation and Interpreting Studies. From 1996 to 2006 she worked at the Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos as editor, head of the editorial department and columnist on both Turkish and Armenian pages. She has completed an M.A. in Comparative Literature, works as a translation instructor at the university and as a teacher of Armenian language and literature in an Armenian High School. She is currently a columnist at Agos and Radikal newspapers, and continues to write fiction and poetry.

Her books include a children’s novel called Ay Denizle Buluşunca (When the Moon Meets the Sea), short story collections Başka Dillerin Şarkısı (Song of Other Languages), and Can Kırıkları (Splinters of the Heart), works of poetry, Her Kimsen SANA (Whoever you are this is FOR YOU), a novel is Müsait Bir Yerde İnebilir Miyim? (Can I Get Out Somewhere You Don’t Mind?).

She is the co-writer of the research book Türkiye’de Ermeniler: Cemaat, Birey, Yurttaş (Armenians in Turkey: Community, Individual, Citizen).

• Nayat Karakose

Nayat Karaköse received her BA in Sociology from Galatasaray University. She holds an MA degree in Theory and Practice of Human Rights at the University of Essex. Nayat was an Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability Fellow at Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University in 2014. She participated in the Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program on Media and Information at the University of Washington in August 2021.

Since 2015, Nayat Karaköse works as the program coordinator of the Hrant Dink Foundation that is based in Istanbul/Turkey. Nayat plays various roles at the foundation such as developing and designing projects on hate speech, discrimination, minority rights and dealing with the past, her other key roles including project coordination, fundraising, networking with national and international stakeholders. Besides of her other roles Nayat is responsible of the coordination of the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory which is the first memory site in Turkey dedicated to Hrant Dink and the values that he embraced such as democracy, justice, peace, human rights and dialogue.

Dealing with the past, collective memory, discrimination, memory sites and practices of memorialization are among her areas of expertise. Before Hrant Dink Foundation she worked for a UK based charity Global Dialogue as a program officer to run the grant program for the CSOs in Turkey. Between 2010-2015 she worked as a freelance journalist for Agos newspaper.

Moderator: Nouritza Matossian

Nouritza Matossian is a writer, performer and human rights activist with documentary films to her credit including award-winning “Hrant Dink, Heart of Two Nations”. She first introduced Hrant Dink to London where she filmed his historic lecture and their conversations together. She published biographies of composer Iannis Xenakis and Armenian American artist, Arshile Gorky. Nouritza collaborated in founding the Armenian Institute, organizing activities over the years and is a former director of the organisation.  

Singer: Noémie Ducimetière, folk singer and electronic producer, has trained in medieval chant with Idrîsî Ensemble and leads the experimental soul project Noum.