Name: Tatevik Ayvazyan
Place of birth: Yerevan, Armenia
Your Occupation / work / profession: filmmaker, writer, non-profit work. Former director of AI
My background is in Social Sciences (BA in Economics, MA in Philosophy, MA in International Relations and European Studies) and I have worked on a number of arts and culture projects. I am also a filmmaker, working on the award-winning short film Taniel and currently producing a music documentary and writing a screenplay based on Iris Murdoch’s The Italian Girl.
Non-profit experience includes developing an employment programme for Refugee Resource in Oxford and running the UK Armenians and WW1 project for the Centre of Armenian Information and Advice.
Your family roots:
Father’s side:
Salmast province; Armavir village in Armavir; Yerevan
Artonq village in Mush; Margara village in Ararat; Yerevan
Kars; Quchak village in Aparan; Parpi village in Ashtarak; Yerevan
Tignis village in Kars; Ashtarak; Yerevan
Mother’s side:
Her and Zarevand provinces; Zovuni village in Aparan; Yerevan
Khoi province; Zangakatun village in Vayq; Yerevan
Sharur in Nakhichevan; Yerevan
Khoi province; Malishka in Vayq; Yerevan
How and why did you get involved with AI?
I’ve always been a huge fan of AI and their events and jumped at the chance to become Programme Coordinator in November 2019 – haven’t looked back since!
Tell us a special memory about AI:
Screening ‘Taniel’, a short film about Varoujan, which I produced with the director Garo Berberian was a very special moment. It was incredibly emotional to share the film and read Varoujan’s poetry with the community in London. Also my first day at work was special with my wonderful colleagues, Susan and Gagik, who made me feel so welcome, loved and appreciated immediately.
What are 2 or 3 of the most memorable AI events you have attended:
We try to make all the events memorable, but one of my personal highlights is screening ‘Karine’ – at Cine Lumiere. I loved seeing one of my childhood classics from Armenia, shown in London. Presenting an event on Tumanyan’s birthday very special and recently I was honoured to run our first Armenian-language book club.
What are your hopes and ambitions for AI; where do you see its future?
There are many – I want to continue what AI has been doing for 20 years already, being a welcoming, warm space for everyone with an interest in Armenian culture to gather, to communicate, to learn and to exchange ideas. I hope our new home in Farringdon will welcome even more friends and followers to our events, workshops and classes, and our library will become a firm part of the UK’s Armenian community.
I hope to develop our language department further, offering even wider variety of lessons – from Grabar to conversational classes. Another big priority of mine is to turn the Armenian Institute into a cultural hub for the young people, a place to read and discover things, to meet new people, to attend a jazz evening or an open mic session.
Which languages do you speak? Armenian, Russian, English
Favourite book: 100 Years of Solitude (Garcia Marquez), The Master and Margarita (Bulgakov), Le Petit Prince (de Saint-Exupéry), anything from Rushdie, anything with poetry in it.
Favourite film: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón), The Very Same Munchhausen (Mark Zakharov), anything from Kubrick and Almodovar.
Favourite music / musician / band: Kasabian, Led Zeppelin, Chemical Brothers, Sayat-Nova, the Prodigy, any Italian opera.
Favourite artwork: If I have to chose one, it would be Albrecht Dürer’s Self-Portrait at the Age of Twenty Eight.
Best advice you’ve been given: If in doubt, listen to Led Zeppelin (the only advice I’ve received from my dad)
Coffee or tea and what kind: Always coffee, either double espresso or Turkish coffee, nothing else. Have a weakness for cardamom or mastic coffee
Favourite place in London: Tate Modern, my garden, Saffron Hill
Tato is a multi-talented woman and her arrival at the Armenian Institute has brought many improvements and new ventures. She loves poetry but is also good at number crunching, both important interests for the director at AI. If it was up to Tato, we would have a garden in our office and have electronic music piped in -- there's nothing predictable about our director, which is good news for us.