Armenian Jewellers Foundation (AJF), jointly with the Russian Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg plan to release the early 20th century Armenian jewellery catalogue in 2014.
As the AJF founder, Nishi Pearl Company co-founder, Canadian GEM President Pierre Akkelian told PanARMENIAN.Net the catalogue’s release will be timed to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The history of the Ethnographic Museum-stored Armenian jewellery started when a Russian-Jewish museum representative visited Van and Vaspurakan in 1916, while the Armenian Genocide was ongoing. He purchased major quantities of jewellery once owned by Armenians and passed them to the Russian Ethnographic Museum.
After the 1917 Russian revolution, the jewellery was moved to vaults, and later, completely forgotten. Last year, Armenian government was informed about the fact, immediately getting in touch with the AJA. “We hastily arrived at the Museum, to try and forestall Turkey which planned to appropriate the jewellery, having leant about it as well,” Akkelian said. “The origin of the pieces is beyond doubt Armenian, with Armenian-language inscriptions clearly visible on them,” he said.
As he noted, the best pieces will be selected among several hundred to be featured in the catalogue. The catalogue is planned to be released in 5000 copies.
“We need to use every opportunity to boost worldwide awareness of the Armenian jewellers’ works,” Akkelian stressed.
YerevanShow-2013 3rd international jewellery exhibition kicked off in Armenian capital October 28 to last through October 30.
Karen Demirchyan Sports & Concert Complex hosted the Armenian Jewellers Association-initiated event held under the high patronage of President Serzh Sargsyan.
Armenia is the only country worldwide to celebrate Jeweller’s Day as a state holiday (marked on the last Sunday in October.)
Participating in the exhibition were well-known jewellery and watch manufacturers and distributors from Armenia, Russia, U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE., UK, Lebanon, Egypt, Thailand, Hong Kong, Argentina, China, Jordan, Israel, Greece and other countries.
The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) president Gaetano Cavalieri, Malca-Amit Global Limited CEO Nigel Paxman and other top figures in the jewellery production sector attended the event.
A new research foundation – Armenian Jewellers Foundation (AJF) – was also be introduced at the event.
The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.
The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.
Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.
The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, majority of U.S. states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium and Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Chamber of Commons of Canada, Polish Sejm, Vatican, European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.
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