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The Armenian island of Venice – Euronews

March 22, 2017 By administrator

The Armenian presence in Europe stretches from London to Larnaca, Lisbon to Lviv; the Armenian Catholic Mkhitarian Congregation is among the most impactful examples of that legacy and this year marks a three-century-long presence in one of Europe’s most iconic towns.

The vaporetto leaves from San Zaccaria to one of the most unique corners of Venice, a testament to the centuries of multi-cultural history of that magnificent city. The unique corner is really an island – Isola di San Lazzaro degli Armeni, or the Island of St. Lazarus of the Armenians. This year marks the 300th anniversary of that island becoming home to the Mkhitarian or Mechitarist Congregation.

Mkhitar was born in Sebastia (modern-day Sivas, in central Turkey) in 1676. He joined the Armenian Church at a time when it was facing the challenges of a modernising world. Drawn to Western Christianity and its already-established traditions of education and publishing, Mkhitar ran his own printing house in Constantinople (Istanbul), bringing together other like-minded individuals who longed to rejuvenate and invigorate a community at times struggling in the social and political milieu of the 17th century Ottoman Empire. Facing the resistance of the authorities, Abbot Mkhitar and his followers, who established the congregation named after the founder in 1700, spent some time moving from place to place – first to Greece, then up the Adriatic – before finally establishing themselves on what used to be a leper colony off Venice in 1717.

In the centuries that followed, the Mkhitarian fathers had a profound effect on research, education, and publishing in Europe generally, and for the Armenian world in particular. Still today, the monastery they founded continues to produce books; Venice is one of two cities in the world that can boast having published at least one Armenian book every year for three hundred years or more, with just a few interruptions (the other city being Istanbul). Whether as first-time publications of ancient manuscripts, translations of significant European works, or the other way around, the Armenian legacy has been showcased to the European and broader world through the efforts of these monks, and the doors of Europe have likewise been opened for Armenians thanks to their activities.
“The Mkhitarian Congregation has always served as a bridge,” says Father Serop Jamourlian, “both for tying the Armenian reality to the European world in terms of scholarship and spirituality, and also as a bridge of universal human values: it is a representative of the East in the West and the conveyor of Western ideas to the East.”

 

Perhaps the most significant impact the Congregation has had involves the development of language and identity. It was the Mkhitarian fathers who first published modern dictionaries of the Armenian language. Modern scientific approaches to research and education also owe much to these Armenian priests in Venice, who once upon a time ran a network of some thirty schools across Europe and the Middle East.
The reputation of San Lazzaro was so strong that Napoleon Bonaparte offered that monastery special permission to continue functioning even after he shut down other religious institutions in Venice in 1810. A few years later, the island’s most famous guest – Lord Byron – spent some months during 1816-1817 studying the Armenian language.
The Mechitarists have suffered some setbacks over the course of their rich history, such as a significant split in the Congregation that led to a second monastery being established in Vienna in 1811. They reunited in 2000. The two had meanwhile carried on Abbot Mkhitar’s mission diligently. Both Venice and Vienna are known as centres of learning for the Armenian world.
Although the Mkhitarian Congregation is not as active as it used to be, with a smaller membership and growing challenges within a generally more secular global environment, it continues to run four schools in places reflecting the footprint of the Armenian Diaspora: Beirut, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Istanbul. A school was established in Yerevan, in the Republic of Armenia, in the year 2007 – a good indication of the renewal of Diaspora-Homeland ties since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Special commemorations are planned for September during this 300th anniversary year – celebrations alongside the people of Italy and Venice. Father Serop emphasises that their welcoming and hospitable attitude towards the Armenians is based on the experience of many centuries of deep ties. What lies in store for the Mkhitarian Congregation? Father Serop says that the mission has always been and remains, “Service to the Armenian nation”.

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenian, island, venice

Venice: Golden Lions for Armenia winner, Adrian Piper at Venice Biennale

May 10, 2015 By administrator

Armenian pavilion curator Adelina Cuberyan von Furstenberg accepts the award

Armenian pavilion curator Adelina Cuberyan von Furstenberg accepts the award

At an awards ceremony held to coincide with the Venice Biennale’s opening, the judges praised Armenia’s entry in the national participation category, declaring it the winner out of a total 89 entries.

“In a year that witnesses a significant milestone for the Armenian people, this pavilion marks the resilience of trans-cultural confluence and exchanges,” the international jury said, referring to the exhibit which was based around the Armenian diaspora. It comes days after Armenians marked 100 years since mass killings by Ottoman Turkish forces, which modern Turkey has refused to recognize as genocide.

The Golden Lion for best artist in the international exhibition went to American-born Adrian Piper. The Berlin-based conceptual artist created an installation of hospitality desks inviting participants to commit to one of three rules, including “I will always be too expensive to buy.”

“Her presentations invite us to engage in a life-long performance of personal responsibility,” the jury said.

Special awards

A Silver Lion to acknowledge a promising young artist went to South Korean Im Heung-Soon for a video work about working conditions for women across Asia.

The board of the Biennale awarded a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement to El Anatsui from Ghana, as well as a special Golden Lion for service to the arts to Suzanne Ghez of the USA.

The 56th edition of the contemporary art showcase is under the curatorship of Okwui Enwezor. Its official theme is “All the world’s futures.”

The Venice Art Biennale is due to run until late November, encompassing the Venice International Film Festival in September.

se/gsw (dpa, AFP, AP)

Filed Under: Events, News Tagged With: Adrian-Piper, Biennale, Golden-Lions, venice, winner

Fatih Akin’s Film on 1915 to Premiere at Venice Film Festival

July 25, 2014 By administrator

VENICE, Italy (A.W.)—Award winning director Fatih Akin’s latest film, “The Cut,” will premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival that will take place from the-cutAug. 27 to Sept. 6. “The Cut” tells the story of an Armenian man, Nazareth Manoogian, who after surviving the Genocide learns that his twin daughters may be alive, and goes on a quest to find them. Nazareth’s journey takes him from his village Mardin to the deserts, to Cuba and finally North Dakota. Nazareth, who is a mute, is played by Tahar Rahim. Other cast members include Simon Abkarian, Arsinee Khanjian, Akin Gazi and George Georgiou. The script is written by Akin himself and Mardik Martin. The film is in English, and runs for 138 minutes, although the version that will premiere in Venice is dubbed over in German.

“Tahar doesn’t say a word throughout the film and he is a bit like Charlie Chaplin, but at the same time, he is a typical western character, like Sergio Leone,” Akin told Cineuropa.

“The Cut” is the third in the thematic trilogy of “Love, Death and the Devil” that Akin has worked on. “I think wickedness exists within us from the moment we are born. What I found fascinating was exploring the fact that wickedness is a process of transition from goodness and that the opposite phenomenon exists too. These are concepts that are very intimately tied to each other. The most beautiful of bodies, for example, can be carrying cancer on the inside, and one same person can be capable of the nicest of actions and the vilest of crimes. I have always thought that humans were in this in between place in the evolution process. We still have to find out whether we will stop living behind borders, separated by religion, nationality,” he told Cineuropa.

Akin had submitted “The Cut” to the Cannes Film Festival, but pulled it last minute, for “personal reasons.”

One of Europe’s prominent filmmakers, Akin was born in Hamburg, Germany, to Turkish parents. His critically-acclaimed films that have won numerous international awards include “Head On” (Golden Bear award at Berlin Film Festival, Best Film and Audience Award at European Film Awards in 2004) and “The Edge of Heaven” (Best screenplay at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and the LUX prize of European Parliament).

Below is the German trailer of “The Cut.”

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: 1915, Film, the cut, venice

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