A French town is allocating $3,000 to the restoration of two Saryan paintings from 1925 and 1928.What is not known is whether these pieces are truly in need of a restoration.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian is departing to France on a 4-day formal visit on February 17. In Paris the Armenian leader will meet with French President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Senate President Christian Poncelet and National Assembly Speaker Jean-Louis Debre.So which part of the above requires hard work? Maybe it's all the walking he'll be doing at the Louvre.
The Armenian President and the first lady will be present at the "Charles Aznavour and Friends" concert to take place in the Opera Garnier in the framework of the Year of Armenia in France. They will also attend an exhibition of outstanding painter of sea-scapes Ivan Ayvazovsky in the Navy Museum and an exhibition titled "12 capital cities of Armenia".
In Lourve the Armenian and French President will open "Saint Armenia" exhibition. The RA leader is also expected to meet with the Armenian community and take part in the opening ceremony of Armenia Garden in Nice...
Eleven activists of art and science have sent an open letter to the President Robert Kocharyan with an appeal to ban sending valued illustrated Armenian parchment manuscripts for exhibition in France.They have good reason to worry: the same article mentions that works by Arshil Gorky were lost in a plane crash and paintings by Martiros Saryan burned on a ship.
“These are treasures that are untouchable; they should not be transported, exposed to temperature changes, should not be exposed to unjustified risks, and the government of the Republic of Armenia is not competent to make such a decision, because those treasures belong to the Armenian nation, so exporting them from Armenia means risking their existence,” says Levon Chookaszyan, the head of the Yerevan State University UNESCO Chair of the History of Armenian Art.
“It was a miracle the manuscripts have survived 1700 years and have lived up to our days. We don’t have the right to endanger them,” he says.
An exhibition featuring the works of Sergei Parajanov has opened in the French town of Toulouse. The exhibition presented about 30 works, including famous collages, graphics, as well as hats and dolls made by Parajanov. A documentary of his life will also be presented. In mid-February, the exhibit will be moved to the National School of Arts in Paris.Even though he is very well known and highly respected, further exposure of Armenian greats such as Parajanov serves to strengthen our many contributions to humanity.
On New Year's Eve, French President Jacques Chirac awarded the Légion d'Honneur to several French-Armenians. They include Serge Samvelian from the French Ministry of Culture, Sophie Devejan from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of France, Bodom Kjovjan and Armen Petrosyan, entrepreneur.So what exactly is this award? From Wikipedia:
The Légion d'honneur...is a French order established by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the First Republic, on May 19, 1802. It is the premier order of France, and its award is therefore considered a great distinction.Interesting! It sounds like it is similar to the English knighthood. May Armenians the world over continue their great work!
