On March 11, the U.S. Postal Service issued the Arshile Gorky postage stamp, based on the artist’s 1944 painting “The Liver in a Cock’s Comb.” It will be the first of a series of stamps being unveiled on March 11 by the US Postal Service honoring abstract expressionists. »»»»»

Her paintings are void of people; The city has swallowed its residents

“Everyone knows, especially politicians and government officials, that artists are capable of changing everything. That’s what is dangerous. That’s why they often exert pressure on artists. It’s happened before and continues today,” says Mary Moon, the artist formerly known as Arakelyan.

“And it won’t change, because artists have always thought about what takes place around them more than others,” she continues. »»»»»

My cultural experience of Armenianness tells me that in the course of modern Armenian Diaspora history the practice of raising children who have successfully proven themselves as professionals, while remaining predominantly complacent and inactive as political beings, has been the norm rather than the exception. »»»»»

Over the Years Locals Have Taken Pride in Their Town

At the beginning of the 20th century, Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, was renamed   Alexandropol from 1840-1924 in honor of Czar Nicholas I’s wife. Back then, the main thoroughfare and center of attraction was Aleksandrov Street, since renamed Abovyan. It stretches from the neighborhood of Slabodka to Dzori Tagh. »»»»»

RoA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan has dismissed Davit Mouradyan from his post as Deputy Minister of Culture.

Mr. Mouradyan had previously tendered his resignation.

Shoghaken Ensemble soloist Hasmik Harutyunyan was born in Yerevan into a family of  emigrants from Moush in Western Armenia.

It was a family in which folk song and dance were both desirable and mandatory, and at the same time a kind of nourishment, or sustenance. Everyone in the family had his own song. »»»»»

The Armenian office of the British Council has announced that on Friday, December 25, an exhibition-sale entitles MUSEX will take place at the National Picture Gallery in Yerevan (12 pm; Medieval Art Gallery, 3^rd floor). There will also be a one day seminar for those in the Armenian museum sector.

The exhibition is part of the British Council’s “Creative Cooperation” initiative and has been jointly organized by the National Picture Gallery, Museum of History, Museum of Wood Arts, Erebuni Museum, ICOM’s National Committee of Armenia and the Association of Employees and Friends of Museums.

Diana Mnatsakanyan, head of the Armenian “Eurovision” delegation, has informed “Hetq” that the European Broadcasters Union” has fined Azerbaijan for an undisclosed amount for not broadcasting the performance of Inga and Anoush Arshakyan during this year’s contest.

Ms. Mnatsakanyan said that Armenian Public T.V. had proved that Azerbaijan had violated the rules of “Eurovision” by cutting the number of the Armenian sisters from the contest’s broadcast. She added that the amount of the fine was being withheld due to ‘confidentiality’.

Rock superstar Ian Gillan, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple, will stage two charity concerts in Armenia next year in tandem with the country’s Philharmonic Orchestra. Proceeds of the concerts will go towards the rebuilding of Music School #6 in Gyumri, now housed in a temporary and totally inadequate structure.

On 2 October 2009 ,in honor of the 20th anniversary of ‘Rock Aid Armenia’, Gillan together with Tony Iommi, Geoff Downes, and the project organizer Jon Dee were received by the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan who awarded them with the republic’s Orders of Honor.

Today, at 7 pm, the third concert in a series dedicated to the 140^th anniversary of Komitas Vardapet will take place at the Arno Babajanyan Concewrt Hall. The Yerevan Chamber Choir will take the stage under the direction of Harutyun Topikyan.

Works by Komitas, Tigran Mansuryan, Halajyan and others will be performed.  Admission is free and all are invited to attend.

The Tate Modern, the world-renowned London art gallery, today announced an upcoming retrospective on the Armenian-American artist Arshile Gorky.

The exhibition, the largest held in Europe in twenty years, will focus on twenty five years of Gorky’s painting activity and will include more than 150 paintings and works on paper, many of which have not been seen before in public. Among the pictures which will be shown Feb. 10 to May 3 at the London gallery included “Waterfall” (Cascada), an abstraction of the landscape theme, “Landscape Table”, and three paintings from his series “The Betrothal”.

Yesterday, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, under the baton Music Director and Chief Conductor Pavel Kogan, performed the first of two concerts, part of the Aram Khachaturian International Competition, at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan. The orchestra thrilled concert goers with works of Aram Khachaturian, Mikhail Glinka, Mussorgsky and Alexander Glazunov.

Tomorrow, Sergey Smbatyan, Music Director of Armenia’s National Youth Orchestra, will lead the orchestra in Khachaturian’s Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor and Symphony No. 2 in E minor (Symphony with Bells).

On 24th November 2009, Armenian College & Philanthropic Academy of Kolkata participated in the “Confluence of Culture in One World” to celebrate the Year of Youth. The programme was organized at Gorky Sadan, the Russian Centre of Science & Culture in Kolkata.

The Armenian College Choir conducted by Anzhela Manukyan, took part in the ‘Rhythms and Melodies of the World’ segment of the three day long celebrations. »»»»»

RoA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan has conveyed her concerns regarding the collapse of St Gevork’s of Mughni Church tyo the Georgian Minister of Culture, Monuments Preservation and Sport, Nikoloz Rurua and has requested clarification regarding the plight of the church.

According to the cultural ministry here in Yerevan, Mr. Rurua has expressed his willingness to assist in whatever way possible. He confessed that the church was in a precarious state and said that measures were being drawn up to brace the structure and that specialists from Armenia were to be invited. »»»»»

The Saint Gevorg of Mughni Armenian Church in Tbilisi had a height of some 35 meters and an attractive design, especially on the eastern exterior façade where there were depictions of the benefactors and main altar. There were only two churches with a similar footprint in all of Georgia. The other is St. Mesrop Church in the Shahumyan (formerly Metz Shulaver) settlement in the Marneuli region. »»»»»