Two-Week Event Dedicated to Promoting Armenian Art and Critical Discourse

GLENDALE –Abril Bookstore and Roslin Art Gallery present the first of an annual event, The Art of Diaspora / Քննադատական   Գործօն  which this year will feature the works of author and professor of Armenian Studies, Marc Nichanian and of installation artist and filmmaker, Hrayr Anmahouni, taking place from August 6 – 21, 2016 at 415 E. Broadway, Glendale, CA. Gallery hours are from 10:00am to 7:00pm, Monday through Saturday. Admission is free.

The Art of Diaspora / Քննադատական   Գործօն  (critical factor) is an annually organized series of exhibitions, lectures and panels, mostly in Armenian, discussing the state of contemporary Diasporan and Armenian art, criticism and intellectual thought. The goal is to facilitate the production of critical discourse in the Armenian language. The Armenian Diaspora relies less and less on using Armenian in social and artistic discourses, especially when it involves critical thinking. This situation has led to cultural stagnation and amnesia. The Art of Diaspora / Քննադատական   Գործօն  proposes not only to re-engage with Armenian Diasporic cultural production, but also hopes to pave the way to engage more deeply and meaningfully with different cultures and institutions.

This year’s program consists of six days within a two-week period during which the films and installation art of Hrayr Anmahouni and the written work of Dr. Marc Nichanian will be present ed and discussed. The opening of the program and of the art exhibit, On Deep Background by Hrayr Anmahouni will be on Satur day, August 6, with a reception from 7:00 – 10:00pm. The second day, Wednesday , August 10th will present the films of Hrayr Anmahouni at 7:30pm followed by an Artist Talk and conversation with Dr. Myrna Douzjian about SolemnityO, an art installation by Anmahouni and Anahid Kassabian. The third day, Friday , August 12th will revisit the review GAM, with a talk by Karen Jallatyan at 7:30pm, followed by a panel discussion between Dr. Marc Nichanian and Hrayr Anmahouni. The fourth day, Sunday, August 14th, will feature the work of author Marc Nichanian and his new book, Պատկեր,  պատում,  պատմութիւն  (Image Story History) at 5:00pm followed by a panel discussion between the author, Dr. Talar Chahinian, Dr. Myrna Douzjian and Karen Jallatyan. There will be a recasting in English of the previous segments on Thursday, August 18 th at 7:30pm, including a presentation of Marc Nichanian ‘s Mourning Philology . The program will conclude on Sunday, August 21 at 5:00pm with an Interactive Forum during which the audience will be invited to provide artistic and critical responses to selected works from the previous days.

Marc Nichanian is a graduate of the University of Stasbourg and the École Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes. He was Professor of Armenian Studies at Columbia University from 1996 to 2007 and is currently Visiting Professor at Sabanci University, Istanbul, in the Department of Cultural Studies. He has published six volumes of the review GAM, an Armenian language journal of literary analysis and translation; an extensive bibliography of and three volumes of criticism on Hagop Oshagan; a volume on the history of Armenian langauge, Ages et usages de la langue armenienne; and French translations from Armenian (Khrakhouni) and English (Vahakn Dadrian). His publications in English include Mourning Philology, The Historiographic Perversion and Writers of Disaster. Recently, his Armenian language works have been published in Yerevan, the latest being Պատկեր, պատում, պատմութիւն I: Փիլիսոփայական բարեկամութիւն մը.

Hrayr Anmahouni (Eulmessekian) is a graduate of Nichan Palandjian Djemaran in Beirut, Lebanon. He attended the Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts for two years, and moved to San Francisco in 1984 where he received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. His works have been exhibited, screened or broadcast in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, Yerevan, Art Dubai, Sharjah Biennial March Meeting, and Pratt Manhattan Gallery. He is the guest editor of ArteEast Quarterly, 2014 Spring issue. He was the subject of a featured interview by Marc Nichanian, and his work was reviewed by Anahid Kassabian, both published in Gam Review 6. A founding member of the San Francisco Armenian Film Festival, he serves on its curatorial team. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Presented by Abril Bookstore and Roslin Art Gallery with a grant by The Calouste Gulbenian Foundation.

CONTACT: Arno Yeretzian at (818) 241-0611 or at (818) 243-4112