Zarmanazan 2025 Pre-registrations are Now Open

LISBON — The Armenian Communities Department is pleased to announce that the 9th Zarmanazan Western Armenian summer program will take place from 11 July to 6 August, 2025, in the Alpine region of Haute-Savoie, France.

The program offers three distinct yet closely linked components:

• A program for children and teenagers aged 10 to 17,
• A program for young adults aged 18 to 24,

Participants in all age groups will engage in a variety of activities tailored to their specific age, while also having the chance to take part in intergenerational activities, which are also encouraged.

These include workshops in visual and audiovisual arts, crafts, music, body and theatrical expression, creative writing, literary reading, philosophy, outdoor games, and environmental exploration. All activities, as well as daily interactions, will be conducted in Armenian, with the guidance of a team of qualified and talented facilitators.

Please note that the workshops for young adults may involve both spoken and written expression. Therefore, adult participants are required to have an intermediate level of proficiency in Armenian.

The number of participants in the first two components is limited.

• A university program for Western Armenian teachers.

This intensive program, designed for teachers of Western Armenian, leads to a diploma awarded by the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO, Paris). It includes both theoretical instruction from specialists and supervised practical training. The first part of the program will take place during the Zarmanazan summer session, while the second part will be held at INALCO during the 2025-2026 academic year.

Participation in this program is limited to 15 people. Zarmanazan is a space where children, teenagers, young adults, teachers, and facilitators from the Diaspora come together with a shared goal: to explore all the possibilities of Western Armenian.

Pre-registration is open until 21 February, 2025, at 11:00 PM GMT.

To access the registration form and learn more, please visit the website.

The Zarmanazan educational project, launched in 2017 by the Department of Armenian Communities of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, is part of a wider initiative to revitalize Western Armenian. It is organized in partnership with the association Mille et Un Mondes (Lyon, France) and the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO, Paris).

The Zarmanazan summer program is officially recognized by the French Ministry of National Education.