Workshop Dedicated to Istanbul’s Armenian Printers Opens in Yerevan

YEREVAN — A two-day workshop titled “Istanbul’s Armenian Printers” opened at the Matenadaran on August 7, 2026. The event offers a new historical perspective on the pivotal contributions of Armenian printers, type makers, and craftspeople in Istanbul to the development of Ottoman print culture from the late 18th century onward.

The workshop’s partners are the Matenadaran — the Mesrop Mashtots Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts — the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and the ISType platform.

“By combining technological and archival approaches, our speakers highlight the enduring legacy of Istanbul’s Armenian printers in shaping typographic and visual traditions not only in the Ottoman Empire, but also far beyond its borders, from South Asia to Europe,” said workshop organizer and art historian Erin Piñon.

The workshop brought together researchers from universities and academic centers around the world. Presentations during the first session focused on the work of Armenian printers Bogos Arabian, Ohannes Muhendisyan, and other Armenian type designers in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire.

Speakers noted that their innovations in punchcutting, metal type production, and printing technologies played a major role in shaping the visual identity of Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, and South Asian languages and laid important foundations for modern mechanical typesetting.

During the second part of the workshop, speakers presented 19th-century Armenian illustrated publications produced in Istanbul, exploring the interplay of movable type, engraving, and lithography. Special attention was also given to efforts to restore the neglected creative legacy of Istanbul-Armenian miniaturist and illustrator Stepan Agayian.

On August 8, a special exhibition showcased rare multilingual publications produced by 19th-century printing houses in Istanbul. The exhibition brought together works from the Matenadaran’s collections, public libraries in Yerevan, and private collections.

“This is the largest exhibition to date dedicated to the work of Bogos Arabian and Ohannes Muhendisyan. It features Armenian, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish publications that have never before been displayed together,” Erin Piñon noted.

GAIANE YENOKIAN
Mediamax.am