Advancing the Heritage of Armenians in Jewellery
AJF AT THE APRIL 24TH GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL EVENTS IN ARMENIA
As Armenians worldwide marked the 100th anniversary of the Genocide around the world, AJF attended commemoration services to mark the Centennial in Armenia's capital, Yerevan. The ceremonies were attended by world leaders such as France's Francois Holland, Russia's Vladimir Putin, as well as Armenia's top leadership and church heads. AJF was formally represented through its Chairman Pierre Akkelian, Trustee and AJA President Gagik Gevorkyan and Regional Director Aza Babayan. A number of AJF patrons also participated in the events.
The first copies of the Treasures of Western Armenia publication, which was entirely produced in Armenia, was released on April 24 and distributed to key visiting VIPs. Official delegations, such as the Saint Petersburg Government's representatives, who continued their visits to Yerevan into the month of May, were given copies of the AJF publication.
Commemorative events continued with AJF's co-hosted ceremonies with the Museum of Ethnography in Saint Petersburg with the participation of high government officials from Armenia. Prior to the inauguration ceremony, from March 3 to 8, the Director of the Museum of Ethnography, Professor Vladimir Grusman, visited Armenia to hold meetings and oversee progress made with the publication. He was accompanied by AJF's Regional Director Ms. Aza Babayan. Professor Grusman met the Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan and other high officials to discuss the events in Saint Petersburg and future promotion of the exhibit and publication in other cities including Yerevan. The Director visited various museums and agreed to preliminary plans to host the Miller exhibit in Yerevan in September 2015 (see media coverage here and here .)