Michelle Andonian's Gift: A Book and Exhibition in Detroit

By Ani Boghikian Kasparian

DETROIT, Mich.—On Sept. 18, 100 years after the Armenian Genocide, people flocked to a gallery in Detroit to learn about Sarah Andonian’s story of survival, as told by her granddaughter, Michelle Andonian. Through her photographs and newly published book,

the renowned photojournalist and native Detroiter retraces her grandmother’s journey from Sepastia to Detroit. In her quest to backtrack her grandmother’s route, Andonian encounters the multi-layered remains that blanket the landscape of Historic Armenia.

Sponsored by the Alex and Marie Manoogian Foundation, the exhibit with juxtaposed scenes of crumbling monuments and renovated frescos, desecrated cemeteries and reconstructed churches, show a long history of glory, coexistence, and violence of a once thriving Western Armenia and finally, show hope as seen through Andonian’s lens.

The images are powerful. An abandoned military guardhouse stands amidst the majestic St. Bartholomew Church, northeast of Bashkale; a Kurdish woman, the gatekeeper of Varakavank in Van, opens the doors for Armenian visitors; a dozen, fiery-eyed children play among ancient khatchkars still standing tall in the impoverished village of Por, near Bitlis. Words fall silent to the stories that come forth with each image. Through her camera’s lens, Andonian captures the essence of Armenia—Eastern and Western—past, present, and future.

In her quest to backtrack her grandmother's route, Andonian encounters the multi-layered remains that blanket the landscape of Historic Armenia. — In her quest to backtrack her grandmother’s route, Andonian encounters the multi-layered remains that blanket the landscape of Historic Armenia.

This Picture I Gift is about a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, about the resilience of the human spirit, and about a granddaughter’s search to find herself and her ancestral origins, bringing to life the images that her grandmother seeded in her childhood imagination. Robert Ourlian, foreign policy and national security editor for the Wall Street Journal’s Washington bureau, the author’s cousin, writes the forward, placing the story of their grandmother in historical context. Michelle Andonian tells all of our stories in her book and photo exhibit.

On Sept. 18, nearly 400 people attended the opening of the exhibit and book launch at Center Gallery of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. For the majority, it was their first taste of Armenian culture. Upon being greeted by a traditional display of Armenian delicacies, the attendees entered the gallery only to be transported to a sacred world that is Armenia. Antique rugs, lit candles from ancient churches, pieces of crumbled carved stone—the author brought her memories to life for all to experience. The exhibit runs from Sept. 19 to Oct. 24.

Michelle Andonian had been conceptualizing a way to tell the Armenian story for more than 25 years after traveling to Armenia in 1988, which would be the first of many trips. Finally in 2013, she started her journey to her ancestral past. As she immersed herself into the task, the photographer’s creative instincts led her to the second part of her project, Hope Dies Last, a visual, 3D mapping multifaceted work of art, choreographed to the music of composer Alexandra Du Bois. The world premier composition will be performed by violinist Ida Kavafian and Detroit Chamber Winds on Oct. 18, at the Detroit Art Institute. The piece was specially commissioned for this project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The book, This Picture I Gift, was made possible through an arts grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Further information on the book and events can be found at www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/picture-i-gift .

Michelle Andonian is one of the authors participating in the “Book and Author Fair” co-sponsored by the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Armenian Research Center and the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Committee of Greater Detroit, to be held at the university on Oct. 10.