ALMA Holds Annual Genocide Commemoration

WATERTOWN, Mass.—On April 19, the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) held a series of events as part of its annual genocide commemoration program to pay homage to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and honor those who survived.

California-based artist Ara Oshagan talks about the iWitness exhibit he created with Levon Parian and a team of oral historians.

The afternoon of remembrance began with ALMA and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANC) hosting a public reception for iWitness, an exhibit by Los Angeles-based photographers Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian. Several visitors attended the reception to view iWitness and hear Oshagan talk about the exhibit, which ALMA and ANC are sponsoring in ALMA’s Bedoukian Hall through June 2.

Oshagan began working with Parian and a team of oral historians in 1995, 80 years after the Armenian Genocide began. Their 10-year collaboration resulted in iWitness, a poignant exhibit that pairs striking black-and-white portraitures of genocide survivors with their intimate testimonies.

“We wanted to do something to somehow artistically reflect upon the genocide,” said Oshagan. “Even though we’re three generations removed from the actual fact, it is still very much a part of our community and part of our consciousness.”

Among the genocide survivors whose portraits and personal accounts are included in iWitness are Arpiar Missakian, who was born in 1894 in Kessab (present-day Syria) and until his passing in 2001 was the oldest living United States marine veteran, and Sam Kadorian, who was born in 1907 in Kharpert (present-day Turkey) and narrowly survived the genocide because he was trapped under a pile of bodies being stabbed by swords.

Composer and pianist Ara Sarkissian closes the classical concert that ALMA presented as part of its annual genocide commemoration program.

The afternoon of remembrance also marked the unveiling of “Cultural Genocide,” the newest addition to ALMA’s permanent exhibit “The Armenian Genocide: In Memoriam.” Cultural Genocide was created by ALMA chairman Haig Der Manuelian and board members Arakel Almasian and Elisabeth Kenosian in an effort to educate the public about how the first genocide of the 20th century continues to exist through cultural genocide. According to Der Manuelian, the exhibit reveals how the Turks have made efforts to eradicate all traces of Armenia and 3,000 years of Armenian history and culture in Turkey by destroying, desecrating, distorting, and mislabeling Armenian monuments and artifacts.

The program concluded in ALMA’s Contemporary Art Gallery with a classical concert. A sophisticated selection of compositions, including “Elegy” by Arno Babajanian, “Nocturne” by Sergei Bagdasarian, and “The Song of the Invisible Blue Butterflies” by Vache Sharafyan, were performed by Armenian musicians from the New England area. The concert featured pianists Anna Avetisyan, Lilit Karapetan-Shogarian, Vardan Ovsepian, and Ara Sarkissian, and violinist Lilit Hartunian, all of whom eloquently celebrated the Armenian spirit and heritage through song.

To view more event photos or to watch some of the musician’s performances, visit www.almainc.org.