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30 Jun 2005
YEREVAN, JUNE 27. ARMINFO
Magic sounds of Stradivarius strings can be enjoyed in Yerevan for the first time. The only concert performed by Japanese quartet "Tokio" within the framework of the 6th International Music Festival "Prospects of the 21st" will be held at Aram Khachaturyan Concert Hall on July 1.
Director of Armenian Music and Information Center, Composer Stepan Rostomyan said at a press conference today that the world renowned quartet will play on the famous strings of Stradivarius: violins of 1680 and 1927, alt of 1071, and violoncello of 1736. After the great Nicolo Paganini played on this strings in the 19th century, they have been called "Quarter of Paganini."
It is a great honor for us to receive such talented musicians, Rostomyan says. Meanwhile, he says, the quartet will receive a small envelope of gratitude for its concert and not its usual honorarium. The quartets of Johanes Brams and others will sound. The prices for the tickets will range from 3.000-20.000 AMD. The quartet Tokio was formed on the initiative of Japanese students in New York 35 years ago. It has held concerts at the most respectable halls in the world. Festival "Prospects of the 21st" is supported by the Armenian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Culture and Youth.
30 Jun 2005
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/
A Russian national exhibition is to be held in Yerevan in December 2005. According to the list of major arrangements of the Russian CCI for the latter half of 2005, the goal of the exhibition is the development of relations between Armenian and Russian business communities.
The exhibition was organized the Department of Exhibitions and Fairs, RF CCI, and the RF Ministry of Economic Development.
28 Jun 2005
YEREVAN, JUNE 28. ARMINFO
The premiere of a documentary film telling about the fate of Shikahogh forest reserve will be demonstrated at Yerevan Movie House on June 29. To note, the Armenian Government planned to lay a new highway Armenia - Iran via the reserve.
The task group of the public ecological union "SOS Shikahogh" informs ARMINFO that the film presents the richness of the forest reserve, the unique oak woods. The main roles in the film are performed by the unique fauna representatives. The film also presents the opinions and conclusion of ecologists, episodes of illegally laid roads.
The film was shot with the support of radio "Vam", the program "Tsaratunk" and the WWF, as well as the non-governmental organization Forests of Armenia.
28 Jun 2005
YEREVAN, JUNE 28. ARMINFO
A creative evening of the master of strings Samvel Yeritsyan will be held at Aram Khachatryan Concert Hall tomorrow.
Deputy Director of the Armenian State Philharmonic Orchestra David Terzyan informs ARMINFO that at the concert with a performance will come up the philharmonic orchestra and soloists from Russia and Portugal headed by conductor Eduard Topchyan. Works by Mozart and Beethoven will be presented.
28 Jun 2005
YEREVAN, JUNE 28. ARINFO
The semi finals of the Emmy festival of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (US) have started in Yerevan today.
The direcor of the program in Yerevan Artur Bakhtamyan says that the jury including IATAS Senior Vice Presidne Georges Leclere, representatives of Russia RTR, Japanese NHK, Georgian TV, Armenian TV companies will consider news and documentary programs from over 30 countris of Asia and Africa.
The criteria are technical - sound, text, video - 10-point scale - and emotional - just how our hearts will tell us, says Leclere.
The Emmy award will be given at the New York gala in November 2005.
Bakhtamyan says that Armenia was selected as the semi finals host because its Public Television Company has been IATAS member for two years now. He says that IATAS technically divides the world into 4 regions - Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa as well as English speaking countries from where the programs are broadcasted. "This is a special honor for Armenian Public Television and Armenia in general," says Bakhtamyan.
On July 1 Armenian journalists and students will have a chance to attend master classes at Internews within the framework of the festival.
28 Jun 2005
GYUMRI, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS
US embassy public affairs officer, Kimberly Hargan officially opened today the second "American Corner" in Armenia's second largest town of Gyumri at the local branch of the Armenian Scientific-Technological Center.
American Corners are small, American-style libraries created to help increase mutual understanding between Armenia and the United States by making a wealth of information about America available in different formats. This American Corner features a diverse collection of English language books, reference materials about the United States, computers with Internet and access to online databases, cd-roms, videos, and much more.
The Embassy provided a grant to refurbish a room for the American Corner, installed three computers, and supplied the library with over 300 books, journals and current periodicals. American Corner librarians, trained and supported by the U.S. Embassy, are always on hand to assist visitors. The Embassy is committed to growing the American Corner's collection and keeping it up to date.
The American Corner in Gyumri is open to the general public, free of charge. In addition to being a full multi-media reference resource, the American Corner will also host regular programming, including lectures and workshops, video series, and other activities focused on telling the story of the United States. In the coming years the Embassy plans to create a network of American Corners throughout Armenia
27 Jun 2005
Armenia This Week, June 27, 2005
Armenia expects to host 300,000 visitors this year, an official overseeing the tourism sector said earlier this month, continuing a strong trend that began 2001, when the number of tourists first reached 100,000. According to the country’s Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Ara Petrosian, Armenia was visited by 30 percent more tourists in the first quarter of this year. Foreign tourism in Armenia, which was virtually non-existent just seven years ago, added an estimated $150 million to Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year, capping a fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth in the sector.
Tourism growth also spurred the expansion and improvements in hotel infrastructure, renovation of cultural sites and resorts, and increased air traffic to and from Yerevan. A recent analysis published by the Groong Armenian News Network found that Armenia’s main international airport, Zvartnots (also currently under expansion and renovation) now handles over 125 flights a week. Western European destinations make up a growing share of these flights, increasing from 14 a week last year to 25 a week currently. Yerevan now has direct flights to about a dozen major European cities.
Diaspora Armenians continue to comprise the bulk of all visitors, estimated at 70 percent last year. Of all visitors, 30 percent came from former Soviet states, 28 - from countries of the European Union and 22 - from the United States. Domestic tourism also grew, with some 240,000 Armenian citizens (a 31 percent increase) vacationing at Armenia’s resorts.
A study commissioned by the Armenia 2020 Project, a non-government effort that studies alternative scenarios for Armenia’s development, and conducted by the McKinsey & Company, identified tourism as one of Armenia’s most promising economic sectors. According to the study estimates, should the government and business sector continue to invest in tourism-related programs, particularly in rural infrastructure, more than one million tourists would visit Armenia by 2020, contributing over $800 million to its economy annually. (Sources: Armenia This Week 8-2-02; www.armenia2020.org 2-7; Arminfo 2-28, 3-1, 6-9; Groong 6-14; www.armenianow.com 6-24; www.airport.am 25 Jun 2005
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The Independent Book Publishers Association in the United States has declared “The Stone Garden Guide to Armenia and Karabakh� to be the best travel guide published in 2004.
The authors of the book are Matthew Karanian and Robert Kurkjian. Karanian is a member of the law faculty at the American University of Armenia, where Kurkjian is a former faculty member.
They worked on the guide for about 12 months, traveling through Armenia and Karabakh and taking photos of the sights.The sponsors were the Cafesjian Foundation and Sargis Hakobyan, who lives in the United States and is very interested in preservation issues in Armenia. A significant part of the costs were also met by the authors.
“We worked on this book late at night and at week-ends, collecting all the necessary materials, drawing maps, studying the history and geography of the countries. It wasn’t easy, but we had set ourselves an objective to write a real comprehensive guidebook for tourists who want to travel to Armenia and Karabakh. We should assist in developing tourism business in Armenia and Karabakh,� says Karanian.
The guide-book offers everything that a tourist needs to know about Armenia and Karabakh: history, geography, climate, population, language, economy, politics, religion, architecture and so on. Useful information is included also in sections such as “Before you go�, “Organized tours and travel agencies�, “Foreign embassies in Yerevan�, “Public transportation�, “Hotels�, “Restaurants�, “Money�, and even “Children’s activities�. The map section covers all the regions in Armenia and Karabakh.
“In the past, most books about Armenia seemed to be gloomy. We had books about the earthquake, about the poor economy, everything seemed so bleak. But that’s the wrong picture,� says Karanian.
“Armenia is beautiful, and deserves to be visited. We felt that we should encourage tourists, rather than push them away. We’ve been tracking the results and we know that tourism has been increasing, and that more people now want to visit.�
Bedros Safarian, a spokesman for Stone Garden Productions, publisher of the guidebook, says he is thrilled by its success, adding: “As far as I know, this is the first time an Armenia related book has received such an award.�
The winning Armenian guide book competed with more than 1,500 entries from the US, Canada and 18 other countries. The competition recognizes independently published books in categories that include Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Poetry, Art, Photography and travel guides.
Jim Barnes, managing editor of the Independent Publisher’s Association, evaluated “The Stone Garden Guide to Armenia and Karabakh� by saying that such books are changing the world, one book at a time.
The Armenia book shared its winning finalist status in the travel guide category with “Michelin Must Sees: New Orleans�, published by Michelin Travel Publications.
The 304-page Armenia guide-book is based on two earlier guidebooks also produced by Karanian and Kurkjian in 1999 and 2002 to introduce Armenia to those living abroad.
“After we published our first book, “Out of Stone,� we got lots of inquiries, emails, from people who said they had never known that Armenia was so beautiful. This encouraged us and we realized that we should write a guide book,� said Karanian.
The guide, printed in English, is being sold in Armenia and the USA. In Armenia, copies are available in Artbridge café, and the Congress and Ani Plaza hotels. Priced at $25, the majority of the 5,000 books printed have already been sold.
Now “The Stone Garden Guide to Armenia and Karabakh� is the best-selling independently published book about Armenia, booksellers say.
According to Karanian, there is also one more important point: the development of tourism will make Turkey take greater care of Armenian monuments that are now on their territory and are being ruined, since Turkey will see a chance to earn money when tourists visit Western Armenia.
The authors plan to publish updated editions every 2 years. Says Karanian: “We are going to continue to work on this book all our lives. There is constant change here. We will continue to write about the improvements, the progress.
“We are told that this is a book that can be trusted, and that’s the best thing anyone can say about a book.�
23 Jun 2005
Yerkir/Arm, 24 June 05
Yerkir informed in one of its previous issues that the Pan-Armenian Educational and Cultural Union had announced a competition for preparation of a bronze statue of Komitas to be set up in the public park in Quebec.
The competition was truly international with 36 participants from Lebanon, Italy, Georgia, Canada and Armenia. 12 works were short listed and the selection committee members in Yerevan, Montreal and Quebec made their final decision.
Sculptor Samvel Ghazarian's work was announced the winner in the competition. On this occasion, we interviewed sculptor Samvel Ghazarian and director of Pan-Armenian Educational and Cultural Union's Armenian office Lilit Galstian.
Samvel Ghazarian is one of the most talented and unique sculptors in Armenia. Only one of his works, a tuff-stone statue of Adam and Eve, is located in Yerevan while many of his works are in Bishkek, Tashkent, Samarqand and Moscow.
These are all monumental works. His small works are exhibited in many galleries including the Armenian National Art Gallery and Tretyakov Gallery in Russia. His works have won prizes at the international biennale in Ravenna. Samvel Ghazarian does not speak much about his own works and this is by no means false modesty. Lilit Galstian who chaired the jury committee spoke about the winning sculpture.
"I should say that I am very happy that the opinions of selection committee members in Yerevan, Quebec and Montreal coincided. There were no disagreements regarding the winner. Samvel fully deserves this success. His Komitas statue combines all the features of the Armenian spiritual person, great artist and true patriot," Galstian says.
Since Samvel Ghazarian was not much eager to speak about his own work, our conversation mainly touched upon the Armenian art and culture in general. When asked what his preferred working materials were, Ghazarian answered, "I have two favorite materials - stone and bronze. Marble is of course the king of stones'. Ghazarian has taught at the Institute of Fine Arts in Yerevan for 12 years. We asked him to share his opinion on the recent changes in Yerevan.
"Criticizing has become a very easy and convenient approach. However, making mistakes is equally easy. In Yerevan we do not have lack of something; rather we have some things in excessive quantities. Our city is not too big and so many architectural efforts are simply tasteless in this context." I don't think we need new statues.
I could easily give up the opportunity of putting up any of my statues if I knew that it would be done at the expense of cutting down trees. If you ask me which statue Yerevan needs most of all, I will say it's the Diary of Nzhdeh. This is an architectural complex devoted to Nzhdeh's ideology. The scripture of King Argishti was thrown out. Maybe we need to have Nzhdeh's words in our city."
17 Jun 2005
YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS
Bending to the daily mounting protest of ecologists and public at large against its plans to build a highway in the southern part of Armenia through the middle of the old growth Mtnadzor (Dark Canyon) forest, which occupies about half of the Shikahogh nature reserve, one of only three pristine reserves in the country, the government has backpedaled on its intention and formed a task force to examine the feasibility of an alternative route that will connect Armenian Meghri with Kapan and provide a safe road to neighboring Iran.
Armenian communication and transport minister Andranik Margarian revealed today that he handed the alternative plan yesterday to president Kocharian. He said the task force was told to present the feasibility scheme to the government in a week. The alternative route is said to be 7 km longer than the previously designed one and will run across a 155 meters higher mountain pass. Manukian said it will be 6.6 meters wide allowing the traffic to move at 50-60 km speed.
Ecologists say Armenia, which historically had forest cover of 40-45 percent, is today at perilous risk of becoming completely deforested. Current estimates place forest cover at around eight percent, and at current rates of cutting, the last of the forests could be gone in as little as 20 years. The Shikahogh reserve, established in 1958, is home to innumerable rare and endangered plant and animal species, including up to 12 leopards, whose habitats would be gravely threatened by the road's construction.
11 Jun 2005
Yerevan, Armenia (20, June 2005) - The "Mashtots 1600" All-Armenian e-Content Awards recognized the Armenian Tourism Development Agency, www.armeniainfo.am, as the winner of the prestigious e-Inclusion Award and thus one of eight representatives of Armenia at the IT international summit in Tunis, November 16-18, 2005. The website was designed and developed by Broncoway, a global IT company, which is committed to serving businesses worldwide in need of IT outsourcing and offshore development, www.broncoway.com.
The “Mashtots 1600� represents outstanding achievement in the creation of the best Armenia (Armenian) related electronic content resources from all over the world with a special accent on Armenian language-based products. The initiative is dedicated to 1600th Anniversary of the Armenian Alphabet.
The e-Inclusion Award represents a reduction in the “digital divide� and “content gap� between technology empowered and technology-excluded communities and groups; bridging society through multimedia.
The Information Technologies Foundation (ITF) administered this award to improve the quality of Armenian e-content by rewarding best practices in creation of quality content and innovative applications. The project is connected with the framework of The World Summit Award (WSA) of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2003-2005.
The Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) has proactively encouraged the development of Armenian tourism, both locally and globally since 2001. The ATDA well represents Armenia via its website, a virtual, full service concierge facility and an expansive compendium of useful information and resources - whether that be for travelers and tourists or history lovers and the arts literati.
The ATDA’s great success can be attributed to its cultivation of "communities of industry professionals and resources," addressing the needs and interests of both visitors and service providers, supporting the creation of infrastructure and making it the most vigorous, vocal and effective voice in the Armenian tourism sector.
Today, the ATDA is chartered by the Government of the Republic of Armenia, with funding from Hovnanian International.
04 Jun 2005
04 Jun 2005 by Tourinfo, Yerevan
May 9, 2005, the Armenian "Cilicia" sailing-vessel constructed analogously to medieval vessels of Cilician Armenian kingdom will weight anchors in Venetian port and continue the cruise over the seven seas. Cilicia started its expedition from Poti in 2004 and within the three months have been in Sukhumi-Sochi-Burgas-Istanbul-Athens-Beirut-Khayfa- Alexandria-Iraklion-Dubrovnik-Venice. This time the vessel will leave from Gibraltar for Atlantic Ocean and complete the expedition in the Northern Sea. Armenian seafarers will visit Messina- La-Valet -Tunis- Rimini-Genoa-Marsel-Barcelona-Kartakhena-Kadis-Lisbon- La-Korunya - San-Sebastyan - La-Roshel -Brest (France) - Korke-Dublin-Portsmut- Amsterdam - the former trade partners of Armenian Cilicia (11-14 cc.). In 2006, after the expedition's third stage, the vessel will get to Armenia, then it is planned to open the Sea Museum and to publish "Pages of Armenian navigation" book. The sea cruise is financed by both the Armenian Government and the individual businessmen. 03 Jun 2005
03.06.2005 - PanARMENIAN.Net
On June 3 the first flight from Munich launched by Lufthansa Airline arrived at the Yerevan International Airport of Zvartnots. As Regional Director for Russia and CIS Gunther Ott said during a press conference in Yerevan, the company will exercise three Munich-Yerevan-Munich flights every week. The flights from Munich to Yerevan are scheduled for Monday, Thursday and Sunday, flights from Yerevan – on Monday, Thursday and Friday. As it was reported earlier, Lufthansa offered special prices for the passengers departing form Yerevan to Europe, North America and Africa. Starting with June 3, 2005 the passengers will have the opportunity to leave Yerevan for any German city (Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Dresden, etc.) for $229, for any European city for $349, for Africa and North America for $559. According to the source, the special offer is in power June 3-October 24. Tickets can be booked till June 30, 2005, IA Regnum reported.
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