News & Views (Feb 6, 2012)

News & Views is a weekly summary of some of the week’s most important stories, links and material of interest to Ararat readers.

— The cultural heritage of Armenians in Georgia has been in the news recently:

— A major fire broke out at the early 18th c. Saint Nshan Church in Tbilisi, Georgia on January 9, which resulted in the collapse of the church’s southeastern part. Discussions by Armenian and Georgian authorities on how to best solve the situation is being exacerbated by the Patriarchy of Georgia, which claims that Saint Nshan Church may not in fact be Armenian.

— And then this more joyous news via Ditord:

Gyumry mayor Vardan Ghukasian announced … that his family is ready to contribute all the money necessary to acquire great Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanian’s house in Tbilisi and hand it over to Armenia’s Writers’ Union to be turned into a literary, cultural center and library …

— CNN has a video tour of the Armenian neighborhood of Bourj Hammoud, which is adjacent to Beirut, Lebanon. Lead by film director Nigol Bezjian, who says that nowhere does he feel more at home than in Little Armenia (a nickname for the area). Bezjian asserts that Armenian identity was reborn there after the Genocide.

— Armenian in Jerusalem are outraged that a parking lot, partly on Armenian Patriarchate land, is designated as Jews-only:

“It was hard to hear the very inconsiderate arguments made by the people of the Jewish Quarter about the needs of their Armenian neighbors,” said Yosef “Pepe” Alalu, the Meretz deputy mayor, who voted against the waiver. “How can it be that the parking lot used to be open to all but now Armenians cannot enter?”

— It is well known that Armenians were and continue to be some of the leading photographers of North Africa and West Asia but Jerusalem-based Elia Kahvedjian, a refugee of the Armenian genocide, is not a name that is normally cited in that list. One of the greatest photographers in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 20th century, Kahvedjian has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance since “thousands of negatives that were hidden in 1948 came to light again only in 1987.” Haaretz has the story.

— Beirut’s Haigazian University has inaugurated an Armenian Diaspora Research Center. What is its mission?

“Established to study the diverse aspects of the Armenian Diaspora in the Middle East and throughout the world, using the most advanced research techniques, the center aims to conduct and publish primary research — while holding annual academic conferences, public lectures and internship programs — that will further the understanding of Armenian culture.”

— Late last month, His Holiness Aram I hosted a Christian-Muslim consultation on the Christian presence and witness in the region at the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon.

— Many rural communities in Armenia have few men living there all year round.

— In further evidence that the notion of Armenian cultural identity continues to evolve, the Armenian National Team’s midfielder Marcos Pizzelli says he feels more Armenian than Brazilian.

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News & Views is published every Monday afternoon EST. It is a summary of the week’s most interesting, provocatiove and thought-provoking links to articles, videos, photos and commentary of interest to the readers of Ararat.