Oneworld Multimedia :: Youth
MDP, Puppet Theatre, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2005
To be honest I wasn t going to post an announcement about this festival because after speaking to someone involved in this event I m a little disappointed, but anyway, that shouldn t reallyaffect what s on this blog and what s not so here goes. Tomorrow at 7pm at Yerevan s Puppet Theatre, a Rock Festival will be staged in in the Republic of Armenia. Bands schedule to play include , Vortan Karmir, Stryfe and Sworn.
On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has become a universal standard for defending and promoting human rights. Every year the 10th of December, Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration. On Human Rights Day throughout the globe we celebrate the simple truth which still needs to be asserted that All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms .
In recent years Armenia has gone a long way to bring its legislation and practices on human rights to international standards; however it is not secret that there have been several cases of blatant violations of human rights and freedoms. The struggle against human rights violations requires active participation of civil society, especially that of young people. In this regard, the rock festival will provide an opportunity to promote awareness of human rights among the general public.
It will attract and unite young people under the flag of freedom and human rights. Moreover, it will facilitate and foster cultural diversity which is essential element in promoting human rights anywhere on the globe.
Posted by Onnik @ 6:17 pm.
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After a , Silva has . Of course, the BBC and the are not exactly the same as many Armenians here think, but anyway. Silva will now at least be better known among countries of the former Soviet Union, South America, Asia and the Middle East.
Armenian singer Silva has won the BBC World Service s Next Big Thing competition with her song I Like.
The 17-year-old was chosen ahead of six other acts from around the world at the final, held in the BBC s Maida Vale studios in London.
The judges praised I Like, which was composed by the singer s sister Mane, as fresh and new and described her performance as second to none.
Posted by Onnik @ 12:19 pm. Filed under: , , , , , ,
I first heard the music of two years ago and liked what I heard. Too often, most contemporary Armenian music falls into one of three categories traditional, rabiz, very mediocre pop, or a combination of all three.
Add to that the unfortunate tendency for most rock bands here in Armenia to content themselves with playing covers of rock classics, there are too few bands that represent anything original.
Certainly, there is little that appeals to a number of listeners that want something original that they can listen to because it s good music rather than anything sung by an Armenian regardless of quality. I suppose we can consider as something exceptional here, but after them, what?
Well, we do have Bambir and in Armenia, but they appeal to the same audience of young Armenian rockers. There is little, if nothing, else.
Which is why I love Deti Picasso from what I ve heard so far.
Raffi Meneshian, founder of and Executive Director of , now offers a over at Cilicia.com s Life in the Armenian Diaspora.
The band Deti Picasso is from Russia.
Two of the members are Armenian in lead singer Gaya Harutyunyan and brother/guitar player Garen Harutyunyan. The 2004 CD Ethnic Experiments is sandwiched in between two other releases, 2002 s Mesjac Ulybok (CD Land Records), and their new 2006 release Glubina (Deep Movement). They are not considered Armenian artists in the sense that they cater to the Moscow rock/punk/experimental music scene and sing mainly in Russian.
That s their bread and butter. Like many ethnic Armenians in Europe and North America, they presumably decided to dabble into their roots and as the CD title states, create Ethnic Experiments . They have a cult following in Armenia and have given several very successful club concerts there, despite the general indifference toward rock music in the Homeland.
Whether I simply casually listen, review, or produce artistic risk-takers, there is a high degree of respect that is accorded to them right off the bat from me. I first heard an MP3 song (Im Gala) that was somehow sent to me via email in 2004 via Christina Sarkissian (the person who gave me a copy of Bambir- Quake while in the US) via Gor Mkhitarian. I had never heard Armenian music performed like this before.
Yet, I was confused on whether I actually liked the music and needed more of a sample set. So, finally, after 2 years of looking around, I finally bought an authentic CD of Ethnic Experiments at the Avant Garde Folk Club on Pushkin this summer and have had time to ponder and absorb the music.
Posted by Onnik @ 12:16 pm.
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Kanayq Hayots, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006 As I , an albeit small action to mark the , as well as raise awareness of the arguably regressing role of women in peace-building and society in general in the South Caucasus, was staged yesterday. The demonstration, largely attended by female university students as well as several ethnic Armenians from the Diaspora, was organized by the NGO.
Kanayq Hayots Women s Center was established on July 1, 2003 by a group of undergraduate women from the Sociology Department of Yerevan State University (YSU), Armenia.
The idea was also strongly supported by graduate assistant and Ph.D. candidate, Gohar Shahnazaryan, as well as master s students Anna Malkhassyan and Gohar Hovhanisyan.
The Center s concept was initiated by Lara Aharonian from the Centre des Femmes d ici et d ailleurs de Montreal Quebec , Canada, and Shushan Avagyan, a graduate student at Illinois State University, USA. Having made a commitment to YSU s Sociology department, Kanayq Hayots is located at the University s Conflict Resolution Information Center, but acts as an independent entity.
The Center adopted its name from the existing socio-literary feminist journal that started publishing in 2000 through YSU s Sociology Department.
One of main reasons of Kanayq Hayots establishment was to preserve and revive the publication of this journal, which had ceased circulating in 2002 due to a lack of steady financial support. The Center reunites the journal s editorial and volunteer staff, and now opens its doors to a larger network of women from other institutions and disciplines.
[ ] Our objective is to eliminate all types of discrimination against women whatever their age, race, class, nationality, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation.
More specifically, our goal is to create a safe environment for every woman on the campuses of YSU.
Posted by Onnik @ 5:48 pm. Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , ,
that the damn awful giant LCD screen in Republic Square will soon be finally gone.
It was erected a few years ago, as way back then, and was meant to be temporary, although I think we all knew that it would stay as long as whoever owned it made money and remained in favour with the local authorites who should never allowed it there in the first place.
Where once Vladimir I. Lenin stood bronzed and pointing the way to socialism, an electronic billboard now stands in Yerevan s Republic Square, broadcasting capitalism and the best of Hollywood action movies, and video clips from the former dictator s nemesis, the evil west.
While authorities are looking for a worthy replacement for Lenin they gave permission to AD Technology advertising company to put the 15-meter high billboard where the 18-meter-tall former leader stood until 1991.
Vahram Gharibjanyan, manager of AD Technology and in charge of technical and program support of the billboard, says he chooses clips of movies that are interesting to spectators: such as Taxi and Terminator .
The manager himself thinks Lenin s monument should have stayed, for its historical value.
But since the place is vacant, why not fill it with advertisement?
Ads on the board cost $2 to $8 per minute, depending on the number of times it appears.
Posted by Onnik @ 12:41 pm.
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Welcome to another round up of posts from the Armenian blogosphere, and this week is another of those rare occasions a number of bloggers dealing with the same theme. Interestingly, this week that theme was racism and xenophobia, both at home and abroad.
To start the ball rolling, on Friday to protest the deaths of ethnic Armenians in Russia. Akhtamar at has an interesting post .
It seems as though there is SOME hope after all in regards to the youth and trying to make some changes in Armenia. While I had received some indifferent attitudes from youth who were simply passersby and refused to sign the letter, there were these young activists who stayed up until 5am the day before to make these posters.
There are times when I think that the young Armenian population is so cynical and they feel as though they do not belong to this society. “Ahh, what does it matter if I litter this bag, it’s not MY street anyway.” Or “this country has no future, the only thing I can do is leave” – these are things I hear practically everyday from so many young people.
And this is a rather prevalent attitude throughout the country.
Yet there is a flipside to this as well. A small, warm and increasing movement of interested young people is seeking to take their future into their own hands.
These are some of the activists you see in these photos. They see that what is happening in their country is not right and they want to do something about it.
This IS the hope for Armenia.
Posted by Onnik @ 5:28 pm. Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic Square, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006
As mentioned in the , there was another demonstration staged in Yerevan to protest racist attacks on ethnic Armenians in Russia. The action followed a in June and recent tragic news that a 15-year-old fell victim to skinheads in Moscow at the weekend.
Coincidently, a press conference was also held in Yerevan this week on the same issue. Armenia Now .
A teenage boy has become the latest casualty in a long-running series of crimes against Armenians (and other non-Russians) perpetrated by organized gangs believed to be inspired by fascist ideology.
Narek Kocharyan, 15, was beaten and stabbed to death in the settlement of Ivanteyevka in the Moscow region last Saturday (November 11).
“We believe this is an offense of special severity, doubtlessly, a group crime racially motivated,” said Simon Tsaturyan, the lawyer representing the Union of Armenians of Russia in an interview to Radio Liberty. Tsaturyan said a scarf “with fascist symbols” was found at the crime scene.
The teenager’s death brings to at least 14 race-related deaths, of which 6 were Armenian.
“One can’t state directly that the organizer of such murders and cruelties is the state. But noticeably the killings are sponsored by some structures,” says Avetik Ishkhanyan, the chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia.
Hranush Kharatyan, the head of the agency for ethnic minorities and religious issues under the government of the Republic of Armenia charges that Russian authorities tolerate racism.
“The atmosphere in Russia is heated up now. The disclosure of the killings is either avoided or delayed.
It’s a part of a political program,” says Kharatyan. “I doubt if letters, whether closed or open, or the meetings will help, if Russia has decided to exterminate Armenians. Racism is a very serious problem and it will not suffice with Armenians alone.
”
Posted by Onnik @ 8:49 pm. Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , Tamar Palandjian from forwarded me a call to arms of sorts this morning which I m posting here because of comments . Unfortunately, Armenians are very good at protesting against injustices in Turkey, Azerbaijan and even Georgia, but do little or next to nothing when the Republic s strategic ally, Russia, is involved.
Given a on the matter, however, it s time for all that to change. This is the announcement sent to me regarding the protest action planned for later today.
Narek Kocharyan, 15 years old - killed in Podmoskovie, Russia a few days ago just because he was Armenian.
Within the past few months, Vigen Abrahamyants, Samvel Tadevosyan and Narek Grigoryan have also ethnic Armenians been killed in Russia because they were Armenian.
Moreover, according to Regnum.ru at least 3000 Armenians were killed in Russia within the past ten years.
Unfortunately, the Russian government is not taking many actions to fight against these barbaric murders and the trend is not going away anytime soon. Several times, there have been recently organized (within the past two years) in front of the Russian Embassy in Yerevan with hopes that there would be an apologetic statement or some recognition of such barbaric murders. Yet there has been no response.
We shall now be underpinning the responsibility and accountability of the Republic of Armenia, which is constitutionally designated to protect Armenian citizens in foreign countries trough MFA and Embassies abroad. We are going to demand concrete and prompt actions of Armenian Government towards slack and unclear legal processes, legal arbitrariness and disrespect for Armenian citizens and ethnic Armenians in the Russian Federation.
Please do not stay ignorant, TAKE ACTION!
Join us today, November 17 at 15:00 in front of Ministry of Foreign Affairs to show your support against these murders of ethnic Armenians in Russia.
yours truly,
Here s hoping that the turnout will be better than a , but even so, I m glad to see such actions are being staged. So, if you re free today and you truly care about the victimization of Armenians wherever they are, why not come along and let your voice be heard.
Posted by Onnik @ 11:57 am. Filed under: , , , , , , , , that the Armenian-American rock band have been nominated for Best Alternative Group in today s MTV Europe Music Awards. Well, good luck to them, but the are more my bag.
The that they re so far ahead of the pack in terms of nominations.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are leading the way at this year s MTV Europe music awards, which take place in Copenhagen on Thursday.
The US band have four nominations, including best album.
Madonna, Shakira, Nelly Furtado, Kanye West, Muse and Christina Aguilera all have three.
Just a short round up of some notable posts from the Armenian Blogosphere as time is limited. However, the type of content is more varied than usual and covers everything from culture and health to relationships and arms dealing.
Culture is where we ll start.
Garo (AKA Christian Garbis) at Notes from Hairenik recently saw Armenian troubadour Arthur Meschian . Meschian recently returned to Armenia after leaving the country in the 90s, and Garo is still suitably impressed by his musical prowess.
The two-and-a-half hour show divided in two sets was simply terrific. He had the same five-piece band with which I saw him perform exactly a year ago at the Gomitas Chamber Hall in Yerevan. Musicians included the great folk-rock guitarist Vahan Artsuni, who is a disciple of Meschian having performed with him in the 1980s, Arthur Molitvin on bass, the drummer for Vostan Hayots, Levon Hakhverdian, who incidentally performed at their reunion concert last week given in Yerevan, and on keyboards my friend from Boston, not to mention Meschian s longtime amigo, Ara Sarkissian, a talented composer himself.
Meschian doubled on electric piano and acoustic guitar. This time around Hakhverdian was actually permitted to play his instrument instead of performing in a frustrated mime-like muffled manner at the show I attended last year, by the strict instructions of his leader. He justly proved himself to be an exceptional rock drummer, and his rhythms fueled Meschian the entire evening, whose voice seemed to soar in kind.
Posted by Onnik @ 3:07 pm. Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , , , Aram Khachaturian House-Museum, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Yeraz Art 2006
Because I hope to be starting some work for next month I ve added an appropiate category to this blog. I ve , and the photo above has been used in their publicity material albeit without credit.
YerazArt is a U.S based organization with a mission to discover, nurture and promote the Armenian musical talent of tomorrow. We believe Art is one of the best means to perpetuate our heritage and culture and thus it is as vitally important as ever to support Armenia s new generation of creative and performing artists.
Through YerazArt we want provide to our talented young generation the promise of the future and the opportunity to expose their talents throughout the globe.
I saw their Country Director at his office in the Chamber Music Hall yesterday and interestingly, I ve interviewed before. Not only does he represent several classical musicians and conductors, he also manages local rock band .
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006
Yesterday saw the first ever staged in central Yerevan for pedestrians and cyclists. The event was staged to promote alternative means of transportation in a city where has combined with heavy congestion in the center to make living in Yerevan hazardous.
Add to that the lack of the rule of law manifesting itself as anarchic driving to say the least, as well as corruption among the traffic police, and even crossing the road can be considered dangerous.
Anyway, apart from posting these photos I don t really have to write much more about the event as one of its organizers, Akhtamar at Armyouth, .
The purpose of the event was essentially to support alternative modes of transportation in Yerevan. Sadly, the city is becoming much dirtier and people are becoming sicker with various different respiratory diseases.
[ ] When you are living in Yerevan, you realize how dirty the air is. For some reason it becomes even more shocking when you see it in statistics and numbers.
The increasing number of cars in Yerevan is one of the factors which has caused for such pollution.
Let’s say you want to actually use a bicycle, a more eco-friendly way to travel to work or school, your lungs would probably collapse as you try to peddle uphill on Baghramian Avenue simply with the amount of car emission hitting your face as you gasp to get somewhere. Who needs that? So for that, many people choose not to use a bicycle.
That and most bicyclists say it is virtually impossible for them to get around because cars don’t want to give them the right of way and even purposely try to block them from their paths! Also, there is no designated lane for bicycles on the streets.
Keywords: Human Rights, Ethnic Armenians, Onnik Krikorian, Oneworld Multimedia, Kanayq Hayots, Republic Square, Ethnic Experiments, Sociology Department, Ad Technology, Mtv Europe
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