Gutenberg Museum

Exhibition: Typographic Art And Enchanting Illustrations

"Typographic Art And Enchanting Illustrations" Exhibition To Open In Germany On Occasion Of 500th Anniversary Of Armenian Letterpress Printing

arminfo Friday, December 7, 11:12

On Friday, December 7th, 2012, at 06:30 p.m., the Gutenberg-Museum will inaugurate the special exhibition "Schriftkunst und Bilderzauber" [Typographic Art and Enchanting Illustrations] on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Armenian letterpress printing. Tigran Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, Hasmik Poghosyan, Culture Minister of Armenia, and Kurt Beck, Minister- President of Rhineland-Palatinate will attend the exhibition opening, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reports.

In 1512, the first Armenian book was printed. The Gutenberg-Museum uses the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Armenian letterpress printing to provide an insight into the history of Armenian printing.

It will present several highlights of the Armenian art of printing, which have not been shown in Germany before.

Another highlight of the exhibition is the first printed Armenian Bible (Amsterdam 1666) which was loaned out by the National Library of the Republic of Armenia and is shown here in Germany for the first time.

There will be a selection of Armenian prints from different parts of the world due to the fact that it was not until 1772 that a print shop could be established in Edschmiatzin in Armenia. In addition to that, Armenian manuscripts of the 13th to the 17th centuries, which are famous for their beauty, will demonstrate that there is a continuity existing between the elaborate Armenian tradition of manuscripts and book printing. They show a style which has been largely affected by a mutual penetration of Christian influences and those of the (Greater) Middle East. The facsimile edition of the world-famous "Codex Edschmiatzin" of the 10th century will be presented as a "hands-on" exhibit.

As a last point, the exhibition will take a look at the scientific examination of Armenia in Germany since its first recorded descriptions of the 15th century. So, for instance, the travel report by the Mainz canon Bernhard von Breydenbach "Peregrinatio in terram sanctam" (1486) contains the first Armenian alphabet printed from a woodblock.

The exhibition in Mainz is based on an exhibition of the same title which was shown at the Kunstforum Halle (April/May 2012). However, the exhibition in Mainz has its own foci and will present further milestones of the Armenian history of printing, the Museum website reports.

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Exhibition in Gutenberg Museum dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Armenian printing

armradio.am 15:52 08.12.2012

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited the German city of Mainz, where he met with Kurt Beck, Prime Minister of the Rheinland-Pfalz Land. The sides discussed the opportunities for bilateral cooperation, particularly in the fields of agriculture, tourism and pharmaceutics.

The Prime Minister participated in the opening of the exhibition in Gutenberg Museum dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Armenian printing. Thanking the Prime Minister of Rheinland-Pfalz and the Mayor of Mainz for participating in the event, Tigran Sargsyan noted it was a great honor for him to be present at the marvelous exhibition.

According to the Prime Minister, printing was more for Armenia than a tool of enlightenment and revival. The book and print press, education and culture helped the Armenian national maintain its identity under the conditions of lack of statehood.

`Printing and the creation of the Armenian alphabet at the turn of the 5th century created a solid basis for the future cultural and spiritual development of the Armenian people,' the Prime Minister said.

Tigran Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the Gutenberg Museum for the exceptional opportunity to present the Armenian culture to the German society.

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