Year of Armenia in France

HOLY ARMENIA - BACK HOME Kima Yeghiazaryan

Hayoc Ashkharh 12 Sept 2007

Yesterday the exhibition "Holy Armenia - Back Home" opened in Armenia's History Museum, by the participation of Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan and His Holiness Garegin B.

We should underscore that the re-exhibition of "Holy Armenia" in Yerevan has been organized by President Robert Kocharyan and blessed by the Catholicos of all Armenians.

To expand the territory of the exhibition the organizers have also used the arch-shaped sector of the National Gallery, where besides khachkars you can see other obelisks, capitals, and many architectural elements. The participants - members of the state committee of the "Year of Armenia in France", political, cultural and social activists, together with the Prime Minister and the Catholicos got acquainted with the exhibits from the entrance.

After going round the five halls of the History Museum and watching the sacred reminiscences of Christian Armenia, the Prime Minister and the Catholicos wrote about their impressions.

After the opening of the exhibition the session of the members of the state committee of "The Year of Armenia in France" took place in the fresco hall of the gallery, in which beside the members of the state committee leaders of cultural structures and staff directors participated.

After congratulating the participants on that beautiful occasion Head of the state committee Serge Sargsyan announced that with this luxurious exhibition in Yerevan "Year of Armenia in France" draw to a close. Evaluating the results of the year the Prime Minister expressed belief, " This event named "Armenia, my Friend" will have deep impact on Armenian-French relations. It will help formulate a complete and comprehensive picture of Armenia, in France and beyond its borders."

He underscored that 850 events have been organized during the year in around 160 cities in France. Various programs have been implemented in the field of political, economic, and social touches, which will have a long-lasting significance and influence.

The Prime Minister also emphasized about the success of "Holy Armenia" in Louver with a record index of 300 thousand visitors during three months. " For the first time Armenian khachkars of this volume were exhibited beyond the borders of Armenia. Around 2,5 million visitors saw the khachkars in Louver. Many of them emphasized that they will definitely visit Armenia to see those khachkars in their natural environment. And one of the goals of the year was to raise this interest." Serge Sargsyan underscored. Concluding his speech the Prime Minister said great work has been done, which is worthy of high appreciation, the only thing left to do is "to say welcome to the 200 masterpieces and sacred reminiscences of Christian Armenia's heritage."

Some months ago the Catholicos participated in the exhibition in Louver with delight. " During the exhibition French people and thousands of visitors of Louver had a chance to get acquainted with our people, with the power of our belief and creative talent. The events organized in the framework of the "Year of Armenia in France' definitely reinforced the friendship of centuries between Armenian and French people." Garegin B underscored evaluating the year.

Armenian Ambassadors in France Edward Nalbandyan said the "Year of Armenia in France" was an unprecedented success. An event that was really with a clank and enjoyed public interest. French Mass Media showed great interest towards those events - around 5000 publications in a year. E. Nalbandyan said after the independence they haven't touched upon our country as mush as they did during this year. "Due to the year we obtained thousands of supporters and new friends. In my view the most important thing for us was to overcome the thinking that we are a country of limited opportunities that we are a small country and that in this field we can't be equal to China, Brazil, and Japan that have conducted the year of their countries in France.

We couldn't agree to that logic and we proved that Armenia can say its word through such events," the Ambassador underscored, emphasizing that the success of the year was mostly conditioned by the great role of our President. With his everyday support and care he used to help the organizers and follow the process of the program realization.

At the end of the session the decree of RA President was read which honored a group of people by high state awards.

The President also addressed a letter of thanks to Armenian Ambassador in France Edward Nalbandyan and the assistant of the President Vigen Sargsyan and others for initiating and conducting high-level events.

This article contains text from a source with a copyright. Please help us by extracting the factual information and eliminating the rest in order to keep the site in accordance to fair use standards, or by obtaining permission for reuse on this site..