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Tradition of blacksmithing in Gyumri

Inscribed in 2023 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Blacksmithing, or the creation and repair of iron objects, has played a central role in the local identity and cultural characteristics of the city of Gyumri, Armenia for centuries. Although the practice nearly disappeared in Armenia in the mid-twentieth century, it has survived in Gyumri, where inhabitants continue to preserve existing items – such as window lattices, fences, gates, doors, candlesticks and chandeliers – made by old masters and to forge and use the iron products in their daily life. Current blacksmiths, some of which are fifth- or sixth-generation masters, play an active role in safeguarding and transmitting the tradition of urban blacksmithing as well as its history, traditional skills and knowledge. They typically transmit the practice informally within their families, passing on the skills and styles to their children and grandchildren. In addition, blacksmithing is also transmitted formally through community museums and in two specialized educational institutions: the Gyumri Fine Arts Academy and the Gyumri Craftsmanship College N 1. A key part of the city of Gyumri’s architectural identity, blacksmithing can be seen both in the interior and exterior of private and public buildings and is associated with the values of diligence, honesty, fair work and mutual respect.

“Tarehats” – Traditional Armenian New Year Bread

Tarehats is widespread in individual families, especially among Eastern Armenians.
The first mentions were found in the second half of the 19th century (E. Shahaziz, E. Lalayan, A. Aharonyan, Kajberuni).
It is an integral element of the folk-festive, symbolic complex. Knowledge and training skills are inherited. It is round or oval with a diameter of approximately 30-40 cm. In a number of regions of Armenia it was known under other names: krken, krkeni, dovlat krkeni, mijink, etc. The bread is cut on New Year’s Eve and distributed to members of the house. Decorations are symbolically associated with the ideas of cosmogenesis, creation and generation, etc. A “mijink” – a bean, a pea, a small grain or a coin – was placed in the Tarehats in order to predict the luck of the lucky person for the year. Tarehats was slaughtered according
to the number of all members of the household. In other places it was sometimes divided into 12 parts according to the number of months.

Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Armenia and the “Identity Lab” of Folk Art Museum

An article dedicated to the Hovhannes Sharambeyan Museum of Folk Art and its educational program “Identity Lab” was published in the “Living Heritage” journal, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage https://www.unesco-centerbg.org/wp-new/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LivingHeritage_pt6_BODY.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3CzUsmHKk3tTzk3gZyaeUsWVocZfBfuretanxHDB8Vn2owIdyLY-rFJjA , Nazeli Utujyan, “Living Heritage and the Folk Art Museum of Armenia,” p. 65).

The museum, as part of its educational program “Identity Lab”, with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, implemented an inclusive educational program also in 2023, which provides free courses on folk art for a number of vulnerable groups of the population. The program has been implemented since 2021.
This year the program was implemented for 88 beneficiaries, including war veterans, children who are members of the families of those killed or missing during the war, children and women from socially vulnerable families, beneficiaries of Support Centers for Children and the Elderly, and a group home for people with disabilities, for children with special needs.
As part of the educational program, courses were held in Shadow Theater, woodworking, carpet weaving, embroidery, and felting.
This year, shadow theater courses were included in the program, given that it is included in the list of intangible cultural heritage assets in need of immediate protection in the Republic of Armenia. The museum collaborated with the “Ayrogi” shadow theater. Among the participants were people with disabilities, displaced people from Artsakh, people who participated in the war, as well as students and graduates of the Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinematography. Participants were able to combine traditional and innovative approaches. The best graduates of the course presented their performances at the “Third National Shadow Theater Festival” and won awards in the categories “Best performance of traditional craft”, “Best direction”, “Best script”, “Best cast”.
This year, for the first time, the program included people with disabilities from the Arinj branch of the “Warm Corner” group home, who became acquainted with felting, which is also included in the list of intangible cultural heritage values of the Republic of Armenia that need immediate protection.
This time, within the framework of the project, 8 specialists in the field of folk art were provided with work. The program allowed almost 90 of its beneficiaries to get acquainted with folk art, act as creators, and communicate with art to alleviate difficult psychological, physical or social conditions.

Ayntap Needlework

Armenians in Ayntap were engaged in crafts, trade, metalworking, jewelry, and stonework. Weaving was an old and widespread craft, making woven fabrics. Ayntap was famous for woolen fabrics and belt making. Carpentry had reached the height of art. The city was particularly notable for its embroidery and lace-making, which bears the city’s name. Flower-decorated table cloths, covers, pillowcases, handkerchiefs, sewing laces, which were used to decorate headscarves and clothes, were embroidered in Ayntap.
Pictured: Tutu embroidering with her daughters, 1940s, Aleppo (from right: Lousin Adamian, Tutu, Piatris Adamian). Photo: Property of Piatris Adamian, Aleppo.

“Arar: Safeguarding, Dissemination, Development, and Popularization program of National Culture in the Regions of the Republic of Armenia”

“Arar: Safeguarding, Dissemination, Development, and Popularization program of National Culture in the Regions of the Republic of Armenia” carried out by “Arar” Center for Safeguarding Armenian National Art” NGO. This is one of the best examples of public-private cooperation.
“Arar” was created and operates according to the idea and initiative of the Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia Arsen Grigoryan with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and in cooperation with the Museum of Folk Arts named after Hovhannes Sharambeyan. It was launched in 2017. The main function is to ensure the viability of folk art by transmitting the experience to young people.
Armenia has a rich intangible cultural heritage and, through bearers of this heritage (individuals and groups), it is possible to safeguard it, contribute to its dissemination, popularization, and transmission, introducing it into the daily lives of children, adolescents and youth. For the effective implementation of the program, observations were carried out in different communities of Armenia. As a result, it was revealed that cultural traditions, awareness of them and the transmission to the future generations are poorly developed in communities. On the basis of the data extracted as a result of this study “Arar” centres were created in different communities. The ideology of the program is to create equal conditions and make national cultural education accessible to beneficiaries of different strata of the society.
The courses, as well as the necessary materials, are free at the centres. Currently the “Arar” centres operate in 40 communities of 8 regions. 18 local folk art specialists teach traditional songs and dances, rug weaving, carpet weaving, lace making, embroidery, ceramics, woodworking, stone carving, khachkar (cross-stone) making, miniature painting. Currently about 900 children and teenagers are involved in the courses.
The courses in the communities form an atmosphere of respect for intangible forms of national culture, stimulate their natural development and encourage the creation of a common cultural platform. Today the bearers of folk art living in the communities are already well-aware that they have been entrusted with the important process of transmitting the intangible cultural heritage protected and preserved by the state, which is inviolable national wealth.
Handmade wooden decorated ladles, spoons, boxes, embroidered tablecloths, blankets, pillows, rugs, belts, bags, jewelry made by students who have mastered the skills of folk crafts and art return to everyday life. The khachkars created by them are installed in the courtyard of churches of the communities and other monumental territories. Workshops of the “Arar” centres in the open air form the cultural side in communities, contribute to the development of rural tourism.
The safeguarding of intangible cultural values and the participation of the society in the process of reproduction in a new way are noticeable and tangible today in those communities where the “Arar” centres operate. The impact of the program is also reflected in the competition between rural communities (which community is the richest in folk traditions, and how actively it uses these traditions). This, in its turn, being a universal means of assimilating intangible culture, ensures the transmission of knowledge from the knowledgeable to the unknowledgeable, from the elder to the younger and its preservation.
Thanks to “Arar” ensuring the realization, preservation and use of the values of intangible cultural heritage is noticeable owing to the results of the beneficiaries shown in the various exhibitions,
cultural events, as well as pan-Armenian and international competitions-festivals.
Students of the programs repeatedly participate in various events and festivals in Armenia and abroad, receiving appreciation and awards.
A very important fact is also UNESCO’s attention towards the work carried out by “Arar”.
The work done by the students of “Arar” during the implementation of the program was presented in detail in the 2021 issue of the UNESCO periodical “Living Heritage”, which touches upon the Armenian intangible cultural heritage.
The courses of woodworking of “Arar” program are also described in detail within the framework of the event “Days of Armenia” of the project “Days of Intangible Cultural Heritage”, presented in UNESCO Regional Centre Sofia.
Three videos about the program were presented at the “International Youth Competition of Social Film and Social Advertising” in Belarus in the “Heritage” nomination and were awarded two first and one second rank prizes. During the program also the exchange of experience of the best specialists in the field with young and beginner specialists from rural areas is provided. Apprentices who have reached the age of 18 also gain teaching experience in the junior group as assistants to the master. “Arar” centres are also created for the best participants in their community. The program also creates an opportunity for beneficiaries to establish their own small business in the field of handmade art after completing the course and gives an opportunity to become an important part in the development of the social life of their region.
The best way to respond to the challenges of cultural globalization is to create a sustainable model for ensuring the viability of intangible cultural heritage through formal and non-formal education in the local environment.
Thus, it can be concluded that the safeguarding, dissemination and development of intangible cultural heritage in communities should be carried out through the implementation of large-scale and long-term projects. In this case, it is necessary to emphasize the involvement of local bearers, which greatly facilitates the active participation of the community and ensures the continuity of the project. Thanks to the experience presented in the article,
it is possible to form a common cultural field in communities: favorable conditions are being created for the recognition of intangible cultural heritage, the importance of its place and role in the life of the communities, and everyone realizes that he/she is the inheritor, keeper and developer of his/her own culture.
The reasonable use of the skills and abilities acquired as a result of suchlike courses creates an opportunity for community residents to brand their settlement, achieve sustainable development and improve the quality of life.

Tightrope Walking

String dance occupies one of the most important places in the theatrical and dance performance of the Armenian people, whose roots go back to the pagan cult theater. Rope walker (pahlevan) – a pilgrim of St. Karapet. According to tradition, singers, gusans and string players of medieval Armenia were pilgrims to the monastery of St. Karapet in Mush. In fact, this cult tradition of the pagan period was Christianized, moreover, it was given the patronage of a Christian saint. The tightrope walker has a satin belt of red or apricot color. The neck was decorated with a white silk veil, a lace-embroidered collar and ribbons that had the shape of colored triangles and looked like flowers. They were papers with prayers. The performance begins with the playing of the zurna-dhol. The tightrope walker slowly and solemnly climbs the inclined wire. The stick and its straight body resemble a cross. The tightrope walker, going upstairs, performs a sacred rite, since he considers his work a kind of service to the saint. Having reached the end, the tightrope walker stops, brings the stick to his lips, as if kissing the cross, and, raising his gaze to the sky, turns to Saint Karapet, after which the right foot presses the rope, slowly moving it forward, then the left foot breaks away from the fulcrum, jumps on the other end of the rope and dances. While the tightrope walker is on the wire, a clown appears below. The tightrope walker and the clown are opposite characters: the tightrope walker is wise, all-powerful and selfless, while the clown is cowardly and ridiculous. In the course of the performance, the role of the clown becomes less and less, the role of the tightrope walker becomes more and more. Tightrope walking, like a medieval ritual game, has no causal course of events. This is a chain of independent episodes, the beginning and end of which we see in the gradual complication of tricks, which means the rise of the heroic, the affirmation of the divine and miraculous, and the defeat of the everyday in belittling the role of a clown. Rope walkers perform mainly at religious holidays near monasteries and churches. Today, tightrope walkers can be found in city squares, in the countryside. This area of folk representations of the pagan period is closely connected with the cult traditions of the peoples of the Near East and Asia Minor. The fact that the art of tightrope walkers-acrobats has been known since pagan times is evidenced by the work “Mother-in-Law” by the Roman comedian Publius Terentius (194-159 BC). The first evidence of this in Armenian bibliography is David Anhaght’s “Definitions of Philosophy”. He is rightfully considered the prototype of the theater and circus. After the adoption of Christianity, the church not only tolerated this art, but eventually began to sponsor it. String dancing has been one of the most active values in the life of the Armenian people for centuries and has been an integral part of the celebrations. She also experienced a certain upsurge in the Soviet period. Due to the socio-economic and cultural situation that developed in the first years of independence,
string dances lost their former importance and were on the verge of oblivion. Given that string playing was closely associated with the worship of St. Karapet, it was predominantly common in the Taronian world, especially among the people of Mush. Later it gained great popularity in all ethnographic regions. Today, tightrope walkers can be found in Kotayk, Gegharkunik, Aragatsotn regions of the Republic of Armenia, as well as in a number of old districts of Yerevan. Rope walking is a long, difficult learning process that requires good physical fitness.
On the other hand, there is a lack of information about this art in society, which is the reason for the decrease in interest in tightrope walkers. Young people are not sure that by becoming tightrope walkers they will be able to provide for their existence, therefore they avoid choosing the path of specialization in this art. Tightrope walking is one of the beautiful expressions of the national identity of the Armenian people.
Its preservation and the organization of activities that promote vitality will provide an opportunity to create a stronger bond between generations, as well as ensure that the international community is connected to the artistic and religious ideas and symbolic system of the Armenian people through tightrope walking.

“The Magic of Lavash” Festival

On the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia and “Ardini” Educational, Cultural and Tourism Development Foundation, “The Magic of Lavash” festival will take place in the Arevik community of Shirak region of Armenia on September 23, 2023. It is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In the Soviet period, the Arevik village was famous for its bakers and lavash baking traditions, which have been almost lost in the last 20 years. People honored the village and called it Lavashgrad, which means “the capital of lavash”.
The main purpose of the festival is to revive the settlement that was famous for its bakers and lavash during the Soviet era, to restore the traditional ways of baking lavash and to discover a new direction of gastro tourism in the region.

Various events will take place during the festival, including a demonstration of dishes prepared with lavash and the process of baking lavash in the oven, a lavash-themed theater performance, traditional games and a pottery master class. As for children, there will be outdoor painting and entertaining performances.
The implementation of the “Magic of Lavash” festival is very important because of the nomination of Armenia “Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia” inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO in 2014.

The Birth of Crafts

Hovhannes Sharambeyan Museum of Folk Arts is a unique hearth of national culture. The mission of the Museum is to safeguard, ensure the continuity and popularize the values of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The collection of the Museum (around 12.000 exhibits) includes samples of different branches of Armenian decorative-applied art (woodworking, metalworking, stone carving, embroidery, lace making, rug and carpet weaving, ceramics, as well as works of self-educated painters).
The Museum, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, presents the program “The Birth of Crafts”. In the framework of the program, 6 short (1-2-minutes long) animated films with stop-motion and other animation techniques are being created. The films will feature folk crafts and related skills that are part of the intangible cultural heritage of Armenia- rug and carpet weaving, embroidery and lace making, felting, woodworking,
blacksmithing, ceramics. Animation techniques will make it possible to revive samples of folk art and, as a result, make them more attractive to the viewer. The animated films will feature a step-by-step process of creating samples of Armenian folk crafts, basic ornaments, as well as a brief historical sketch. A lot of work is being done to show the most important fragments of Armenian folk art with a long history within a few seconds of the animation and convey them to the viewer’s heart.
Ornaments bearing certain meaningful elements are often repeated on various samples of Armenian folk art, it may be wood, clay, metal or textile, and the collation of these short films will allow one to see those similarities, perceiving

Armenian culture as one integral system. After the completion of the production process animated films can be disseminated among the general public (local and foreign), go beyond the Museum of Folk Arts, serving as educational material in various institutions of formal and non-formal education, they can serve as a material demonstrating the cultural side of the tourist attractiveness of Armenia,
can be shown on television, on screens accompanying various international exhibitions and other events, presenting elements of the intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Armenia in a brief, simple and attractive way. Soundwise and visually attractive material, and especially animation, which gives new life to inanimate objects, are attractive not only for children, but also for adults.
With this method, it will be possible to “tell” a large number of people about the rich Armenian culture, in particular, about folk crafts, in an attractive way.
One sample of Armenian folk art, such as a rug, can tell a whole story that is passed down from generation to generation and makes up one of the passports of the Armenian identity.

“Let’s Play Traditional Games” festival, August 27, 2023

On August 27, 2023, within the European Heritage Days, the festival Let’s Play Traditional Games, will take place in “Zvartnots” Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve (included in the UNESCO World Heritage List) by the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of RA and the “Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum-reservations” State Non-commercial Organization.
The festival is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage

During the festival, Armenian, as well as national minorities’ traditional games will be presented, competitions will be organized, engaging different communities, cultural organizations and individuals.

Folk games have an ancient origin and a special role in the process of forming cultural identity, carrying historical and cultural information about national traditions. During games, players practice various skills which contribute to their personal development, education, patriotism, and cultural entertainment. The games are transmitted from generation to generation and foster intergenerational dialogue.

Vardavar /Armenian Holiday/

Among Armenians, Vardavar is one of the holidays with ancient roots. It reflects all the episodes of Armenian history and summer holidays: the story of Noah, the story of Hayk and Bel, the images of Anahit-Astghik, ancient Navasard holidays, Christian interpretations and the most popular performances. Tradition says that when Noah, who survived the flood, reaches the top of Masis and descends from there, the Armenian month of Navasard begins on that day. And so that the memory of the flood remains among the people unforgettable, Noah orders his sons to pour water on each other.
Vardavar coincided with the harvest of ripe grain in the fields. On the day of the feast, ears of corn were brought to the church almost everywhere, asking that the fields remain safe from hail and grasshoppers.
In Tavush, on the eve of the holiday, the girls walked around the fields all day long, picked a multi-colored and especially yellow flower called “vrtiver”, made cross bundles and secretly threw them into the yard of their relatives at night.
Bundles of wheat ears, woven with special skill, resembled the appearance of a woman. These “khachburs” were usually prepared by reapers before the start or end of the harvest in the field and served to the owner. Some researchers see in the khachbur a disguised image of Anahit, the patron deity of agricultural crops, and the hidden preservation of the cult in the everyday life of Armenians. Everyone knew the names of people who worked well in the villages.
Previously, there was a custom not to eat Vardavar apples. The first apple of the year was eaten on Vardavar, as was the first grape on the feast of the consecration of the grapes.
In the mountains, tightrope walkers gathered for Vardavar festivals, fairs and picnics were organized.
The flight of doves was one of the characteristic rituals of Vardavar.
In Agulis, up to Vardavar, betrothed girls grew wheat or barley in a bowl. On the day of the holiday, they planted a 1-meter cross in greenery and decorated it with small cucumbers, apples and roses. The decorated cross, together with greenery, was called “khundum”, and the whole rite was called “khundum tok” (in folk etymology, “give joy”).

Source: Kharatyan, “Armenian Folk Holidays”

The intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Armenia

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