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

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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.

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Ayntap Needlework

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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

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

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Arar

“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.

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Tightrope Walking

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հոդվածի ֆոտո (2)

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.

Վարդավառը «Բարձունք»-ի հետ

Vardavar /Armenian Holiday/

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Վարդավառը «Բարձունք»-ի հետ

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”

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Pilgrimage to the St. Thaddeus Apostle Monastery

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Was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.

The annual three-day pilgrimage to St. Thaddeus Apostle Monastery in northwestern Iran is held each July. The pilgrimage venerates two prominent saints: St. Thaddeus, one of the first apostles preaching Christianity, and St. Santukhd, the first female Christian martyr. The bearers of the element are the Armenian population in Iran, Iranian-Armenians residing in Armenia, and followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Pilgrims gather in Tabriz before departing for the monastery. They cover 700 kilometers from Yerevan to the monastery annually. The commemoration ceremony includes special liturgies, processions, prayers and fasting. It culminates in a Holy Mass with Holy Communion. Special times are set aside for traditional Armenian folk performances and Armenian dishes are served. The pilgrimage is the primary social and cultural event of the year. Because attendees reside in tents in close proximity to one another, the sense of community is enhanced. The monastery has been a pilgrimage site for over nineteen centuries. However, during the years of Soviet power in Armenia, participating in the pilgrimage was prohibited. Bearers of the element preserved cultural memories of the pilgrimage and transmitted it to families and communities. Only after independence in the 1990s was the pilgrimage from Armenia resumed.

Feast of the Ascension

Feast of the Ascension

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Feast of the Ascension

Ascension is one of the folk holidays of the pre-Christian calendar, it expresses the ideas of the dying and rising God, the awakening of nature, and rebirth. Christianity incorporated it into the official calendar as a celebration of Christ’s ascension after his resurrection. The evangelists Mark and Luke write about the ascension of Christ within the framework of the Christian tabernacle holidays, there is also a reference in the Acts of the Apostles. Many folk rites, ceremonies and original samples of song art have been preserved in the folk festival of Christian Ascension.

The festival of Ascension/Condition gave a great charge to both folk and professional works, manifested itself in fiction, poetry and prose, even in opera and fine arts. Thousands of samples of special folk songs of Ascension have been recorded and published, in which the ideas of love, human relationships, eternal unity of man with nature and the universe are reflected. They continue to be created even today. The main performers of Ascension Day are again mostly young people everywhere, ritual flower gatherings and water gatherings, donations of bouquets and wreaths, youth night gatherings, special songs/quatrains arising from the nature of the holiday, ritual public raffles, young boys and girls gather 7 colored flowers, in a pitcher pour water from 7 springs, throw their signs into the water and put a “star” on the night of the Ascension, that is, hand them over to the council of stars, in the morning, decorated with flowers, sing around the neighborhoods of the settlements, give flowers, then in the presence of the audience, with soloists and group songs with a special solemnity, individual making fortune-telling and public well-wishes. The songs are dialectal, which not only preserves but also develops the language culture. The social significance of the holiday is the periodic reaffirmation and reproduction of important social values, as well as the continuity and inheritance of the culture connecting the past to the present. The festival not only repeats the traditional, but also creates an emotional environment for the birth of new folk works. By its very nature, the festival is a phenomenon that strengthens intra-social ties, reveals the creative potential of the public, preserves the inseparable connection between society and the natural environment, develops and refines aesthetic perceptions.

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“Easter, Holy Resurrection Day, Holy Easter”

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Folk and church holiday
It is distributed in all 10 regions of the Republic of Armenia and the capital Yerevan.
Easter is a movable holiday and is celebrated on the spring equinox, the Sunday following the full moon following March 22, that is, the Sunday that falls within 35 days after March 22.

In traditional culture, Easter was perceived as the spring “resurrection” of nature following the “death” of winter, a holiday symbolizing the annual beginning of life and the confirmation of the continuity of life. The Christian calendar adapted the holiday of the Resurrection of Christ to that holiday of the resurrection of nature. The festival is a folk and Christian official Resurrection holiday, a set of folk and church rites and ceremonies.

All the days of the week before Easter were festive, and Saturday was symbolized by the Armenian folklore “red-green” formula of renewed life: “Easter Saturday, red egg, sun, mountains and valleys are green.”
The “Red Egg”, a red-dyed egg, is a symbol of the popular and Christian official council of the holiday, the resurrection after death, and is widely included in folk rituals. The Easter festival by its very nature corresponded to the meaning of the resurrection of nature, including human life. The earth had woken up at the height of its vitality, and the oxen with red painted hooves were taken by men to the field to “turn over the soil, which had become cloddy (impregnated) from living with the snow.” The Armenian theologian of the 14th century Saint Grigor Tatevatsi says about dyeing the egg red. “We paint eggs only on Easter, because the egg is the model of the world and as the wise say, “the outer shell is like the sky, the shell is like the air and the protein is like the water. Yellow is the earth” and the red color symbolizes that the world was bought with the blood of Christ. Taking the red egg in our hands, we declare our “salvation”. This very important confirmation proves that in the 14th century, the Armenians perceived the country not as a separate entity, but as part of the “world”, cosmic unity, and the Armenian culture as a part of the general earthly culture.

All Easter rites and ceremonies were communal; the sacrifices were aimed at the general well-being of the community, and were performed with the help and participation of all members of the community. The biggest share of songs and wishes was certainly about rain, wheat, and bread. Easter parties were usually in the fields, in large groups, and were accompanied by egg games, sports matches, group singing and dancing. The universal joyful participation and emotionality gave birth to new folk song-musical gems; new aesthetic forms of egg patterning and decoration were invented (H. Kharatyan-Arakelyan, Armenian folk holidays, Yerevan, 2005, p. 135-159).

After the collapse of the USSR, the Easter festival was significantly revived and activated. Currently, it is viable and celebrated mainly in families, but in some regions it continues with family and community pilgrimages. Easter now has stable components of a holiday dish: hard-boiled red eggs, fish, pilaf, kashovi, and various fresh and fried greens, gata. New forms of egg games, painting, patterning and decorating eggs have emerged, and the business sector is also happy to respond to the demand. The number of visitors to the Easter church has increased. Certainly, many people go to participate in the Council of the Resurrection of Christ, but there are also many who take eggs to church on that day, wish to receive an egg blessing and celebrate Easter with blessed eggs. Some people also take home-sprouted wheat with them to the church for blessing. The “Atzik” sacrament is the phenomenon of communicating with the resurrection of nature by eating the first sprout of wheat, that is, the first objective evidence of resurrection. Traditional “malt” food is prepared from red sprouts of wheat specially germinated in a humid environment without letting these sprouts turn green. The phenomenon of decorating the house and apartment with Easter symbols is becoming widespread. There are local peculiarities of celebrating Easter in the regions of Armenia. A business offering of holiday ingredients, both in the form of services and products, is currently being developed. The social significance of the holiday is the development of spiritual and cultural values and aesthetic perceptions, the formation of the cultural commonality and emotionality of the society, the transfer of cultural heritage to the generations, the fusion of the best secular and religious values, the importance of family warmth, the re-establishment of the permanence of the human-surrounding social and natural environment connection.

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Making of the Armenian Gata and its Cultural Manifestations

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07-ARMENIAN-ROUND-GATA

A sweet cake made with oil, milk, eggs, dough with or without a crust, and oil on fasting days. Gata is made with layers of dough and has several stages of preparation. In rural communities, great importance is attached to kneading the gata dough and lighting the tonir. Not only the women of the given house, but also the neighboring women participate in them. During the preparation of gata, the circular, flat, smooth surface wooden ornament has an important function. In this way, the signs of the sun and the moon are depicted on the gata. There are various recipes of gata, which differ in the type and shape of dough and choriz: round, square, rectangular, diagonal, large, small and patterned.

Gata is a dish of the festive system, the round shape of which is related to the worship of the sun. On solemn and festive days in Armenia (baptism, wedding, funeral, etc.), they baked and continue to prepare different types of gatas to this day. Lately, Gata has gained wider use in society. It is served not only during folk and family celebrations, but has also become an everyday dish. Performing gata dance during weddings is said to bring good fortune to the family of the couple. They put a grain or a coin in a round gata and believe that in this way they contribute to the well-being and success of the family, and finding the coin brings good luck.

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Armenian New Year

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Among the Armenians, the holiday was known under several names: New Year, Taremut, Kaghand, Kaghind, Kalontar. The night before the New Year was known as the Night of Lole, Hlvlik, Kakh, Gotekakh. The latter were determined by folk customs performed during the holiday. Having lost its statehood, the New Year lost its wide public resonance and inclusion in the holiday and gradually modestly “settled” in the family, and partly in the community environment. Only in those provinces where the New Year was still called Navasard (Syunik, Artsakh, Utik, Nakhichevan) and celebrated in mid-November, did it still have wide public participation and was celebrated publicly in open areas with musical groups and entertainment. But family involvement and holiday celebrations were more common. The main symbolic actions were aimed at cleanliness of the body, space and soul (complete cleaning of the apartment and surrounding areas: barn, garden, pantry, replacing old clothes with new ones, using red, paying off debts, transforming hostile or unfriendly relations into friendships or reconciliation, etc.), ritual prevention of evil (use of fiery signs and objects, driving away evil with shots, anti-evil guards at night), ensuring goodness, abundance, family and social harmony, health. On December 31, ceremonial bread was baked, known as “Bread of the Year”, “Krkeni”, “Dovlat Krkeni”, “Kloch”, “Purnik”. Among the pan-Armenian customs of the New Year, one can single out ritual detours of groups of 10-12-year-old boys and, in some places, groups of girls, as well as the tradition of greetings on the holiday the day before. Despite fasting, a meal called “kyashka” or “harissa” was cooked at night: layers of meat and wheat, but they were never mixed so that there would be no unrest, disagreement and anger during the year. It was tasted early in the morning, yet “the darkness was not separated from the light.” On January 1, visitors were bombarded with symbols of abundance: nuts, raisins, small candies. Among the forms of New Year’s holiday entertainment were home games, the play of shadows cast on the wall, riddles, quick games, and visits to relatives. Fruit was very important. Dry and fresh fruits, along with raisins and legumes, were the main components of the New Year’s dish.
The celebration of the New Year in Armenia has undergone significant changes and acquired a public character during the Soviet years. The custom of decorating a Christmas tree has become widespread. Christmas trees were either public (on the main squares of villages and districts, in schools, workplaces, in places of culture – theaters, concert halls), or privately-family. The characters of Santa Claus and Snow White entered the 20th century Armenian New Year. Dishes familiar to the USSR (salads, pastries, new snacks, etc.) also entered the festive life. The popularization of the holiday was also facilitated by new areas of festivals with public and cultural offers (children’s Christmas trees, corporate parties, concerts), and with the spread of television, family gatherings, because it was possible to “participate” in official events remotely without leaving home.
With the independence of Armenia, public relations have left a new imprint on the festival. A new phenomenon is the festive decoration and decoration of settlements with lights and many Christmas trees. The festive decoration of apartments, sparkling garlands, balloons, etc. received a new development. At the same time, the search for the restoration of some traditional national values is intensifying: baking “Annual bread” and other ritual pastries, their ritual cutting-tasting and fortune-telling. The New Year forms a new culinary complex, which includes obligatory (tolma, pancakes, kufta, vegetable salads, legumes, nuts, fruits, gata), desirable (specially processed pork leg or turkey) and updated creative part of the traditional. One of the features of the holiday of the year is that people prepare for it emotionally and financially almost the whole of December, with shopping, advertising of entertainment, service and sales business offers and a sharp change in the assortment of store premises.