January 2015

Remembering Armenia

Dr. Jane Kardashian and Michael Karibian

Spectrum Art Gallery offers the first in the 2015, visual art programs for the year long Armenian Genocide Commemoration. Steve Dzerigian has invited two Fresno artists, Dr. Jane Kardashian and Michael Karibian to present their unique points of view in Remembering Armenia.

ARMENIA, A PICTORIAL JOURNEY

“All taken in present day Armenia, these photographs commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian genocide. These images are representative examples of the beautiful landscapes, rich history, and unique architecture of Armenia. As an illustrated testament, this imagery corroborates the survival and burgeoning of the Armenian culture, as well as the resilience of the Armenian people despite numerous calculated attempts to exterminate the race”

--DR. JANE KARDASHIAN

SURVIVOR STORIES

“Photographs and Oral Histories of Armenian Immigrants.” This project is documentation of Armenian immigrants, those who had firsthand knowledge of life and events around the beginning of the previous century in the Armenian homeland and who later settled in the Fresno area. They were survivors in the truest sense of the word and their lives are tributes to the human ability to overcome unforeseeable tragedy and endure with warmth and compassion.

The photographs are environmental portraits of individuals, produced in their residences, where they could express themselves genuinely and from a more current perspective. These photos are revealing of the people at a particular time in life. Their appearance and gestures show their nature and condition, allowing us to observe the strength of these survivors of great hardship and suffering.

Hunger, war, loss of loved ones, flight from the homeland, establishing new life in a strange and foreign country caused great physical and psychological stress. Their photos and comments are extremely revealing of the human condition.

These people were living history and conveyed a unique social perspective relevant to current events in our world. The interviews conducted with the individuals were opportunities to gain insight into philosophies, values, and a sense of spirit, which can give meaning to life and enable future generations to find a link to the past.

The photos and oral history interviews were collected and prepared from 1975 through 1990 in Fresno, Bakersfield and San Francisco.

-- MICHAEL KARIBIAN

Armenian Genocide Commemoration

Below is a press release from the program’s Fresno Committee for the year long, event overview of which Remembering Armenia is a part:

“The San Joaquin Valley’s Armenian Community has come together to form the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, an umbrella association established to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide throughout this year and 2015. Working under the theme “Commemoration, Education, Inspiration”, the committee is made-up of representatives from the community’s religious, educational, social, and political organizations.

“The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the

Armenian Genocide is clearly a significant moment for Armenians all around the world,” said AGCC Chairman and California State University, Fresno Professor of Armenian Studies Sergio La Porta. “As Fresno is one of the largest and most active Armenian communities in the Western Hemisphere, I think it resonates particularly strongly here. It is home to a proud and resilient Armenian community and is an especially poignant place to commemorate those who died in the Genocide and those who toiled afterwards to insure that we would have a much better world to live in.”

As many as 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the period 1915—1923 at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government. On April 15th 1915, the Young Turk regime arrested and eventually executed hundreds of Armenian religious, academic, and political leaders—it was the first step in its intent to exterminate an entire people. Many succumbed to starvation and exhaustion during state-mandated deportations or “death marches” that left Western Armenia devoid of its native inhabitants even to this day. Others were murdered outright, often in ways that defy all sense of humanity. According to historians, legal experts, and more than 20 nations throughout the world, the planned and systematic nature of these atrocities clearly constitute a genocide as defined by the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”