Monday, September 19, 2011

PREPARING THE YOUSUF KARSH EXHIBIT, ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA

 Eulogio Guzman, Professor in the Visual and Critical Studies Department at the Museum School, Tufts University, lines a plinth in preparation for mounting an ancient piece of Armenian needlework to be on display at the Armenian Library And Museum of America.
This past Saturday afternoon, final preparations were in progress for the opening of the new exhibition of 50 original Yousuf Karsh photographs, a gift to ALMA from Karsh's wife Estrellita, a permanent installation at the Armenian Library and Museum of America (housed in the Benjamin Thompson designed structure in Watertown Square, Watertown, Massachusetts).  A stellar cast including Eulogio Guzman, Professor in the Visual and Critical Studies Department at the Museum School, Tufts University, Keith Crippen, head designer of the Boston Museum of Fine Art's new wing, and Jennifer Munson,  Senior Exhibition Graphic Designer at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, joined Michele Kolligian, Bob Khederian and Gary Lind-Sinanian in putting the finishing touches on the elegantly quartered exhibition.  A private reception for the viewing of the newly installed Karsh exhibit was held at the Armenian Library and Museum of America on Saturday evening, Sept. 17,  for patrons and members.

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Keith Crippen, (right), head designer of the Boston Museum of Fine Art's new wing, measures a wall at the Armenian Library and Museum of America in preparation for mounting a text panel.  An ancient Armenian vessel is on the table to his right.
Jennifer Munson, (left), Senior Exhibition Graphic Designer at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, sharpens the text on a panel describing the Highlights of the Collection being exhibited along with the Yousuf Karsh photographs.
 
Michele Kolligian, Gala Chair, Trustee & Executive Council Member at the Armenian Library and Museum of America, readies a plastic case that will protect Armenian antiquities.  In the background can be seen on display a rare 19th Century Armenian carpet.
Photo Credits for above photos: Marash Girl

8 comments:

  1. MOVE OVER, KARSH . . . MAKE ROOM FOR MARASH GIRL WHOSE SINCERE PHOTOS ARE TERRIFIC, JUST LIKE KARSH'.
    MARASH GIRL DEFINITELY CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF THE MOMENT.

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  2. Hi Marash Girl,

    My grandmother is Maradhtze. I also donated to ALMA the rug on the wall.
    In memory of her

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  3. @AnonymousFrom Marash Girl to Anonymous whose grandmother is Marashtzi: Thank you so much for donating your grandmother's beautiful rug to ALMA. Did she carry the rug here from Marash? Is your grandmother a relative to Marash Girl?

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  4. My grandmother did not make the rug, i bought it. Her mother, Doodoo made a Marasht Nakash in Connecticut, tho. We are not related that i know.

    The rug was made in Artsakh in 1861. It was donated in the memory of a Priest.
    It has a huge dedication in the center.

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  5. @AnonymousTo Anonymous whose grandmother was from Marash. Do you remember any of the stories your grandmother told you about Marash? Could you share them here?

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  6. I am sorry she did not have any. Her grandfather was a rug merchant, and she was 12 when the family escaped. I know they were wealthy and that they had land outside of town, with a granary where Turks killed the men in her family. There or elsewhere she knew that Armenians were killed in Church by being locked in and set on fire. She and her mother escaped to Egypt, then to Massachusetts, then Connecticut. They lived in Indian Orchard for a few years.

    Her grandfather also worked for the Apostolic Church, and may have received a gontag.

    I was always interested to see Marash, but my curiousity was satisfied with Armen Aroyan's films. i won't visit Turkey knowing that millions of Turks still hate Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians enough to kill them.

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  7. @AnonymousResponding to Anonymous who has a grandmother from Marash. What is a Gontag? Marash Girl's grandmother's uncle was the priest of an Armenian Apostolic Church in Marash! She's got lots more stories to tell, many of which she's already recorded in this blog (check previous MarashGirl blogposts), stories related to Marash Girl by her dad who was in Marash until 1922. Luckily, unlike his grandparents, he survived.

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  8. A Gontag is an award for service to the Apostolic Church from Vehapar. I don't know if they existed then. I have a friend at Asbedner Vartanantz who was carried out of Marash as a baby with the French Army.

    My grandmother said that Germans took Armenian children from Marash and that they became German. I think she had in mind a German hospital where Armenians held the enemy at bay.

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