ARMENIAN ART HISTORY
at
the Yerevan State University,
Yerevan, Armenia
Established in April, 1996 UNESCO Chair of Armenian Art
History (UNESCO CAAH) at Yerevan State University
(YSU) in Yerevan, Republic of Armenia is responsible for
newly organised Art History Department, and intends to
advance high education in the field of art history in Armenia
and through distance education worldwide.
UNESCO CAAH is a research and educational center. It's
academic projects correspond to main projects of UNESCO
such as Silk Road Project and Culture and Art of the
Mediterranean area. The academic staff of UNESCO CAAH
will focus its attention on exploration of the interrelations of
Armenian Art with the arts of neighboring countries and
peoples.
CAAH is supported by UNESCO and YSU and also by the
Armenian Community in USA. Recently UNESCO CAAH
received from V. Der Manuelian (from Boston) the donation
for establishment of Arshag Fetvajian Art Library.
UNESCO CAAH had been supported also by GETTY ART
HISTORY INFORMATION PROGRAM which donated
art software and literature.
The fragmented educational system of YSU is in the process
of fundamental change, and although this process has
received rare governmental support, the major initiatives
and solutions must be advanced through private endeavors
and resources if substantial progress is to take place.
Because of the crisis of Soviet and East European economies
over this last decade, there is currently no effective means of
support for the maintenance of collaboration among the art
history educational centers of Armenia, Russia, East and
West European countries and USA.
CAAH of YSU intends to compensate those difficulties
through the use of modern telecom technologies based upon
Internet.
UNESCO CAAH of YSU is unique in former Soviet Union territory as its nucleus
is formed by scholars and graduates who received their professional education not
only in Armenia and Russia, but also France, Germany, England. In the
educational work of CAAH are involved also scholars of the Mashdots
Matenadaran (Institute of Old Manuscripts in Yerevan) and the Institute of Fine
Art of the National Academy of Armenia.
The patronage and network of UNESCO will provide an international orientation
to CAAH of YSU where the language of instruction is Armenian, but guest
lecturers will teach also in English , French , German and Russian.
Head of Chair:
 | Dr. Levon Chookaszian
| Address: | 36E Tigran Mets, Apt. 30, 375018
Yerevan, ARMENIA |
| Phone: | (3742) 566-540 |
| Fax: | (818)956-0143 USA |
| E-mail | garik@itgateway.com |
|
Other Members of Chair:
Garegin Chookaszian, Director of Digital Media Program,
e-mail: garik@itgateway.com
To advance high education in the field of art history in
Armenia and through distance education worldwide
Art heritage is the mirror of the world and its memory.
But that memory is fragile. Every day, fragments, if not
entire sections of the art heritage disappear forever. To
guard against collective amnesia, it must remain our aim
to preserve paintings, sculpture, architecture, applied
arts and also manuscripts and other rare and valuable art
material existing in any form, whether written,
audio-visual or electronic, and to ensure their wider
dissemination. For this reason, UNESCO CAAH has
launched a vast and ambitious programme entitled
"ARMENIAN DIGITAL ART PROJECT". The
twofold purpose of that programme is to safeguard and
promote the endangered world of Armenian Art heritage.
The scale and structure of the programme are such that
intellectual, technical and financial partnerships will be
required. In this programme, UNESCO CAAH intends
to act as a co-ordinator and catalyst. Strong and
long-term program partnership with different institutions
worldwide will give to UNESCO CAAH of YSU
opportunity to strengthen the research and educational
work on the international level.
UNESCO CAAH intends to solve above mentioned
problems transferring new information processing digital
technologies into the humanities
education of specialists in the humanities to use advanced
Software-assisted methods and art software as well as WWW
technologies
investigation, developing and adaptation of new digital technologies for
the needs of the humanities
delivering postgraduate and undergraduate courses on art history.
Software-assisted methods and art software can be useful for the
teaching of World Art History. The future of electronic scholarship is
impossible to imagine without involving students in the computerized
environment.
delivering the special courses for the specialists:
- the basics of digital signal processing
- digital recording and editing
- multimedia presentation (e-books, distance education courses based
upon WWW)
providing specialists in the humanities with computer resources for:
- digitization of audio-visual and textual materials according to
international standards
- recording of those materials on CD-ROM discs
- multimedia presentation (e-books, distance education courses based
upon WWW)
developing pilot projects, consultations
Silk Road Project
Armenian Art and the Mediterranian Culture
The Projects are part of research activity of postgraduate and undergraduate students.
Organization of educational process in accordance with the modern
demands is impossible without the creation of networked digital resources in
the field of Armenian Art. One of the goals of the UNESCO CAAH is to
establish the digital resources of Armenian Art and to provide the users with
the most recent information in that field via Internet.
Thousands of Armenian artworks are not published and studied so they
need to be described and converted to electronic form. Armenian Digital Art
project is also important from the point of view of the electronically
resourced future of learning. The use of the electronically networked
resources will make the process of teaching and learning much more
effective and attractive.
UNESCO CAAH expects the financial assistance for Armenian Digital Art
project and also ''Electronic biographical dictionary of Armenian Artists and
architects.'' These are relatively large scale, human intensive,
cross-disciplinary, longitudinal projects and will require considerable support
over a number of years.
The CAAH plans to begin with documentation of resource sets according to
the standards of the Getty Art History Information Program with whome it
has established working relations.
The head of UNESCO CAAH, Dr. Levon Chookaszian and Technical
Director of Digital Media Program of UNESCO CAAH Garegin
Chookaszian have long experience in this field. They are the initiators of The
Virtual Museum of Armenian Art (multimedia software series, begun 1991).
They have demonstrated it during different lectures in various universities
and libraries since 1992 (including MIT 1992, 1993, the symposium ''Topics
on Persian Art and History'', organized in January of 1993 at UCLA,
Pasadena Public Library etc.).
Dr. L. Chookaszian and other Armenian Art experts who are involved in the
work of CAAH organized a large archive of the biographies of Armenian
artists and architects. This archive materials were used for the joint work
with Saur Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon (Munchen-Leipzig), which is the
world's greatest biographical encyclopedia of artists. Dr. L. Chookaszian is
the initiator of the collaboration with this encyclopedia, also one of the
authors and editor of all articles that are written in Armenia since 1990
about Armenian artists, architects and published in 5th-12th volumes of
German directory.
Biographies of hundreds of Armenian architects and artists of many
centuries are neither studied not published yet and their works are scattered
on the territories, museums, and libraries of different countries. The creation
of the digital dictionary of the biographies of these artists and architects will
give an access to the resources of Armenian Art and will be the source of
learning. This electronic dictionary will be the essential part of the distant
educational program of UNESCO CAAH.
CAAH will focus its attention on distance education and will expect the help
of sponsors to gain access to e-mail and the Internet for organization of the
electronic lectures and international symposiums on Armenian Art and its
relations with the arts of other countries and nations.
Sponsorship is important for further evolution of higher education in the
field of art history in Armenia due to using distant education possibilities.
Software-assisted methods and art-software can be useful for teaching of
World Art history. The future of electronic scholarship is impossible to
imagine without involving students in the computerized environment.
Current knowledge in the area of World Art history is still quite inadequate
in Armenia, so significant funding is needed to learn more about teaching
and learning using digital technologies.
On-line International conferance on Internet devoted to the
100th anniversary of Sirarpi Der Nersessian in September
1996
The papers presented in this conferance will concern the interests of Sirarpi Der
Nersessian , her life and scholarly heritage. There will also be papers on digital
revolution and medieval studies.
The conferance will involve topics on Armenian and Byzantine art history, artistic
exchanges and dialogues of the peoples of the Mediterranean, Armenian and
Byzantine history.
We hope that this unique web site would become the first, but not only,
permanent virtual meeting territory for the Armenologists and Medievalists from
all over the world, thus creating an authority on the Net in these fields.
This event will provide us the opportunity to promote the Armenian Art and
historical heritage over the Internet, including introduction and presentation of
several Web related projects initiated by the Yerevan UNESCO Chair.
This is a difficult task without more fully integration into the international
academic community. UNESCO CAAH is interested in cooperation with the other
educational and research centers.
UNESCO sponsorship will give to CAAH the opportunity to increase and
innovate its electronic potential, and involve more scholars and technical
staff in this project. The support of other involved parties will help UNESCO
CAAH to strengthen the educational process at Art History Department of
YSU.
UNESCO CAAH is interested in advices and suggestions of the experts for
developing joint initiatives between the best art history programs in the region of
former Soviet Union, Europe and worldwide.
Economic situation of the last decade on territory of former Soviet Union
and former Socialist countries is no more effective for the maintenance of
collaboration between art history educational centers of Armenia, Georgia,
Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and etc.
Funding awarded by sponsors to UNESCO CAAH will be used for joint
symposia and research projects with the scholars of these countries. The
international symposiums and seminars will be organised by UNESCO
CAAH and they will concern the problems of cultural dialogues between
different peoples.
Support of sponsors to UNESCO CAAH will bring together a group of
international experts and involve them in the teaching process at Art History
Department of YSU.
Part of the funding will be used for long distance lecturers' fees, travel
expenses and running costs. Financial assistance will be important also for
advanced students, faculty and non-academic staff exchanges. Scholarship
grants awarded to Art History Department students may be used by CAAH
to continue young people schooling and for the intensive study of English.
CAAH expects funding for running costs for a full 20 computer classroom at
Art History Department of YSU. Support will be essential for the students'
access to art projects on Internet and World Wide Web and establishment of
art software library at UNESCO CAAH which will be innovative and
exceptional in the region ( GETTY ART HISTORY Information Program
software already has been donated).
Sponsors can provide assistance to UNESCO CAAH for printing of
textbooks on Armenian and World Art, as during past decades the art
historians and art critics of Armenia were not encouraged to produce such
literature.
The goal of UNESCO CAAH is to coordinate the work done in all
educational and research centers, museums and libraries of Armenia.
With the patronage and support of UNESCO, YSU, GETTY ART HISTORY
INFORMATION PROGRAM and private donors, CAAH and Art History
Department at YSU can help to revive the educational, cultural and
intellectual life in Yerevan and entire Armenia.
CHAIR
Registration Form
On-line International conferance on Internet devoted to the 100th
anniversary of Sirarpi Der Nersessian in September 1996
Please fill in the registration form and return it by e-mail to garik@itgateway.com or by normal
mail to:
Deadline for Registration: 1 AUGUST 1996
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Updated: JUNE 16, 1996