InternationalArtbridge takes books to the regions of Armenia
Vartan Oskanian’s “Speaking to be Heard,” Tatul Hakobyan’s “Green and Black,” and Janna Hakobyan’s novels presented in Gyumri
Published: Saturday June 20, 2009
Shake Havan of Artbridge showing a children’s book to an interested mother. Armenian Reporter
Gyumri, Armenia - On June 12, a book exhibition and sale took place along one of Gyumri's most popular pedestrian streets. The event was organized by Yerevan's Artbridge Bookstore Cafe and Gyumri's Elav Bookstore. Avid readers in Gyumri, Armenia's second-largest city, had the opportunity to purchase books at cost or at a very reasonable price. The books represented different genres and were by a variety of authors: Hovhaness Tumanian's fairy tales, international art books, dozens of dictionaries, Armenian and international classics, and fiction and poetry by contemporary Armenian authors.
Shakeh Havan, the owner of Artbridge, explained that for the past six years they have been holding similar exhibitions and sales of books outside of the capital city, primarily in the villages. "The last time we organized such an exhibition was in February, in Azatamut, a village in the Tavush province. This time we organized an exhibition-sale in Gyumri, first and foremost because we met the owner of Elav Bookstore, Seyran Gevorgyan, and as a result everything went smoothly," Havan says.
The Gyumri exhibition sale refuted, at least in part, the opinion among literary circles that Armenians hardly buy or read books. In a matter of three hours, a large number of books were sold. The exhibition-sale took place in front of Elav Bookstore, which is located on a pedestrian-only street. Many people who were walking, including children, young and old alike, expressed interest in the books that were on exhibit and for sale.
"We hope that such exhibitions will bring together the reader and the book and interest toward literature will slowly be rekindled as it was in the past," said Elav Bookstore's Seyran Gevorgyan.
A few weeks ago, during an 8th-anniversary street celebration at Artbridge in Yerevan, a large flip chart was placed on Abovian Street and passersby were asked to write the name of the last book they had read.
[English-language titles included Goodnight Moon, The Invention of History, Caucasus Chronicles, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. There were many titles in Armenian and some in Russian.]
"Some would stop and write the name of the last book they had read, others wouldn't. We did the same thing in Gyumri. The interesting thing about the Gyumri exhibition-sale was that almost everyone, of every age, would stand in front of the flip chart and had to think hard to remember which book they had last read. This was a very interesting survey. We will be presenting the results to publishers so that they will know what people today are reading," Havan said.
Immediately following the exhibition-sale, former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian's book, Speaking to be Heard, was launched at Gyumri's Museum of National Architecture and Urban Life, which is better known as the Dzitoghtsyan House Museum. Apart from Speaking to be Heard, Armenian Reporter senior correspondent Tatul Hakobyan's Green and Black: Artsakh Diaries, and four books by Janna Hakboyan (see profile on facing page) were also on sale. All three authors were present at the event.
"We are the distributor for Vartan Oskanian's book. We decided that in Gyumri, along with Speaking to be Heard, we should present books that had a relation to his book. That is why we decided to present Green and Black, which is a historical narrative - whereas Oskanian's book is more contemporary. Janna Hakobyan's novel about Karabakh, in our opinion, is a mixture of Oskanian's and Tatul Hakobyan's books," Havan said.
Armenia's former foreign minister told those present that his book had already been launched in Yerevan, Stepanakert, Syria, and Lebanon and it wasn't possible to bypass Gyumri, which was not only Armenia's second-largest city but a historic and beautiful city. Mr. Oskanian recalled that at the beginning of the 20th century, Gyumri played an important role in terms of Armenia's foreign policy. In November 1920, Armenian authorities, under the leadership of Aleksandr Khatisian, conducted agonizing negotiations with Kazim Karabekir in Gyumri.
Tatul Hakobyan said that it was especially important for him to present his book in Gyumri (for the second time in a matter of a few months) because Green and Black, which is about Karabakh, begins and ends with a story about a family from Vahramaberd in the Shirak province. This was the tenth book talk by Tatul Hakobyan since Green and Black was published nine months ago.
A book signing and reception followed the ceremony.
