1980_04 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper April 1980

              Page 6
Hye Sharzhoom
April, 1980
Vigil: April 24th service
Discusses animal-headed figures
continued from page 1
from sharing with their fellow
students a fuller understanding
of the Turkish crime against our
people. The ASO hopes that
future conflicts can be avoided.
We would appreciate your
acknowledgement in this matter. Thank you.
Sincerely,
John Tufenkjian, ASO President
Barlow Der Mugrdechian,
Former ASO President
Bryan Bedrosian,
Former ASO President
The ASO's letter and Weber's
reply were printed in both campus
newspapers. In her response, Weber
repeated the administration's concern
over the "heavily congested free-speech
area" but said that she would be willing
to "work with the ASO to schedule
an appropriate observance."
ASO executive members brought
their case before Weber on Wednesday,
March 19, discussing their planned
vigil for nearly an hour. At the meeting
Bedrosian explained that the vigil
has two purposes - to commemorate
and to inform.
"The ASO hopes to expose as many
people as possible to the horror of
the Armenian Genocide and the free-
speech area at noon on April 24 affords
that opportunity," he said.
Weber, however, remained firm.
She said that the ASO could "possibly"
conduct its vigil at 3 p.m., after traffic
in the free-speech area resumes its
normal flow, but noon was strictly
reserved for Vintage Days.
The two sides of the April 24 question
were examined in a "Daily Collegian"
article on Friday, March 21.
ASO President Tufenkjian captured
the significance of April 24 for Armenian
youth.
"We can't enjoy Vintage Days -
we are the victims of what happened
65 years ago," he said.
The article detailed the  historical
background of the  Genocide,  quoting
Bedrosian,    and    noted    the    Turkish
-government's  refusal to  acknowledge
their crime.
On the other side of the issue, the
administration maintained its hard-line
stance on the use of the free-speech area
but suggested that a compromise could
be reached.
"It's just a simple logistics issue,"
said Robert Lundal, Student Affairs
Advisor.
"It's just a simple question of that
particular area not being available at
that time (noon)," he said.
Corcoran, however, believes that there
is room on the free-speech area for both
activities on April 24 and expressed his
sympathy for the Armenian cause at
a March 24 meeting with ASO representatives - the first significant breakthrough
in the impasse.
Corcoran was tentative in his support of
the ASO' s vigil but said he would pursue
the matter further.
At Friday's meeting, with Lundal in
attendance, Corcoran mapped out the
Vintage Days parade rout and marked
possible sites for the ASO's vigil. The
vigil area accepted by the ASO is appox-
imately 75 feet from the center of the
free-speach area. Corcoran and the ASO
will meet again Wednesday, April 9, to
work our further details.
Kouymjian honored by NYU
>s34rmetuati
Featuring:
Opera Star Ara Berberian
CSUF Orchestra
FCC Chorus
CSUF Wind Ensemble
Prof. Dickran Kouymjian - Speaker
THURS, APRIL 24, 8 PM
tyresno (indention Center Theatre
700 "M" Street. Fresno
TICKETS  '60° adults, \J.00 senior citizens and students
Available at Convention Center Box Office
and at all regular outlets.
gmm
By Ruth Thomason
Some years ago, I was wandering
through Greenwich Village. I was
pleasantly surprised to come upon
a building of New York University
with an Armenian name on it. Eagerly,
I entered the Hagop Kevorkian Center
for Near Eastern Studies.
The lobby was designed around
parts of an 18th century Damascus home
of a wealthy Moslem merchant family
using Italian marble in what might be
called Islamic Rococco style. An announcement board listed the week's
activities — nothing pertaining to Armenian studies. I left disappointed. I
wanted to learn about things Armenian,
and what better place could there be
than a building bearing the name
of an Armenian?
I was pleased, therefore, when I
received word of a series of four illustrated lectures by Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, professor of Armenian History
and Art at CSU Fresno, set at the
Hagop Kevorkian Center in December
1979. Kouymjian's topic, "Continuity
and Diversity in Armenian Art: The
Iconography of Pentecost," marks the
first time the Kevorkian lectureship
has dealt with an Armenian topic
and the first time an Armenian has been
invited to present the lectures.
For more than a decade, Kouymjian
has been interested in the artistic
depiction of Pentecost, the Christian
holiday which falls 50 days after the
Resurrection of Christ (Easter Sunday).
The major biblical text in the Acts of the
Apostles explains that on the 50th day,
the 12 disciples were gathered together
in an upper room when "there appeared
unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,
and it sat upon each of them. And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts
2:3,4).
Thus were the disciples each able
to speak the language of the people to
whom they were to spread the word of
Christ. The basic elements or "iconography" of pentecostal representations
include the 12 disciples seated in an
upper room around a table, the Holy
Spirit in the form of a dove radiating
the power to speak foreign languages,
a throne representing Christ and peoples of various nations to whom the
disciples would go to preach.
In the first lecture, entitled, "The
Iconography of Pentecost and Its
Uniquely Armenian Features," Kouymjian gave a general overview of Pentecost in various artistic traditions
such as Syriac and Byzantine. He then
introduced the earliest Armenian
representations of Pentecost known
to exist, a fresco now in crumbling
condition at the Church of Aghtamar
(915-921 A.D.) at Lake Van in historic
Armenia. Among the 150 Armenian
Pentecosts Kouymjian has studied,
a variety of styles and iconographies
are found, some continuing into the 17th
century, others occurring only once.
However, in the 13th century, in some
manuscript illuminations, an animal-
headed figure begins to appear in the
section representing the peoples to
whom the disciples went to preach.
Kouymjian discussed these uniquely
Armenian animal-headed figures
and the "Metamorphosis of a King"
in his second lecture. Early in his research, he had tried to establish a relationship between the animal-headed
figures and the legend of the Armenian King Trdat's conversion to Christianity in the early 4th century. The
story is that the pagan king was turned
into a wild pig after he had massacred
a group of Christian virgins, and that
it was the Christian evangelist, Gregory
the Illuminator, who purged Trdat of
his animal form and made him human
again. The grateful king then established Christianity as the official religion
of Armenia.
In his third lecture, "Dogs among
Men and a Man among Dogs: St.
Andrew and the Cynocephali," Kouymjian indicated he was no longer confident
of the King Trdat theory. He feels
the traditional identification of the
figure as a dog-headed (cynocephalous)
is correct in most cases where only a
single head is evident; double-headed
figues (man and animal) still require
explanation. Kouymjian has developed
his interpretation based on the theory
that early authors, in discussing the
missionary activity of the Apostle
Andrew to the "land of the dog-head"
(beit kalbin in Syriac texts) had confused
the term "kalb" (dog) with Banu Kalb,
the name of an important Arab tribe
which converted to Christianity in the
5th or 6th century.
He illustrated this point with a slide
of a pentecostal miniature from the
Haroutune Hazarian collection. This
single-page, unbound miniature, dated
1477, with a central figure whose
head is rendered like that of a setter,
has at both top and bottom of the page
the Armenian words "Arabatsin", and
"Shanaglukh" (dog-headed), respectively. Kouymjian feels that these inscriptions relate convincingly to the ministry
of Andrew among the Arabs.
Kouymjian completed his series of
lectures discussing the Armenian
tradition of miniature painting as it
relates to the iconography of Pentecosts.
The Hagop Kevorkian Lectureship
in Near Eastern Art and Civilization
came home, so to speak, as it provided
a forum for Armenian research to be
shared with the public.
Armenian Action
Editors — Mark Malkasian, Bill Erysian
Staff — Barlow Der Mugrdechian,
Warren Paboojian, Bryan Bedrosian, Cindy Avakian, Flora Tchader-
jian, Mark Najarian, Mark Arax,
Mara! Tchaderjian, Bill Sahatdjian.
Ad   Manager   —   Jim   Malkasian
Advisor — Dr. Dickran Kouymjian
The "Hye Sharzhoom" is the official
publication of the CSUF Armenian
Students Organization. Articles
may be reprinted provided the
"Hye Sharzhoom", CSUF, is acknowledged.
Armenian Studies Program
CSUF
Fresno, CA 93740
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