2000_05 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper May 2000

              6
Hye Sharzhoom
May 2000
Architecture Course Leads Students to Appreciation of Armenian Art
By Christopher M. Tozlian
Staff Writer
During the last weekend of
February, I had the opportunity to attend Dr.
Dickran Kouymjian's Armenian
Studies 123 class, which was a
course on Armenian Architecture.
Although I had serious doubts about
taking this class, I semi-willfully
enrolled assuming that it would be
both uninteresting and a waste of
my time due to the subject-matter.
However, I could not have been
more wrong in this assumption; Dr.
Kouymjian's class proved to be
intellectually stimulating and fascinating because he taught in a way
that made me and the rest of the
class want to learn more.
The zeal that Dr.
Kouymjian exhibits as he teaches
is truly what makes the course interesting. He speaks as one who is
fascinated with the subject-matter
itself and yet he teaches at the students' level, so as not to confuse
them. This, together with his extensive studies dealing with Armenian architecture and his in-depth
travels, make Dr. Kouymjian the
ideal professor to teach this course.
When asked about the Armenian Studies 123 course, fourth-
year student Jennifer Keledjian responded, "It was a truly enjoyable
course. I learned a lot and it was
great to have such a knowledgeable professor teaching the course."
Students from Armenian Architecture class gather around Dr. Kouymjian
The course itself focused
on-Armenian architecture, especially churches built in Armenia
between Armenia's conversion to
Christianity (traditional date of 301
A.D.) and the successful Muslim
military campaign against Armenia during the mid-eighth century.
Among other church types, we studied a large number of domed-basilica churches, basilicas, and centrally-planned churches, just to
mention a few.
By the end of the first
course meeting, I was fascinated
by the number of students who had
taken the course. There were about
thirty-five of us and, to my surprise,
many were not Armenian Studies
minors. This course usually
wouldn't be taken by students who
don't need Armenian Studies units
but this semester a large percentage
of the people in attendance came
for various other reasons. Some
people needed upper-division credits, some people came because their
friends had to come, but many came
because they had a genuine interest
in Armenian Architecture, myself
Tatoulian Stars inOne Woman Show
By Shayla Srabian
Staff Writer
felt like I was coming home. The
first time I performed was at the
Right: Lory Tatoulian as the Fortune Teller
On Thursday evening April
13,2000, California State
University, Fresno was
treated to a performance by artist
Lory Tatoulian. Lory was bom in
Reedley, California and moved to
San Diego at the age of twelve. She
is now a senior at San Diego State
where she is majoring in Theater.
She wrote five original pieces and
performed them on stage at the
University Satellite Student Union.
Lory knew at an early age that
she wanted to be a performer. "It
Peach Blossom Festival at Fresno
State in the third grade. After I won
I knew I wanted to be a performer.
It was neat to come back to Fresno
and perform in "An Evening of
Five Very Original Performance
Pieces".
The performance dealt with
today's social issues and the Armenian Genocide. Her grandmother's
survival of the Genocide inspired
her to write these pieces.
The first piece, titled "Simone
Catchatone," also starred Rian
Bohner. This piece spoke of print
ads and the strong influence they
have in our society. Lory captured
the audience's attention as she powerfully strode on the runway with
her outrageous outfits that portrayed
the fashion business. In the words
of Simon Catchatone, "I am the
most beautiful woman in the world,
everyone wants to be me!" This
statement was comical but held a
lot of truth of how society looks at
these false images for validation.
Lory's second piece "Beautiful Armenian Girl" was a strong
piece and told the story of her grand- .
mother who survived the 1915 Armenian Genocide. In the background a picture of her grandmother.
was projected as she brilliantly told
her story. The piece spoke'of the
horror and sadness ofthe genocide
and migration to America. She
expressed the hope and happiness
she now can have in America.
In the third piece, "Hidden," ,
she played a woman with many
phobias and obsessions.
In the fourth piece "Hripsime"
she was a gypsy-like fortune teller
who comically read the fortune,
through the reading of coffee cups,
of Gina Alvarado who starred with
her. Lory gave the secret of how to
catch your man.
The last piece "Ritual" spoke
of bringing the two worlds together,
the Armenian world and the world
itself. Bringing together all of the
material things, the rules, the norms,
but at the same time holding on to
Christian Faith.
Lory's performance was creatively done. She gave a powerful
performance. Well done Lory!
included.
I have been asked since
completing the course what I liked
most about the course, and to that
my response has been that it truly is
interesting. I would earnestly rec
ommend this course to anyone who
is interested in architecture or interested in learning more about the
history of the Armenian people.
Personally, I have come to a greater
understanding of the contribution
that the Armenian architects had
on the architectural community
worldwide. If nothing else, their
ability to suspend stone in mid-air
in the form of stone roofs is impressive.
However, a great by-product of this course was that it brought
together people that normally would
not have met. Upper division
courses are usually only taken by
students planning to obtain a degree in that subject, or a related
subject, but this course brought together students of all ages with
very different degree aspirations;
this lack of uniformity actually
added to the cohesiveness of the
group of students and made the
course even more enjoyable. Armenian Studies 123, Armenian
Architecture, was an excellent
course ^aught by a great professor;
it proved to be well-worth my time
to attend and complete this course.
Documentary "Surviving
on the Richter Scale"
John Jabagchourian
Editor
After the devastation of the
December 7, earthquake
in Leninakan (now called
Gyumri), Armenia eleven years
ago, it is hard to believe that survivors who had lost nearly everything could maintain hope through
the pains of their tragedy.
Yet stories of people
crushed with despair but filled with
hope and inspiration were the subjects of the documentary "Surviving on the Richter Scale," presented
at St. Paul Armenian Church on
April 27.
Araz Artinian, a 26 year-
old filmmaker from Montreal,
Canada, visited Fresno to present
her film, a documentary on the
1988 Armenian Earthquake.
Artinian brings to the screen the
vivid stories of 11 survivors who
describe their hopes and optimism
for the future as it masks their everyday struggles amongst the aftermath.
"Surviving on the Richter Scale" is Well acclaimed for
Artinian's ability to emphasize the
positive aspects of the survivors'
lives over the negative. The story
of Martin Pashayan is an example
of inspiration in her documentary.
Pashayan, a French teacher in Armenia, witnessed his students die
when the earthquake shattered his
classroom. He went home to find
his wife and children dead amongst
the debris. Pashayan was overcome by depression and sorrow;
however, he found the willingness
to live as he translated for French
physicians during rescue missions
and went back to teaching, first in
tents, and then in the new French
School of Gyumri.
Pashayan's story is just
one of the many stories providing
hope for those still devastated by
the earthquake.
Artinian's interest and inspiration for the project goes back
to when she and her father, an architect, would collect articles published in papers about the earthquake. For ten years she carried the
images from the news clippings of
her fellow Armenians suffering. In
Araz Artinian
her final year at Concordia University she decided to use her archive
in her basement as the bases for her
research and put together this documentary.
The 44-minute documentary was a culmination of seven
months of research, one month of
interviewing and filming in Armenia and 12 months of post-production.
"Surviving on the Richter
Scale" has received many awards
and accolades including Best Documentary award at the 29th Montreal
Student Film Festival, a Silver
Hugo at the 35th Chicago International Film and Video Festival
and a Bronze Plaque at the 47th
Columbus International Film
and Video Festival in Ohio.
The Armenian Studies
Program and St. Paul Armenian
Church Parish Mission Program
co-sponsored the special Fresno
showing of "Surviving on the
Richter Scale."