Untitled - Narodowe Centrum Kultury

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Travel Plan:
Armenians
in Poland
Travel Plan: Armenians in
Poland is a project aimed at
spreading knowledge of one of
the oldest ethnic minorities in
Poland, whose members have
had a huge influence on Polish
history and culture. Join us on
this exciting journey along an
extraordinary route marked
with stories about the history,
customs and everyday life
of Polish Armenians. We are
plotting “a travel plan”
– a list of locations for those
who want to set off to discover
the unexpected. We guarantee
fascinating meetings with
people who see themselves as
Armenians.
w
e are convinced that cultural
differences may serve as an
inspiration and, at the same
time, may help build a sense of cultural, generational
and social community. This is the
case with Travel Plan: Armenians in Poland,
a project focusing on a group of people who
have made travel a crucial aspect of their
lifestyle. By inviting people to take part in our
Armenian journey, we want to inspire them
to find out what people have in common and
what makes them different.
the project
Travel Plan is a real and virtual tour including
a variety of references, grouped into three
paths: people, locations and key events relevant
for Armenians. We speak about the past
and the present in an accessible multimedia
form, taking everyone on a journey along an
extraordinary route that each traveller will
plan for themselves.
In 2010 we formed a team of researchers
who carried out fieldwork involving
search for and documentation of Armenian
traces throughout Poland. Then,
together with experts, representatives of the
Armenian minority and scholars, we presented
our research findings in the form of
written texts, audio recordings, videos and
iconography. All materials were published
on the project’s website in the form of virtual
route and multimedia presentations.
We also created an e-learning platform
to disseminate knowledge about Armenians
in social, historical and cultural contexts. It
aims to offer insight into Armenia, the Armenian
diaspora and the history of Armenians
in Poland. Travel Plan was also presented in
the form of an illustrated album at a number
of photography exhibitions, and in a film
tracing the presence of the Armenian minority.
In the final stage of the project, scores of
locations in Poland will be tagged with matrix
barcodes to guide travellers along the route
of Armenian stories.
The project culminated in an interdisciplinary
conference entitled Travel Plan. Polish
Armenians, Armenians in Poland, which
was held in December 2010 in Kraków’s Ethnographic
Museum. A post-conference publication
is available online. We are continuing
the project and adding a community section
to the project’s website, including the option
of adding your own places, events and people.
In addition, Travel Plan is being used in
the development of the first e-learning system
for Armenian schools in Poland.
target groups / media
The activities were geared toward all those
interested in ethnological work, i.e. finding
and documenting examples of the presence
of Armenians in Poland, and toward
two groups of Armenians and the communities
in which they live. We worked together
with collaborators, volunteers (mostly humanities
students) and representatives of
local governments and institutions who both
executed and participated in the educational