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“Every object has its place” in porcelain exhibitSignature works ofthe Russian ImperialWorkshop are ondisplay in YerevanCollecting art has been the passionof art historian, philosopher,and writer Ruben Angaladyanfor more than four decades. Hisextensive art collections havebeen on display in Yerevan severaltimes. Apart from paintingsand sculptures, he has collectedporcelain, mainly the signatureworks of the Russian ImperialWorkshop, which were on displayat the Museum-House ofYeghishe Charents in Yerevanfrom September 29 to October 6.“This exhibition, titled, ‘EveryObject Has its Place,’ includesthe works from the worldrenownedSt. Petersburg porcelainfactory. Included in the exhibitionare samples from theLomonos-Kaiser factory, whichwas responsible for makingRussian porcelain renownedthe world over,” explains Mr.Angaladyan.The exhibition also displayedworks by A.V. Vorobyuzsk, oneof the masters of the secondhalf of the 20th century. Hisworks have become classics. His“Winter Fairytale” collectionbrought him internationalrecognition, especially after itwas exhibited at the KremlinMuseum.A collection of cups by I.Morozov, which were made atthe Russian Imperial Workshop,are superb duplicates of thecoffee cups used by Peterthe Great and his daughter,Elizabeth II, the originalsof which are found at theHermitage in St. Petersburg.By 1925, the Russian ImperialWorkshop was at the height ofits production. That year, duringan international exhibitionin Paris, it won practically allthe gold and silver medalsin competition. The samehappened at the exhibition inMilan, Italy. Today, porcelainfrom the Russian ImperialWorkshop is sought by all majormuseums around the world. connect:www.bvahan.com/rubenangaladianCups by I. Morozov, which were made at the Russian Imperial Workshop.Challenging artist friends with a round spaceRouben Angaladyanhas created a newmovement with hiscollection of paintedplatesby Betty Panossian-TerSarkissianRouben Angaladyan began collectingart pieces in 1967, whenhe was studying art history inSaint Petersburg. He was only 20years old. At first, he collectedthe works of his artist friends,pieces expressing a free spiritvis-à-vis Soviet oppression.Collecting art has been the passionof this art historian, philosopher,and writer for more thanfour decades. Angaladyan describeshimself as someone witha broad approach toward art.Apart from paintings and sculptures,he has collected porcelain,mainly the signature works ofthe Russian Imperial Workshop.One of his private collections ofArmenian contemporary artists’signature plates were exhibitedlast year at the Gevorgyan Galleryin Yerevan.Can you paint a platefor me?The concept of the plate exhibitionwas born out of a simplegesture by one of Angaladyan’sartist friends, painter RobertElibekyan, who in 2003 gave Angaladyana special gift, a paintedround plate. That plate becamethe first art piece of his newcollection. “It was the very firstplate of the signature work of acontemporary Armenian painter,”Angaladyan says.He goes on to explain that,through the ages, Armenianartists have rarely occupiedthemselves with painting onplates, with the exception ofsome solitary works by two orthree Armenian artists in thebeginning of the 20th century.“We must say that in the Armenianapplied arts we lack signatureplates painted by artists,”Angaladyan says. “And when Ireceived my very first paintedplate, I thought of the manyartist friends of mine and consideredasking each to paint mea plate.”Angaladyan’s fascinationwith painted plates broughtabout a new trend among Armenianartists: that of paintingon round plates. At first theart specialist asked his painterfriends to make him presentsof round plates featuring theirpainting. Soon the enthrallmentof experimenting on theround space of plates spreadto include dozens of Armenianpainters from Armenia andabroad.That resulted in a huge collection(exceeding 60 signaturepainted plates), worth around$200,000. Not a single artistrefused his or her friend’s request.Marina Dilanyan, TeniVardanyan, Edward Kharadyan,RoubenAngaladyanHasmik Sevoyan, and ArmenGevorgyan were among thefirst to contribute their paintedplates to the new collection.By 2005, around 30 paintershad contributed to the collection.In 2006, ten more painterscontributed. In the sameyear, Angaladyan exhibited hiscollection for the first time, atthe Museum-House of YeghisheCharents in Yerevan. “It wasthe first-ever exhibition of signatureplates by Armenian artists,”Angaladyan says.For his second exhibition, Angaladyanchose the GevorgyanGallery, one of the few professionalart galleries functioningin Yerevan. “The gallery has anamazing approach to the finearts, has high artistic taste, and,most importantly, all that is reflectedon the exhibition hall,”Plates from Angaladyan’s collection.Angaladyan says.The difference of age betweenthe youngest and the oldestpainters exhibited in the collectionis 65 years. The exhibitionhas several themes. “The exhibitionreflects time throughvarious viewpoints and styles,”Angaladyan explains, referringto the fact that styles includefigurative, surrealist, pop art,installation art, and abstractart. “There is everything fromContinued on page 15 10 Armenian Reporter Arts & Culture | October 10, 2009
Migration issues have always interested RubinyanHakob Rubinyan finds it useful to be in the United States when writing a show about Armenians in America.Without a doubt everyone livingin Armenia has at least one relative,friend, or acquaintance inthe United States. With advancesin different forms of communication,everyone believes he orshe has a pretty good idea of thelives of Armenian- Americans.To further shed light on thisreality is the TV show The Immigrants,which is about the lifeof an Armenian family living inthe United States.The show, which is broadcaston USArmenia TV, portrays acertain reality. The show’s principalwriter, Hakob Rubinyan,came to the United States tomore closely follow American-Armenian reality and be able towrite truthfully about it.Varuzhan Navasartyan:Many people know you as a TVcommentator. Now, it seemsyou have decided to changeyour direction.Hakob Rubinyan: In general,I am a journalist. During themid-1990s I had a show calledAysor (Today), which was shutdown in 1999 for my so-calledover-the-top “political revelations.”As for being the screenwriter[for the show], I havebeen writing for more than 15years. I wrote the script for MerAybenaran and for a documentaryon Armenian industry andArmenia’s national soccer team.I have also written the screenplaysfor Qami der kam, Mi LusankariBadmutyn, and others.Therefore, I have not betrayedmy creative principles.VN: At this time, you havedecided to write the script for atelevision series.HR: Under different circumstances,most probably I wouldhave declined to write for ashow. However, after thinkingabout it for a while, I said tomyself, “Why Not?” The idea interestedme. The subject of immigrationhas always interestedme. Even before I receivedthe offer from USArmenia TVto write the script for The Immigrants,I was in the UnitedStates. At that time I was consideringwriting not a movieabout migration, but a documentaryfilm. By the way, I stillhaven’t given up on that idea.After The Immigrants I will focusmy attention on that film.VN: How is the writing progressing?HR: Out of 160 episodes, Ihave already written 45.VN: Is it easy to write for a televisionseries?HR: You won’t believe this, butin a week’s time I write about 150book pages. In other words, in amonth’s time I have written closeto two volumes. Can you imaginewhat kind of massive work it is?VN: You began working onthe script in Armenia, and thencontinued writing in the UnitedStates. Was there any particularreason for that?HR: The reason was strictlycreative. It is difficult to writeabout a country and its inhabitants,while living in anothercountry. And in reality, you canreally feel the American reality inAmerica, more so than in Yerevan.And aside from that, here Iget to meet with people from differentspheres, whose charactersare in the show: lawyers, policeofficers, insurance agents, doctors,psychiatrists, and others.VN: Do you consult withrepresentatives of the Mafia?Many viewers of The Immigrantshave the understandingthat the show is about the Armeniamafia in the U.S.HR: First of all, let me disagreewith your statement. Theshow has many different thematiclayers. Everything is includedhere – drama, tragedy,action, love, the idea of goodand bad. I want to say that theshow is conceived to be viewedby many different layers of society.And if I was going to callthe show anything, I would callit a show about life. Aside fromthat, each person can see forhim or herself, what Americanlife is about.VN: Let me rephrase my lastquestion: is the series aboutreal issues?HR: The main character who isplayed by Levon Sharafyan, hashis real prototype.VN: And who would that be?HR: I can’t say.VN: Why?HR: He’s a member of the mafia[he smiles].Hidden talents emerge at Ford Boyardby Seda BoghosyanThe hit TV show Ford Boyard,airing on USArmenia TV, is notonly attracting more viewers,but is also disclosing the hiddentalents of those Armenian starstaking part in the program. Lastweek’s show, apart from amazingus, also raised some issuesamong our viewers.During the show, actress NazeniHovanessian wasn’t ableto successfully complete one ofthe challenges. It appeared toeveryone that she had a phobiaof heights. While walkingalong a high wall, she wasclearly terrified. However forthe next challenge, which entailedriding a bike upside downwhile suspended in the air,she seemed to perform effortlessly.“I don’t have a phobia ofheights, I’ve even ridden in ahot air balloon,” said Ms. Hovanessian.“As for failing to completethe first challenge, it wasa combination of unfamiliarityand panic. I couldn’t catch mybreath. For the next challenge,I decided to do everything possibleto get through it.”In the meantime, for herchallenge with the dominoes,the singer Shprot had placedher faith in God’s help. Watchingher use her hands so deftly,people began to wonder if thewell-known singer was beinghonest when she said she hadno professional musical trainingbecause only a professionallytrained pianist could have beenso brilliant at the game. “I reallydon’t have any professional musicaltraining. I don’t know howpianists would have handledthat situation; however I dideverything in my power not tobe nervous, even though at theend, my hands were shaking.At that moment I was relyingon a supernatural power. Asidefrom that, I ascribe my successon the fact that I don’t drink orsmoke,” said the singer.At any rate, there was onechallenge that even supernaturalpowers couldn’t helpShprot with. When she had togo into the water with one ofher fellow participants, singerArame, she refused. It was duringthat challenge that Aramewas able to show viewers ofFort Boyard how to succeedwhen one is excellent physicalshape and quick on his feet.We were able to find out thatthe singer often goes to thegym and has always had a lovefor sports. “At the fort, I wassurprised that they weren’t lettingme do the harder, physicalchallenges, because at the gymI lift heavy weights,” Aramesaid. “And so, they were givingme the more awkward challengesand many people weresurprised that I was able to successfullycomplete them.”Arame’s only complaint aboutthe freezing water was that hecouldn’t find a swimming suit inhis size and therefore had to gointo the water in his underwear.During the show, the teamkept calling out numbers followedby Hovo’s name when hewas attempting his challenges.Many people watching the episodecouldn’t understand whatthose numbers meant. Theywere in fact, showman HovhanessAzoyan’s (Hovo) telephonenumber. “Hovo is my goodfriend and has a good sense ofhumor. I knew that he wouldn’tArmeniansoutside FortBoyard, wherea hit reality TVshow is recorded.get upset even from this naughtyjoke,” said Arame, who wasresponsible for the idea.Shprot recalls, “We knewwe were being ‘naughty’ but itwas giving us strength by being‘naughty.’” The team haddecided to let Hovo in on theirjoke once they arrived in Yerevan,however they couldn’tkeep the secret and let Hovoknow while they were still inFrance to prepare him for thebarrage of calls he would soonbe receiving.Armenian Reporter Arts & Culture | October 10, 2009 11
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