Armenian Culture

Thousands of people celebrated Armenian culture this week at the Civic Auditorium through art, dance, history and food — lots of it. The Armenian Relief Society of the Western United States ushered thousands of people to its Armenian Festival at the Civic Auditorium, where there were endless servings of shish kebabs, yershig sandwiches, sarma, tabouleh and baklava. On Saturday alone, organizers said 4,500 people attended the festival. Dozens of singers performed, and folk dance groups entertained in traditional clothing.

As Aline Bezdikian’s children have matured, so have the topics of her children’s books. Bezdikian wrote her first children’s book in Armenian in 1999, when her daughter Lori was 4. That book, “Lori and the Rosebud,” was geared toward 5- and 6-year-olds, and grew out of what Bezdikian regarded as a dearth of contemporary books in Armenian for children. In December, Bezdikian published her sixth book, “Letters to Dikran the Great,” which is suited to young readers closer in age to her son Nareg, who is 9, and daughter Lori, now 12. Bezdikian’s books have evolved as her children have grown, she said, because they are the primary inspiration for what she writes.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — There’s a new Armenian organization in town, and its debut Thursday night went off with a cymbal crash. Playing to a sold-out crowd at the Glendale Presbyterian Church, the Cilicia Symphonic Orchestra filled the sanctuary with popular traditional Armenian music and served as the debut event for the Armenian National Treasures Foundation, an organization dedicated to conservation and promotion of Armenian culture....

NORTH GLENDALE — Unified Young Armenians held a grand opening Sunday for its new Youth Center, the first permanent site for the nine-year-old nonprofit aimed at offering free educational and enrichment activities for children and teenagers. The group — most widely known for its grass-roots organization of annual Hollywood marches in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide — is run by students who banded together two years ago to begin offering language and cultural classes for youth, in addition to its other community efforts.

ANI AMIRKHANIAN It always amazes me how Armenian stereotypes are more prevalent within the Armenian culture than they are within the general populace. As with any culture, people feel offended and insulted if someone uses stereotypes to label the actions, lifestyles, traditions or customs of their culture. The Armenian subcultures or subgroups are quite different from each other, so naturally they are conflicted with varying stereotypes.

Gary Moskowitz For Narek Kassabian, this week will be about coming together while at the same time celebrating cultural uniqueness. Kassabian and her Armenian Club students at Hoover High School will read poetry and perform traditional Armenian dances for the student body Monday during an assembly she hopes brings students together. The assembly is not open to the public. Kassabian's students are among many local and area residents this week celebrating Armenian culture and commemorating the 88th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Every time I read the Glendale News-Press, all I see is hatred and racism against the Armenian culture. I don't know why that is. For all of those people who don't understand the lowering of the American flag on April 24, let me explain. When someone dies, people lower their head for a sign of sorrow. Starting April 24, 1915, many people died, about 1.5 million of them. So lowering the American flag is something like America lowering its head as a sign of sorrow and as a sign of respect for the Armenian community.

Janine Marnien LA CRESCENTA -- The La Crescenta Library will have a special guest Saturday, April 20, to share information on Armenian culture as part of a commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. The program is called "Barev, Hello Armenia!" Hayk Makhmuryan will share Armenian folk tales and fables. Makhmuryan, 19, was born in Armenia before coming to the United States three years ago. "Because of the presence of Armenian culture in the community, it's important to present this information," Makhmuryan said.

GLENDALE — Talk show host and former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian will host a three-hour KCET show Tuesday about Armenian culture, history and holiday traditions. The special event, part of KCET’s holiday pledge drive, will be the first time the station has featured Armenian culture and traditions during the holidays, said Mary Mazur, the channel’s executive vice president and chief content officer. “We were fortunate to have a night’s worth of programming that is quite celebratory,” Mazur said of the upcoming broadcast, which will include an episode of “Visiting with Huell Howser” that will focus on an Armenian Orthodox Christmas meal, as well as specials on Christian history in Armenia, Jews in Armenia and a group of Canadians retracing the steps of ancestors who died in the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Ryan Carter Harout Yeretzian sees his business of selling Armenian-related books at his Abril Bookstore as a way to educate people about the Armenian culture. Making money was not his ultimate goal. But for 25 years -- the past five in Glendale -- Yeretzian has managed to operate his store, selling everything from Bibles to books about the Armenian Genocide to Pinocchio, all in Armenian. Every book, whatever the writer's nationality, has an Armenian hook of some sort, he said.

During the annual Armenian cultural and food festival on Sunday, Osanna Bekarian, 77, and Arsine Aposhian, 72, were making what so many Armenian s have grown up with: hand-braided string cheese. Meanwhile, Nyree Derderian, 38, was lamenting about how similar homemade dishes are less often made at home by younger generations who have grown accustomed to purchasing them at the store. “It takes so much time,” she said. “It's easier to get it at the store.” Bekarian and Aposhian - both La Crescenta residents - are members of the Armenian Relief Society of Western U.S.A., which hosts the festival as a fundraiser for its local and international charities.

An oil painting featuring the Statue of Liberty surrounded by the floating heads of popular Armenian figures recently became the first donated work of art to the city in more than a decade to be turned down. The painting also includes flowing wheat and Mt. Ararat - a snow-capped mountain in Turkey where, according to biblical lore, Noah's Ark came to rest. The mountain can be seen from Armenia and Iran. The work also features a statue of an Armenian princess. While one commissioner called it “a beautiful theme,” the painting failed to make it past the Arts & Culture Commission or City Council and onto a city-owned office wall - the first time that's happened since 2000, said Public Art Project Manager Ripsime Marashian.

Thousands of people celebrated Armenian culture this week at the Civic Auditorium through art, dance, history and food — lots of it. The Armenian Relief Society of the Western United States ushered thousands of people to its Armenian Festival at the Civic Auditorium, where there were endless servings of shish kebabs, yershig sandwiches, sarma, tabouleh and baklava. On Saturday alone, organizers said 4,500 people attended the festival. Dozens of singers performed, and folk dance groups entertained in traditional clothing.

A few weeks ago someone decided to get a sledgehammer and begin destroying a monument outside St. Mary's Armenian Church. This "monument" is known in Armenian as a "Khachkar," or stone cross. The Khachkar has special meaning in the Armenian culture dating back thousands of years during which Armenians shed a lot of blood defending their right to practice Christianity. All over present-day Armenia and historical western Armenia (today's Turkey and Azerbaijan), one can find thousands of these centuries-old Khachkars that have tremendous historical significance.

For the students in Chamlian Armenian School teacher Garine Joukadarian?s second-grade class Thursday morning, the first order of business for the day was to break out in song, read a few poems and have their fortunes revealed. Joukadarian?s students were taking part in Ascension Day celebrations at the school. Celebrated 40 days after Easter in the West and Eastern Christian rite churches, Ascension Day marks the day that, according to scripture, Jesus ascended to heaven in the presence of his apostles following his resurrection.

Traditional folk dancing and the pungent aroma of Armenian cuisine filled every corner of Glendale’s Civic Auditorium over the weekend, but it was the independent organizations, historic cultural displays and a diverse ethnic audience that added a vibrant dimension to the ninth annual Armenian Festival. Organized by the Armenian Relief Society’s Western chapter, the festival was a two-day celebration of the organization’s centennial year. For co-organizer Emma Garabetian, who publicized the event in a handful of publications, it was a chance to introduce the general population to the culture.

NORTH GLENDALE — Unified Young Armenians held a grand opening Sunday for its new Youth Center, the first permanent site for the nine-year-old nonprofit aimed at offering free educational and enrichment activities for children and teenagers. The group — most widely known for its grass-roots organization of annual Hollywood marches in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide — is run by students who banded together two years ago to begin offering language and cultural classes for youth, in addition to its other community efforts.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — Hundreds of community members packed the Armenian Cultural Foundation’s Glendale Youth Center during its grand opening Sunday, an event that was nearly five years in the making. The 11,000-square-foot, three-story facility brightly sticks out of a mostly residential neighborhood with its blue and yellow facade. Assemblyman Paul Krekorian said the center will give teens the opportunity to embrace their culture and enrich themselves. “This building is for us to come together as a community to lay the strong foundation for the youth that will form the basis and future of our community,” he said.

GLENDALE — Talk show host and former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian will host a three-hour KCET show Tuesday about Armenian culture, history and holiday traditions. The special event, part of KCET’s holiday pledge drive, will be the first time the station has featured Armenian culture and traditions during the holidays, said Mary Mazur, the channel’s executive vice president and chief content officer. “We were fortunate to have a night’s worth of programming that is quite celebratory,” Mazur said of the upcoming broadcast, which will include an episode of “Visiting with Huell Howser” that will focus on an Armenian Orthodox Christmas meal, as well as specials on Christian history in Armenia, Jews in Armenia and a group of Canadians retracing the steps of ancestors who died in the Armenian genocide of 1915.