Topic

As we speak of the contemporary Armenian ballet, on one hand we mention painfully that there are seldom ballet premieres, the playlist is rarely updated, and on the other hand we happily record that our dancers perform in the most famous stages of the world and cooperate with renown dance groups. How can this situation be explained, what achievements and problems does ourday Armenian ballet have? Hayk Hambardzumyan spoke about these issues with RA National Artist, balletmaster Rudolf Khachatryan. 

Warm eastern colors, mysterious landscapes, remarkable graphic pieces and seascapes, combination of modern trends and principles of traditional Armenian and European paining. Although the photographer Edman Ayvazyan lives in London for many years now, however the scenes and life of his birthplace Iran and historic homeland Armenia still remain the key topics of his art. What inspires the painter today, how did his art change over the last decades and where is his haven today? Hayk Hambardzumyan spoke about these issues with painter, architect Edman Ayvazyan. 

Despite that poetry is least popular in the world today, and  the world itself lives not poetic, but rather prosaic times, however, since 1999 March 21 is marked as International Poetry Day. In our country too various events are organized, an attempt is made to bounce a poetic breathe to the non-poetic reality. Hayk Hambardzumyan spoke about the events dedicated to the Poetry Day, the program of the RA Ministry of Culture related to the proclamation of literature with the coordinator of literary program in the Ministry of Culture, poet Armen Sargsyan. 

Despite the fact that books have gained different formats in this modern life, yet, as a cultural phenomenon it still maintains its significance. Why do people read books today and why should they read, how should the culture of reading be promoted and what’s the role of literary critics, writers and media in all these? Hayk Hambardzumyan spoke about these issues with literary critic Arkmenik Nikoghosyan. 

Owind to the efforts made by different expeditions, individual archaeologists, starting from early XX century, valuable samples of Armenian material culture have been collected in notorious Russian museums. Russian Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg, in particular, hosts a large collection put together from various regions of historical Armenia, which is constantly exhibited and studied. Hayk Hambardzumyan spoke with Lusine Ghushchyan, Senior Researcher in the Russian Museum of Ethnography. 

There is much interest towards the history of Armenian aristocracy, yet few historical studies exist on this issue. Although the Armenian history of V century and literature of further period feed sufficient material and possibility for such studies, however, the Soviet-time historical science largely hid from the topics related to aristocracy for ideological reasons. The contemporary historical science already contains such studies. Hayk Hambardzumyan spoke about the Armenian aristocracy of Ani and Cilikia with Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of Art History in Matenadaran, Karen Matevosyan. 

On January 25, 2006 first concert of State Youth Orchestra of Armenia was held. For the past 10 years, the orchestra had many concerts in and outside Armenia showcasing interesting projects, cooperations with famous musicians. Hayk Hambardzumyan spoke about the decade of the establishment of orchestra, its achievements and drawbacks with the Artistica Director and Chief Conductor of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia Sergey Smbatyan. 

How do we celebrate the holidays and how can we celebrate them? How should the sacraments of the New Year and Christmas be perceived? What do we expect from this New Year 2016? Within the scope of the series “Topic”, Hayk Hambardzumyan talks about these issues and the specifics, sacrament, meaning of these church holidays and how we should celebrate those with Father Nshan Alaverdyan.

Illustrations are a vital component of fiction, especially for children’s literature. The images accompanying the texts often impress the consciousness of the reader more than the text itself and without illustrations it is now impossible to imagine this or that composition. This link that exists between the text, the image and the reader’s imagination makes the responsibility of the illustrator even heavier and complicates his/her work. How the image should be brought closer to the text, what is the relation between animations and illustrations? Hayk Hambardzumyan talks about these issues with painter, animation director Naira Muradyan.