Projects and Studies
COMPLETED PROJECTS
The Gomidas Institute (London) is working with Teatr Zar (Grotowski Institute, Wroslaw), a leading theatre group, which is developing a special performance related to the memory of the Armenian Genocide. The performance, "Armine, Sister" has been highly acclaimed in Poland - where it has been presented with a series of complimentary lectures, exhibitions and concerts - and it now enjoys the support of the Polish Ministry of Culture. The first performance of "Armine, Sister" outside Poland will take place at the Battersea Arts Centre in London on October 3rd and it will continue for two weeks.
Remembering the Armenians of Bitlis - Bitlis Ermenileri
This was an exhibition the Gomidas Institute put together as part of a Building Bridges Initiative in June 2013. It aimed at directly engaging Turkish civil society activists and beginning meaningful relations with them regarding Armenian issues. The response from Bitlis was positive and received support in diaspora-Armenian circles, including the Armenians Studies Programme (CSU Fresno). The project is now well underway.
This project was a proposal to Turkish historians to focus on a single case study of the Armenian Genocide. The proposal was made by the Gomidas Institute and applauded by large sections of the Turkish press. Although the head of the Turkish Historical Society, Yusuf Halaçoğlu, agreed to work on such a project when asked by Turkish journalists, he soon pulled out, stating that the relevant Ottoman records that were supposed to exist in Turkish archives today did not actually exist. This was a bizarre statement that brought the proposed project to an end. The veteran Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand stated that Halaçoğlu had scored an own goal.