The Cafesjian Center for the Arts Celebrates the International Museum Day

May 13, 2011 On May 14 the Cafesjian Center for the Arts will be celebrating Museum Night, by opening its galleries to the public till midnight for free.

The featured  event for Museum Night is the opening of the exhibition  “Hagop Hagopian: The Song of Earthen Colors”  at  12:00 noon. The exhibition consists of 28 paintings and 10 sculptures  representing various periods of the artist’s work. Hagopian, born in Egypt and educated in Paris, conveys profound sadness in his early paintings as a reflection of the Genocide that still  haunts the artist’s soul.  Already an accomplished artist in his forties, in 1962 Hagopian repatriated to Armenia. The silver-gray and terracotta color scheme of his late fall or early spring paintings  emanate a mystic silence. Hagopian’s latest works are deeply philosophical and  laden with symbolism.  Delving deeply into his past  to retrieve images of love, struggle, survival and death,  he  reconfigures them  as mannequins, garments and tools painted against the backdrop of nature. 

“It has been a surprise and a joy to me that my works were selected to be exhibited at the newly established Cafesjian Center for the Arts”, Hagop Hagopian notes in the opening remarks  for the exhibition. 

“The Cafesjian Center for the Arts  begins the Museum Night celebration with a major exhibition opening; that of a living legend of Armenian art, Hagop Hagopian. It is with great pride that we  present Mr. Hagopian’s  work to the  people of Armenia and we invite  everyone to take  this opportunity and tour  the galleries on May 14”, said the Acting Executive Director of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts Vahagn Marabyan.  

The programming of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts for May 14,  Museum Night, includes the reopening of the “Ivana Šrámkova: Geometric Forms and Images” exhibition and resumption of the “Creativity and Imagination” workshops for children aged 6-12. 

“Special programming is also planned for International Museum Day on May 18.  In keeping with this year’s theme, “Museums and Memory”, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts will present an exhibition titled “Cascade in Memory”.  This exhibition  lifts the curtain of the past covering the place currently known as the Cascade Complex.  It will refresh people’s memory about the history of Yerevan and the Cascade Complex which has  become the Cafesjian Center for the Arts”, noted Vahagn Marabyan. 

Each year since 1977 the International Council of Museums organizes International Museum
Day (IMD), a special moment for the global museum community - on or about May 18. Each year, the Advisory Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a specific theme for International Museum Day. The theme for 2011 is defined as “Museums and Memory: Objects Tell Your Story”. The weekend before the Museum Day is the traditional time for Museum Nights, when museums all over the world keep their doors open till early in the morning, offering special exhibitions and programming.  The Cafesjian Center for the Arts  is participating in International Museum Day celebrations for the second time already.