The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) has taken an active role in the upcoming “Armenia!” exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Set to open on September 21, 2018, on the 27th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, this large-scale exhibition will cover Armenian art in the medieval period, between the 4th through 17th centuries, and feature significant examples from around the world.
One of the exceptional artworks on display will be the 17th-century Voskan Bible that the Diocese is lending to the Met for this special occasion.
“The exhibition covers the Middle Ages in the Christian East from the conversion of Armenians in the 4th century to the printing of books in Armenian that become widely available in the Armenian centers in the East, including the Voskan Bible,” said Dr. Helen Evans, the Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator for Byzantine Art at The Met, who is spearheading the presentation.
Printed in 1666 in Amsterdam by the efforts of Archibishop Voskan Yerevantsi, the first printed Armenian Bible consists of 1462 pages and 159 images. Archbishop Yerevantsi collaborated with the famous Dutch bookbinder Albert Magnus to create a luxurious binding for the Bible.
“Printed far from the Armenian homeland with exquisite care and at great cost, the Bible speaks to the Armenians’ devotion to God’s Word, a continuous tradition that extends back to antiquity, to the creation of the Armenian alphabet,” said Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan, director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, which is loaning its copy. “It reveals the Armenians to be a people of the Bible and a people of the world.”
The Zohrab Center will host Dr. Evans on Thursday, May 31, at the Eastern Diocese to introduce the “Armenia!” exhibition in a talk titled, “A Sneak-Peek at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Major Exhibit of Armenian Medieval Art by the Curator, Dr. Helen Evans.” Through this lecture, the public will gain more insight into the upcoming exhibition and have an opportunity to speak with Evans.
“We were eager to work with The Met when they asked to include the Bible in their forthcoming exhibit of Armenian medieval art,” said Findikyan. “Beyond its sheer artistic and historical value, the Voskan Bible is an eloquent symbol of the Christian conviction of the Armenian people.”
The Bible will be featured among 140 pieces in the exhibition from Jerusalem, Armenia, Lebanon, the U.S. and Portugal, that will portray the wide reach of Armenians and their valuable art during the Middle Ages.
“Armenians were incredibly important for their ability to create a self-identity and very important for the degree in which it moved ideas and goods on its trade routes,” said Evans.
Coordinating collaboration on behalf of the Eastern Diocese in New York and the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon with the Met, Karekin Arzoomanian, Esq., said the crux of the exhibition is “demonstrating the importance of Armenian art in the Middle Ages and its connection with Christianity.”
“This exhibition represents the historical legacy of our forbears and maintaining our identity over centuries,” said Arzoomanian. “We should be indebted to the Met and Dr. Evans and her staff for mounting this exhibition and going throughout the world to secure artwork for it.”
The “Armenia!” exhibition will run from September 21, 2018, until January 13, 2019. For more information, please visit www.metmuseum.org.
–By Taleen Babayan