Armenian Institute Lecture
To mark the Honorary Doctorate Nouritza Matossian received from the International Academy, Yerevan.

My Travels through Armenian Diasporas with Arshile Gorky:
New York, Tehran, Beirut, Aleppo,Tblisi and Istanbul.

Nouritza Matossian is author of Black Angel, A Life of Arshile Gorky which features prominently in the award-winning film Ararat by Atom Egoyan and performer of her internationally acclaimed one woman show on Gorky. She will take us on her performing tours and travels, and show her video travel diaries.

“My travels with the Gorky show have taken me to many diasporas where people may, or may not, have seen or heard of Gorky and Ararat. Armenian communities, some urban e.g. Paris, Tehran, Istanbul, Tblisi; others, more remote, like isolated Armenian villages in Iran, Nagorno Karabagh.

In more than a hundred performances, I found responses of local people both Armenian and non-Armenian, informative and emotional. I will present my experiences and diary videos from these journeys. How have Armenians adopted, developed, rejected or embraced their host countries. Are we in the West guilty of neglecting our cultural heritage in the Middle East? Should we be more alert to conditions of diasporas in eastern countries? Is there a separate diasporan culture? Bring your questions to the discussion."

Sunday 20st February
St. Stephen’s Church Hall, 48 Emperor’s Gate, SW7

info@armenianinstitute.org