By Ani Belorian:
Armenia is a country with a rich past, evolving present, and bright future. It is a country that is near and dear to my heart, and a country whose historical art and culture we rarely hear about.
On March 6th at Belmont High School, I was lucky enough to counteract this ignorance with a presentation about this under-appreciated culture. The presenter, Christina Maranci, was possibly the most passionate and concise advocate of Armenian history that I have ever met. Unsurprisingly, the brilliant Christina Maranci is a professor for Armenian Arts and Architecture at Tufts University. She went into college as an art history major and became interested in medieval art. This interest blossomed, and by the time she reached graduate school, her interests had moved eastward to Armenia. But she says she owes the rest of her interest in Armenian history to the wonderful teachers she had throughout college and graduate school.
The presentation began with a map of Armenia as it has changed over the course of many centuries. Maranci then began to show us many impressive feats of Armenian architecture and art and compared it to similar ones of more popular civilizations who get so much more recognition than the Armenians. Maranci herself thinks that what makes Armenia such a unique culture is the relationship between its landscapes and architecture. She recalls that every time she goes to Armenia, she feels this strong relationship in her bones.
We ended our thrilling presentation with some incredible Armenian food, which included lahmejun, essentially Armenian pizza, and lavash (flatbread) with tel baneer (Armenian string cheese). I felt like I was back in Armenia, with the captive Mount Ararat at my back and the bustling streets of Yerevan sprawled out before me. So why should anyone care about small yet mighty countries like Armenia? Maranci says that it’s because not only are they just as or even more “rich, sophisticated, and beautiful." Cultures are also living things. They need shelter, attention, and most importantly, care. Otherwise, they die, and by not educating ourselves on these cultures, we are putting them at risk of disappearance.
Diversity: "it isn’t just about representation for representation’s sake- it is about the survival of beautiful and fragile traditions that deserve to live”.