Tweet
THE VISIONS & ILLUSIONS OF THE STATION
Tigran Paskevichyan
http://hetq.am/eng/news/24481/the-visions-&-illusions-of-the-station.html
14:45, March 15, 2013
An interview with Fresno painter Hazel-Takouhie Antaramian
After WWII and until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia
resembled a large waiting room in a station, in which "travellers"
would come and go. Others just waited for their time to depart. They
were people in search of a Homeland, oftentimes not noticing or
comprehending its true nature. The constant clashes between the vision
of the Promised Land and the crude Soviet system, between the fixations
of a fringe region of the Russian Empire and imported (essentially
Western) culture, forced the travelers to decide to return, without
ever leaving the station. During a fifty year period, tens of thousands
of families entered and then exited the country in such fashion.
The Antaramians are one such family. The father was born in the U.S.
state of Wisconsin, the mother, in the French city of Lyon, and the
daughter, Hazel-Takouhie, in Yerevan, the capital of Soviet Armenia.
When Hazel was just five, the Antaramian family left Armenia. The
move raised a number of thoughts in the young girl's mind. Fifty
years later, these thoughts have become the basis for an art project
conceived by the painter Hazel Antaramian-Hofman. The project fuses
memories and oral histories, photos and documents and, of course,
colors and images drawn from early childhood scenes.
On March 21, at the Fresno Armenian Museum, Hazel Antaramian-Hofman
will showcase her audio-visual project "Repatriation and Deception:
Post World War II Soviet Armenia". It will be made available on
her website.
The topics concerning Armenian Genocide and survival of the people
is more actual in Diaspora nowadays. Why did you decide to choose
repatriation topic?
I would say that I did not choose the repatriation topic, but that the
topic chose me. It is the reason of my existence both literally and
figurative. I was born in Soviet Armenia to two post-WWII repatriates,
whose families came from the United States and France respectively. My
family eventually left Soviet Armenia in 1965. We were considered
among the first families to leave the country. Later while living
in the United States, I would hear stories about life in Armenia
during the 50s and 60s without ever realizing the significance of the
repatriation. The names that I now see in archival research papers
and newspaper articles were the names that I heard while growing
up. When repatriate friends who were still in Armenia began leaving in
the early 1970s, I would hear my family say such things as "Did you
know that 'so-and-so' got out?" Going back to my current work on the
repatriation-Armenians who "repatriated" after WWII were part of the
largest campaign organized by the Soviet government and, I believe,
among the most troubling, it was a history that I wanted to document.
It was my history. So after having completed my graduate degree in
art at Fresno State University, in December of 2011, I began to search
for ways that I could manifest the sentiment I have long had for the
repatriates. I am now doing this with my paintings and drawings, my
writing, and my personal devotion to the repatriates for the sacrifices
they made, which I strongly feel led to the advancement of Armenia.
Being an artist, how will you combine fine art and documentary?
The inspiration for my paintings and drawings come from the stories
and images of surviving repatriates. So you could say that the
repatriation story is my "muse." My documentation process entailed
casual visits with repatriates. Then when I began my website a few
months ago, I realized that I needed to share the stories and images
that I collected since it was an integral part of Armenia's modern
social and ethnographic history. My website is a work in progress; I
hope to continue to add to it as well as to link to other sites that
address this history. I consider my artwork as an interpretive and
visceral response to what had happened during this time in Armenian
history. Along with my love to paint and draw, I love to write. So
my research and interviews became the basis for my essays on the topic.
In your opinion why most of the Armenian repatriates of 1946-49 left
their fatherland?
I found that for each family there were nuances for wanting to return
during this time in history. But the overwhelming reason that masked
these nuances was one of Armenian sentimentality and belonging. For
those who made the decision to go, there was a romantic notion
of living within the aura of Mount Ararat, the land where their
ancestors perished. It was also important for the repatriates to be
living among the people who spoke their language, and understood their
traditions and customs. One of the American-Armenian repatriates who I
interviewed last year told me that at the time of the repatriation she
was in her early 20s, and that she did not want to leave the United
States. She reluctantly attended a repatriation "propaganda" meeting
in the Catskills in New York with her father. After seeing tears in
the eyes of a man who she characterized as a typical dispassionate
Armenian father once the film about returning to the "fatherland" was
over, she changed her mind. She did not want to further rip apart the
Armenian family fabric as the genocide had done to her parents. Such
propaganda movies were commonly shown by repatriation committees
in Armenian Diaspora communities. The imagery depicted in the films
played upon emotions and a sense of nationalism, particularly affecting
those who remembered life as Western Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
4. The topic of demographic problems is much spoken in Armenia
nowadays. Do you think it'll be possible to arrange new repatriation
and what do we need for it first of all?
I have visited Armenian twice since I left as a child in 1965, the
first time in 2006 as a tourist with my son, and the second time
in 2012 as a researcher. In 2006, I had some emotional moments as
I stood in places I only remembered from family photographs. But
after talking to the locals and touring Yerevan on foot, I did
notice shifts in demographics. Later in 2012, I experienced seeing
more dramatic changes in the country, perhaps a continual push toward
Westernization. Armenia is a beautiful country and conceivably many of
its attributes could attract Armenians from the Diaspora, either as
visitors or "repatriates." But it is highly unlikely that a massive
repatriation can be organized again like the one after WWII, unless
for imperiled Armenians living in the Diaspora, such as in Syria or
other parts of the Middle East. Many Armenians in Europe and the United
States no longer see their lives in these countries as disenfranchised.
The ease with which one can travel to the country also makes it
unlikely. If they "come back," it is a decision based on individual
aspirations. And for Armenia to attract citizens from the outside, it
needs to address many of its internal problems, including government
corruption and unethical business practices; health and environmental
issues; and long-term economic opportunities for its people, before
entertaining the idea of inviting permanent newcomers. From an artist's
perspective, I would love to see an intensified "beautification"
effort of Yerevan, and a meaningful preservation of Armenia's
natural landscape and cultural history. I hope that my work on the
history of the repatriation, via my writing and artwork, initiates
a dialogue about the idea of repatriation and how the government
of Armenia addresses it. Now that an apology has been issued by
the Armenian government to the repatriates from the late 1940s, the
Minister of the Diaspora should take steps to officially recognize the
contributions made by the repatriates to Armenia-maybe an annual day
of commemoration? How many Armenians in the Republic of Armenia really
comprehend the history associated with the late 40s repatriation,
or the background of those Armenians who in masses dispersed to all
corners of the world at the end of the 19th century and the beginning
of the 20th century? Along with the recognition of the genocide, I
believe we need to acknowledge those who "repatriated," to Armenia,
in particular, those who gave up their lives in the process.
Tigran Paskevichyan
http://hetq.am/eng/news/24481/the-visions-&-illusions-of-the-station.html
14:45, March 15, 2013
An interview with Fresno painter Hazel-Takouhie Antaramian
After WWII and until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia
resembled a large waiting room in a station, in which "travellers"
would come and go. Others just waited for their time to depart. They
were people in search of a Homeland, oftentimes not noticing or
comprehending its true nature. The constant clashes between the vision
of the Promised Land and the crude Soviet system, between the fixations
of a fringe region of the Russian Empire and imported (essentially
Western) culture, forced the travelers to decide to return, without
ever leaving the station. During a fifty year period, tens of thousands
of families entered and then exited the country in such fashion.
The Antaramians are one such family. The father was born in the U.S.
state of Wisconsin, the mother, in the French city of Lyon, and the
daughter, Hazel-Takouhie, in Yerevan, the capital of Soviet Armenia.
When Hazel was just five, the Antaramian family left Armenia. The
move raised a number of thoughts in the young girl's mind. Fifty
years later, these thoughts have become the basis for an art project
conceived by the painter Hazel Antaramian-Hofman. The project fuses
memories and oral histories, photos and documents and, of course,
colors and images drawn from early childhood scenes.
On March 21, at the Fresno Armenian Museum, Hazel Antaramian-Hofman
will showcase her audio-visual project "Repatriation and Deception:
Post World War II Soviet Armenia". It will be made available on
her website.
The topics concerning Armenian Genocide and survival of the people
is more actual in Diaspora nowadays. Why did you decide to choose
repatriation topic?
I would say that I did not choose the repatriation topic, but that the
topic chose me. It is the reason of my existence both literally and
figurative. I was born in Soviet Armenia to two post-WWII repatriates,
whose families came from the United States and France respectively. My
family eventually left Soviet Armenia in 1965. We were considered
among the first families to leave the country. Later while living
in the United States, I would hear stories about life in Armenia
during the 50s and 60s without ever realizing the significance of the
repatriation. The names that I now see in archival research papers
and newspaper articles were the names that I heard while growing
up. When repatriate friends who were still in Armenia began leaving in
the early 1970s, I would hear my family say such things as "Did you
know that 'so-and-so' got out?" Going back to my current work on the
repatriation-Armenians who "repatriated" after WWII were part of the
largest campaign organized by the Soviet government and, I believe,
among the most troubling, it was a history that I wanted to document.
It was my history. So after having completed my graduate degree in
art at Fresno State University, in December of 2011, I began to search
for ways that I could manifest the sentiment I have long had for the
repatriates. I am now doing this with my paintings and drawings, my
writing, and my personal devotion to the repatriates for the sacrifices
they made, which I strongly feel led to the advancement of Armenia.
Being an artist, how will you combine fine art and documentary?
The inspiration for my paintings and drawings come from the stories
and images of surviving repatriates. So you could say that the
repatriation story is my "muse." My documentation process entailed
casual visits with repatriates. Then when I began my website a few
months ago, I realized that I needed to share the stories and images
that I collected since it was an integral part of Armenia's modern
social and ethnographic history. My website is a work in progress; I
hope to continue to add to it as well as to link to other sites that
address this history. I consider my artwork as an interpretive and
visceral response to what had happened during this time in Armenian
history. Along with my love to paint and draw, I love to write. So
my research and interviews became the basis for my essays on the topic.
In your opinion why most of the Armenian repatriates of 1946-49 left
their fatherland?
I found that for each family there were nuances for wanting to return
during this time in history. But the overwhelming reason that masked
these nuances was one of Armenian sentimentality and belonging. For
those who made the decision to go, there was a romantic notion
of living within the aura of Mount Ararat, the land where their
ancestors perished. It was also important for the repatriates to be
living among the people who spoke their language, and understood their
traditions and customs. One of the American-Armenian repatriates who I
interviewed last year told me that at the time of the repatriation she
was in her early 20s, and that she did not want to leave the United
States. She reluctantly attended a repatriation "propaganda" meeting
in the Catskills in New York with her father. After seeing tears in
the eyes of a man who she characterized as a typical dispassionate
Armenian father once the film about returning to the "fatherland" was
over, she changed her mind. She did not want to further rip apart the
Armenian family fabric as the genocide had done to her parents. Such
propaganda movies were commonly shown by repatriation committees
in Armenian Diaspora communities. The imagery depicted in the films
played upon emotions and a sense of nationalism, particularly affecting
those who remembered life as Western Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
4. The topic of demographic problems is much spoken in Armenia
nowadays. Do you think it'll be possible to arrange new repatriation
and what do we need for it first of all?
I have visited Armenian twice since I left as a child in 1965, the
first time in 2006 as a tourist with my son, and the second time
in 2012 as a researcher. In 2006, I had some emotional moments as
I stood in places I only remembered from family photographs. But
after talking to the locals and touring Yerevan on foot, I did
notice shifts in demographics. Later in 2012, I experienced seeing
more dramatic changes in the country, perhaps a continual push toward
Westernization. Armenia is a beautiful country and conceivably many of
its attributes could attract Armenians from the Diaspora, either as
visitors or "repatriates." But it is highly unlikely that a massive
repatriation can be organized again like the one after WWII, unless
for imperiled Armenians living in the Diaspora, such as in Syria or
other parts of the Middle East. Many Armenians in Europe and the United
States no longer see their lives in these countries as disenfranchised.
The ease with which one can travel to the country also makes it
unlikely. If they "come back," it is a decision based on individual
aspirations. And for Armenia to attract citizens from the outside, it
needs to address many of its internal problems, including government
corruption and unethical business practices; health and environmental
issues; and long-term economic opportunities for its people, before
entertaining the idea of inviting permanent newcomers. From an artist's
perspective, I would love to see an intensified "beautification"
effort of Yerevan, and a meaningful preservation of Armenia's
natural landscape and cultural history. I hope that my work on the
history of the repatriation, via my writing and artwork, initiates
a dialogue about the idea of repatriation and how the government
of Armenia addresses it. Now that an apology has been issued by
the Armenian government to the repatriates from the late 1940s, the
Minister of the Diaspora should take steps to officially recognize the
contributions made by the repatriates to Armenia-maybe an annual day
of commemoration? How many Armenians in the Republic of Armenia really
comprehend the history associated with the late 40s repatriation,
or the background of those Armenians who in masses dispersed to all
corners of the world at the end of the 19th century and the beginning
of the 20th century? Along with the recognition of the genocide, I
believe we need to acknowledge those who "repatriated," to Armenia,
in particular, those who gave up their lives in the process.