April 14, 2012 - 19:35 AMT
UN headquarters host discussions on Genocide prevention

On April 12, discussions on Genocide prevention were held at UN headquarters through support of the Permanent Representation of Armenia.

Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN Karen Nazarian delivered the opening speech, during which he stressed Armenia nation’s moral commitment to promote activity on prevention of genocides as a genocide survivor. He said that Armenia welcomes efforts of governments, parliaments, international and non-governmental organizations, experts in genocide studies, as well as of the Turkish intellectuals, who back Armenia’s activity regarding international recognition of the atrocity.

Discussions included screening of Michael Hagopian's “River Ran Red ” documentary, followed by comments by Michigan-Dearborn University professor Dennis R. Papazian, Massachusetts University professor Ervin Staub and head of the Armenian Film Foundation, film director Carla Garabedian.

From April 3-26, Bergen Community College’s Gallery Bergen, NJ, in cooperation with the College’s Center for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation hosts the exhibition titled “Fractured History, Reconstructing Identity: Degrees of Westernization in Armenian Painting and Other Mediums.”

The exhibit’s curator Vicki Shoghag Hovanessian is an avid collector of Western and Armenian art for more than 30 years.

Peter Balakian, an author and scholar, will speak at a closing gallery ceremony on April 26. He serves as the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of the Humanities and director of creative writing in Colgate University’s English department.

Mr. Balakian won the PEN/Albrand Prize for his memoir, “Black Dog of Fate,” which earned New York Times Notable Book honors, and the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize for his book, “The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response.”