Armenia

Every year, on one of the days in May, tens of thousands of Armenians spend the day in museums till late at night. And, for the workers of the museums, it's probably the most loaded day of the year. This year, on the following day of this international event, we visited several museums to talk with the security guards about the usual, not crowded days.

The Armenian hospitality is the visit card of the country for the tourists all around the world. UNDP Integrated Rural Tourism Development (IRTD) project launched in 2016, aims to turn this typical Armenian trait of character into an income generating opportunity, to boost the tourism in the rural areas of Armenia with all the benefits directed to the communities. The project is financed by the Russian Federation and implemented in close partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of RA. Starting from 2016, 90 initiatives have been implemented in more than 60 villages all over Armenia. Dmitry Mariyasin, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia, talked with Regional Post about the key points of the project and about his personal bond with Armenia.

The Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan announced that the municipality has terminated its contract with Sanitek.

The largest Yazidi temple opened in Armenia. The latter is built from Armenian granite and Iranian marble and has symbolic importance, coining the many years of brotherhood between the people of these two nations.

Our interviewee is Zaruhi Batoyan, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of RA. We talked to her about the journey from an activist to the first female minister with disabilities in Armenia, as well as about her operations in the social affairs framework.

The Armenian diaspora has always made a lot of efforts to preserve the Armenian culture and heritage outside of their homeland and make foreigners feel a part of that experience. They always sticked to the mission of raising awareness about our cultural and literary patrimony. The Museums and Cultural centers built all over the world many centuries ago or recently, from Fresno to Singapore contributed greatly to that mission. Here is a selection of the best Armenian museums abroad that are worth visiting.

Matenadaran is currently one of the most tourist-ridden landmarks of the Armenian capital, without which would be impossible to imagine Yerevan’s modern architecture and the urban spirit. But it is much more than a simple museum, a library or a research institution. It is one of the crucial loci of Armenian modern history, one of the crucial spaces which created modern Armenia as it is today.

A decade ago, one of Yerevan’s architectural landmarks, Cascade, finally became something more than just a huge stairway to Zeytoun district. It was renovated and inhabited by the pieces of contemporary art. The initiator of the project was American-Armenian businessman and philanthropist Gerard Cafesjian. It is called Cafesjian Center for the Arts now. Regional Post talked to the Center’s head, Vahagn Marabyan, about the things that have taken place recently, and those that are on their way.