East Meets West at Armenian Museum

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eastwestWATERTOWN — The Armenian Museum of America (ALMA) will be the setting for a joint photography exhibit throughout the months of October and November.

Featured will be the combined works of Tom Vartabedian and Sona (Dulgarian) Gevorkian titled “East Meets West.”

A reception to celebrate the opening of the exhibition will take place Sunday, October 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. on the third floor of the museum in the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries.

The exhibit will combine Vartabedian’s trips to Armenia over the past decade and Gevorkian’s travels throughout Nagorno-Karabagh.

Co-sponsoring the event will be Project SAVE (Armenian Photographic Archives) where Vartabedian has served as a member of the Board of Directors over the past seven years.

Gevorkian has traveled to Armenia more than a dozen times between 1989 to 2008 with different organizations including an AYF internship with the Parliament, Land & Culture Organization for excavation and earthquake relief.

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The trips have also evolved into side ventures to Karabagh.

Gevorkian has worked for the Armenian Relief Society (Eastern Region) for several years and serves on the executive for the Lowell ARS Chapter. She has studied at UMass/Amherst in Social Studies and International Relations.

Photography has always remained a keen interest since her youth. She has exhibited her work at the Bedford Public Library and has compiled photo books of Armenian and Karabagh for family members.

Gevorkian works as a special education aide in Concord Public Schools. She resides in Bedford with her husband Allen and three children, Datev, 14, Tsoline, 13, and Narineh, 12.

Vartabedian is no stranger to ALMA, having exhibited there in the past with prints of Armenia and newspaper photography.

An exhibit titled “Armenian Village People: A Country Kaleidascope” was displayed at libraries throughout Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire in commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

He is the recipient of several photography awards from United Press International, Associated Press and the New England Press Association. He was honored as a Master Photographer with the New England Camera Club Council.

A veteran news reporter, Vartabedian retired from The Haverhill Gazette in 2006, but his stories and columns continued to be featured weekly in Armenian papers throughout the country. He has also co-authored a book this year titled “The Armenians of the Merrimack Valley.”

He is married to Nancy Vartabedian. They live in Haverhill and are parents to three and grandparents to six.

 

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