18.11.2022
As part of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Khachatur Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), the ceremonial opening of the travelling temporary exhibition titled “Tracing the Armenian Schools in the Ottoman Empire: An Enlighted Nation’s Certificates” took place in university’s history museum hall on November 15.
The event was also attended by AGMI Director Harutyun Marutyan as well as Seda Parsamyan, the creator of this exhibition and who is generally responsible for organising AGMI exhibitions. Srbuhi Gevorgyan, the rector of the ASPU, members of the university teaching staff, students and employees of AGMI were also present.
The event was opened by Srbuhi Gevorgyan, rector of ASPU who, welcoming the attendees, specifically mentioned: “Being future educators, you should realise that, in addition to acquiring knowledge, you are also solving the problem of forming a citizen’s identity. You must be ready to consciously analyse and later transmit the educational heritage that the Armenian people had during its historical development.”
Harutyun Marutyan, Director of AGMI, noted that the Armenian people have created a rich culture in a country where others constantly tried to destroy it. He then added that we owe today’s educational heritage to those schools and their students, whose thirst for learning should be an example and be passed on to today’s generation.
Seda Parsamyan, the creator of the exhibition, considering the start of the travelling exhibition at a century old university as symbolic, noted: “The exhibition has a specific aim, which is to present, to the public, the once fruitful activity of about 2,000 Armenian educational centres operating in western Armenia, Cilicia and the Armenian-populated areas of the Ottoman Empire more than a century ago but which was interrupted by the Armenian Genocide. These institutions, despite continuous persecution and violence inflicted by the Ottoman government, not only did not stop their activities, but recorded great successes for decades, making a significant contribution to the development of education, science and culture of the empire.”
The exhibition will be open at the ASPU until December 15, 2022.
