Armenian genocide | song recital + film Beyond the Ararat
Composer Komitas survived 'the great crime', as Armenians call the Armenian genocide, but his work is deeply colored by the threat of it. A hyper-sensitive and still current European theme. In this performance his music is played prior to the screening of the film Beyond the Ararat.
Song recital
Anna Barkhoudarian vocals | Armen Nazarian violin | Constant Notten piano
Concert by Anna Barkhoudarian (vocals), Armen Nazarian (violin) and Constant Notten (piano). They will play music by the Armenian composer Komitas, who survived ‘the great crime’ (as the Armenians call the Armenian genocide). His work is deeply colored by the threat of it.
Beyond the Ararat
Tülin Özdemir director | Belgium 2013
Roadmovie about a woman of Turkish origin who embarks on a journey to better understand her identity. She travels from her childhood neighbourhood in Brussels to Turkey and Armenia. A quest during which every woman she encounters could be a reflection of herself. Entering the land of her ancestors, Anatolia, she questions her cultural heritage. Halting in her grandmother’s village, she discovers the ‘agit’: an antique oral tradition where women sing for their dead. The songs open a potential space for mourning, where Turkish, Kurdish but also Armenian women can sing together. The confrontation with the ‘missing’ from her memory, brings her farther eastward in Anatolia to the foot of the Ararat Mountain, and beyond.
Duration of the program: 2 hours