NEWS: 20 Nov 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 520 (iwpr.net)

Georgia: Russian Border Opening Plan Under Scrutiny
Mixed motives seen in proposed move to end three-year frontier closure. By Dimitri Avaliani in Tbilisi and Samvel Avagian in Yerevan (CRS No. 520, 20-Nov-09)
Azeri Fishermen Lament Vanished Shrimps
Environmentalists say crustaceans victims of pollution but demand also cited. By Idrak Abbasov on Pirallahi (CRS No. 520, 20-Nov-09)

BOOK: The Caucasus - An Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series) By Frederik Coene

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Routledge (November 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0415486602
ISBN-13: 978-0415486606
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.8 inches

Product Description
The Caucasus is one of the most complicated regions in the world: with many different peoples and political units, differing religious allegiances, and frequent conflicts, and where historically major world powers have clashed with each other. Until now there has been no single book for those wishing to learn about this complex region. This book fills the gap, providing a clear, comprehensive introduction to the Caucasus, which is suitable for all readers. It covers the geography; the historical development of the region; economics; politics and government; population; religion and society; culture and traditions; alongside its conflicts and international relations. Written throughout in an accessible style, it requires no prior knowledge of the Caucasus. The book will be invaluable for those researching specific issues, as well as for readers needing a thorough introduction to the region.

AmazonShop: Books, Maps, Videos, Music & Gifts About The Caucasus

REISEBERICHT: Entdeckungsreise durch Georgien - Offroad im Kaukasus (geo-reisecommunity.de)

Reisebericht über eine Tour durch Georgien und den Kaukasus im Juli- August 2009

Ziele der Reise: Georgische Sehenswürdigkeiten, neue Reiseziele und Reiserouten, Offroad im georgischen Kaukasus.

Der ganze Text >>>

REISE: Armenien: Yerevan, Sevan See, Etschmiadzin und Ararat (55plus-magazin.net)

Yerevan, das Zentrum ArmeniensGegründet wurde Yerevan (Jerewan, Eriwan) vor knapp 2.800 Jahren, ist somit älter als die ewige Stadt Rom und die 13. Hauptstadt in der wechselvollen Geschichte Armeniens. Yerevan liegt auf ca. 1.000 Meter Seehöhe im nordöstlichen Teil des Ararattals, ist auf drei Seiten von Bergen umrandet und hat ca. 1,2 Millionen Einwohner. Klick zum Video: Armenien - Eine Kulturreise durch Hayastan

Mehr Infos zu Buchungen in Armenien: Imega Tour and Travel

Armenien, Land der SteineArmenien, das größte Freilichtmuseum der Welt, Europas Tor nach Asien, die älteste christliche Nation. Im Laufe der vergangenen Jahrhunderte entstanden unzählige, einzigartige Kulturdenkmäler (klick zum Video: Armenien - Kirchen und Christentum im Orient).

Armenien beginnt, die Bürden der schweren Geschichte abzulegen und sich als junges, gastfreundliches Reiseland zu präsentieren. Viele der steinernen Zeugen, ob Kirchen oder Klöster sowie einzigartige Bergformationen, kann man von Yerevan aus bequem mit Tagesausflügen erreichen. Für die entfernteren Ziele in den Regionen Lori oder Bergkarabach sollten jedoch mehrere Tage eingeplant werden.

full text >>>

FILMFEST COTTBUS: Preis für Elchin Musaoglu aus Aserbaidschan (zitty.de)

Nehmen wir mal die Spache in dem sehenswerten DIE 40. TÜR aus Aserbaidschan. Was ganz sicher kein Russisch war, entpuppte sich als Aserbaidschan-Türkisch, die offizielle Landessprache. Aus dem türkischen "A" für Mutter wird hier ein "Anna". So lernt man also etwas über Länder, die sonst im Alltag nicht die große Rolle spielen.

Vergeben wurde außerdem den International Film Guide Inspiration Award an Elchin Musaoglu aus Aserbaidschan für oben erwähnten DIE 40. TÜR 40-CI QAPI.

Der ganze Beitrag >>>

filmfestival.pool-production.de

Artikel: Im Zeichen des Granatapfels
19. Festival des osteuropäischen Films Cottbus
Von Heinz Kersten

PHOTOGRAPHY: InThe Shadow Of The Bear" By George Georgiou (blurb.com)

book >>>

In late 2003, Georgia's "Rose revolution" bought the promise of an open, free and democratic future. Since this time the Government has faced a number of hostilities from it's giant neighbour Russia. This has included military and economic support for the breakaway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the banning of Georgian produce from the Russia market, a hike in gas prices, erratic delivery of energy supplies during winters, a transport and economic blockade from October 2006, and a harsh crackdown and expulsion of Georgians in Russia. This culminated in the war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008. Throughout this time Georgians have struggled with the daily task of surviving under difficult conditions while trying to create a viable democratic country. This work looks at signs in the domestic and public spheres, when taken together, begins to build a representation of how the people of Georgia negotiate the space that they find themselves in.

more here: georgegeorgiou-intransit.blogspot.com

VIDEO: Russia's Hidden War by Evan Williams

It's a story well known in the Caucasus - How Russia uses terror to control its republics. Reporter Evan Williams goes to Ingushetia for Dateline and discovers how innocent civilians are being kidnapped, tortured and murdered by Russian security forces.

You can watch the entire story straight from the horse's page in better quality, or check out the youtube versions right here ::::

MORE HERE IN THIS AWESOME BLOG by Paul Rimple >>>>

BOOK: Hayden Herrera Introduces New Book About Artist Arshile Gorky (armenianstudies.csufresno.edu)

Mitchell Peters, Staff Writer

California State University, Fresno, was honored to host Hayden Herrera, the author of an extensive new biography, Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), telling the story of one of the vanguards of modern painting of the twentieth century, Arshile Gorky.In her talk, sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program and Armenian Students Organization, Herrera touched on the main points of her 767 page book, focusing mainly on Gorky’s childhood, heritage, secretive personality, and the tragic events that ultimately led to his suicide at the age of forty-five. Born Vosdanig Adoian, Gorky was raised in Van, Armenia where he faced the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and the painful death of his mother, who died of starvation in his arms. As a result of this trauma, Adoian changed his name to Gorky and often posed as a Russian after arriving in the United States.“He didn’t want to be associated with the starving Armenians,” Herrera said in an interview with Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian. “That was a term used a lot in the 1920’s. He thought it would be a better thing to be Russian in terms of having success as an artist.” Gorky’s ancestry and childhood also played a major role within his art. Although he was vague about his heritage (his wife didn’t even know he was Armenian) and childhood, he still kept the two very close to his heart. In a questionnaire for the Museum of Modern Art asking what his heritage meant to his art, Gorky replied, “Everything.” “All of Gorky’s artistic subject matter came from his childhood experiences,” said Herrera. Herrera’s lecture concluded with an explanation of the “series of disasters” that Gorky faced in the last few years of his life that led to his suicide in 1948.The first major tragedy he faced was a studio fire that destroyed 27 of his paintings. Then he was diagnosed with colon cancer, which was followed by a car accident where his painting arm was paralyzed. Herrera believes the final devastating blow, however, was the ending of his marriage after he found out his wife had an affair with one of his best friends. “I’ve always thought that if he had not had the traumas that he had in Armenia, he might have been able to cope with all of these things that happened at the end of his life,” Herrera said.Herrera’s motivation for writing this biography was prompted by the fact that her father married Gorky’s widow, Agnus Magruder (Mougouch). She recalls Gorky’s painting being on the walls of her house while she was growing up, and being fascinated by them. “There was a long fascination with this man really coming from family connection,” she stated. “He was an incredibly sensuous painter.”Trained as an art historian, Herrera is also the author of Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo. She currently resides in New York City.

From Publishers Weekly
Most recently seen as a silent, enigmatic figure in the Armenian-Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan's Ararat, modernist painter Gorky (1900?-1948) is fastidiously served in this comprehensive biography. Born near Lake Van in Ottoman-held Armenia, the young Gorky witnessed the Armenian genocide, a horror that Herrera (Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo) covers with extreme care. Following Gorky's emigration to the U.S. in 1920 and his name change from Manouk Adoian (he claimed to be the cousin of Russian writer Maxim Gorky), Herrera establishes the bulk of the narrative around Gorky's paintings, describing what he was working on when and under what circumstances. Most of Gorky's work life was based in New York, where, by the 1930s, he was paid a salary by the WPA for murals and other work in his surrealist style, largely derived from Miro and Leger, as the 64 pages of color and b&w images affirm. Herrera expects and encounters many difficulties in untangling the secretive Gorky's feelings and mostly confines herself to quoting others extensively, including long passages from the letters of Gorky's American wife, Agnes Magruder (or as Gorky called her, "Mougouch"). Herrera's restraint and suspension of judgment can flatten out events, yet she lingers for paragraphs on Gorky's many paintings, describing them, speculating on their meanings with lucidity and documenting their sales. The result is a book that, exhaustive in its research, will be a starting point for scholars and critics, but that will fail to engross casual readers. Conversely, readers already familiar with Gorky who are looking for political meanings to his suicide, shown here as undertaken in physical and marital distress, may find less than they are looking for.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

From Booklist
For Arshile Gorky, born Vosdanig Adoian in Armenian Turkey around 1900, painting was "like trying to twist the devil," a phrase emblematic of the heroic struggles of his brief and arduous life. Secretive about his painful past, especially his survival of the Armenian holocaust (his mother died in his arms), he changed his name and posed as a Russian after arriving in the U.S. A born artist, tall, dramatic, fastidious, and forever poor, Gorky worked tirelessly to develop a unique visual language. Herrera, also the author of a Frida Kahlo biography, assiduously chronicles every aspect of her subject's difficult life, particularly his conflict-ridden relationships with women and the despair that led to his suicide at age 45. Curiously, both she and fellow Gorky biographer Matthew Spender (From a High Place [1999]) have a family connection: Spender married Gorky's elder daughter, whose mother is Herrera's godmother. Monumentally detailed and deeply moving, Herrera's illuminating portrait perceptively traces the progression of Gorky's work, and the tragic link between the terrors of his youth and the traumas of his last days. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

AmazonShop: Books, Maps, Videos, Music & Gifts About The Caucasus

Arshile Gorky: Paintings, drawings, studies
Arshile Gorky. 1904-1948. A Retrospective.

BLOG: Elisabel bericht die letzten beiden Monate wieder aus Aserbaidschan (aserbaidschan07.blogspot.com)

Elisbasel ist wieder in Aserbaidschan. Vor geraumer zeit traf ich schon mal auf ihren Blog. Jetzt hat sie dort wieder etwas veröffentlicht. Schaut mal vorbei!

Gut zwei Monate verbring sie Ende 2009 wieder in Aserbaidschan, vor allem in Baku, um Daten für ihre Diplomarbeit zu sammeln. Sie führt eine qualitative Netzwerkanalyse der lokalen NGOs aus dem Natur- und Umweltschutzbereich durch. Um einen umfassenden Einblick in die Kontextbedingungen und viele verschiedene Perspektiven auf die NGO-Szene und ihre Rahmenbedingungen zu erhalten, trifft sie sich aber nicht nur mit Vertretern aus/von den einzelnen NGOs, sondern auch mit anderen Akteuren und Experten.

Hier ist ihr Blog: aserbaidschan07.blogspot.com

TRAVEL: MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO TBILISI, GEORGIA (chrisguillebeau.com)

Greetings, friends and readers. I’ve been traveling in the Caucasus this month, and over the weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to go from Azerbaijan to Georgia on a 15-hour overnight train.

Here are a few notes and several videos from the trip. full article >>>

RESEARCH: Azerbaijani-Armenian ties emotionally charged, says Caucasus researcher (hurriyetdailynews.com)

FULYA ÖZERKAN

TBILISI – Hürriyet Daily News

A senior researcher at a Caucasus research center says Baku-Yerevan ties are much more flawed than the relationship between Georgia and Russia. He says that despite the August 2008 war, Georgians have a favorable view of Russians but are skeptical of the Kremlin, while in the case of Azerbaijan and Armenia, hostility is visible between the two peoples, thus complicating an ultimate peace.

full article >>>

ART: YEREVAN GOES MODERN: $35 MILLION MUSEUM TO PROMOTE CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE CAUCASUS (eurasianet.org)

Marianna Grigoryan and Anahit Hayrapetyan 11/13/09
A EurasiaNet Photo Story

They have built roads and hospitals; schools and factories. And now, with the recent opening of Yerevan’s $35 million Cafesjian Center for the Arts, members of Armenia’s deep-pocketed Diaspora has moved into modern art.

The 1,100-square meter museum, which officially opened its doors on November 7, is part of a seven-year project by Armenian-American Gerard L. Cafesjian, a former member of the board of directors for West Publishing Company, to restore downtown Yerevan’s Soviet-era Cascade, a waterfall-like stone staircase built into a hillside overlooking the capital city. It acts as both vanity project - the bulk of the exhibits will be drawn from Cafesjian’s own collections of contemporary art - and community goodwill initiative; the Center, a first for the region, is meant to promote appreciation of modern art forms.

One milestone apparently deserves another - on hand to kick off the Center’s opening were ex-Beatles wives Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Boyd.

Busily signing copies of "John," her 2005 account of her six-year marriage to Beatles icon John Lennon, Cynthia Lennon described herself as "surprised" by the invitation, but "happy to come."

full text with photos >>>

ARTICLE: Rewarding Russian Aggression (weeklystandard.com)

In little over a week, a modern French warship is scheduled to visit St. Petersburg. If the Russians like what they see, and a deal can be reached, the French government has signaled that it is willing to sell Moscow a ship of its own. Should the sale go through, it will be the first ever arms sale of its kind to Russia from a NATO member. It will also be a remarkable bit of appeasement by an allied president, Nicolas Sarkozy, whose signature is on the cease-fire agreement between Russia and Georgia from the August 2008 war--the terms of which Moscow has been violating ever since.

The vessel, a French Mistral, is a new class of carrier that can carry more than a dozen attack and landing helicopters, landing craft, nearly a thousand troops, and dozens of tanks and other land vehicles. Mistrals, in short, are major amphibious assault ships, equal in capability to virtually any vessel in its class globally. The Russians have said that the ship will be used in peacekeeping and anti-piracy operations. But, of course, "peacekeeping" in Moscow's dictionary is not always so peaceful. As Russia's Navy chief, Admiral Vladimir Vysotskiy, rather pointedly noted about the possible sale: "In the conflict [with Georgia] in August last year, a ship like that would have allowed [our] Black Sea Fleet to accomplish its mission in 40 minutes, not the 26 hours it took us [to move our troops ashore]."

full article >>>

TRAVEL: Armenia: a safe country for foreigners? (ditord.com)

“Armenia is a very safe country, Yerevan is a safe place” I usually tell foreign friends and colleagues visiting Armenia and leave them free to explore it as much as they like, they are all grown ups, after all.

full article >>>

INTERVIEW: 'Turkish Soft Power Changes Middle East' (usak-isro.blogspot.co)

Interview with Sedat Laciner on Turkey’s Expanding Foreign Policy by Kaitlin MacKenzie

Sedat Laciner (SL): "First of all, Anatolia is a special place between the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa. It was always an important place for the Romans, for the Greeks, Arabs, Iranians, and Russians. If a country is located in such a special place, it needs a special foreign policy to protect its interests and to maintain its relations with the neighboring regions. The Anatolian political and economic order needs to be integrated with that of the Balkans and the Caucasus, and with that of today’s Middle Eastern systems, for otherwise it cannot maintain its sovereignty, development, independence, or peace. Turks, during the Ottoman era, first integrated the Anatolian territories and then moved to the territories that connect Anatolia to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. That is why the first sultans of the Ottoman Empire gave great importance to integrating the Balkans and Asia Minor before integrating the Black Sea region and the Caucasian and Middle Eastern territories nearby.

more >>>

DIASPORA: Armenian Festival in Canada to Highlight Komitas (hetq.am)

The Third Moncton Armenian Festival will kick off in the Canadian city November 26 to 29, and this year the focus will be on Komitas, Armenia’s legendary composer, ethnographer, poet and specialist in folk dance and the study of music.Four days will be filled with activities and discoveries of the world of Komitas: a big opening show, three exhibitions, two concerts and a mini-film festival.Organizers are promising a feast for the senses leading to understanding, sharing and communicating about Armenia, whose rich but tormented history dates back at least 2,000 years.The festival was initiated by members of the Maritimes Armenian Association, which unites about 200 families in the Maritime provinces.Each year’s festival has been planned to take the public on a different voyage of discovery – from the origins of the great historical Armenia to the contemporary Republic of Armenia and the grand Armenian diaspora in the world.

TRAVEL: Sofaschläfer in Georgien - Ein Deutscher in Georgien

Thomas Müller aus Westhausen hat Rucksacktouristen übers Internet kostenlose Übernachtungsplätze angeboten

Spar Geld, lerne neue Leute kennen und sieh die Welt mit den Augen der Einheimischen – mit dem Motto wirbt die Community „www.couchsurfing.com“ dafür, ausgetretene Touristenpfade zu verlassen und am Alltag der Menschen in verschiedenen Kulturen teilzunehmen. Thomas Müller aus Westhausen hat das „Sofaschlafen“ vor eineinhalb Jahren in Georgien kennengelernt.

Der ganze Beitrag >>>

EXHIBITION: Arshile Gorky in London, Tate Modern 10 Feb - 3 May 2010 (tate.org.uk)

Cool - the Arshile Gorky Restrospective is coming to the Tate Modern in Februar http://tinyurl.com/arshile - Extraordinary Armenian artist

Tate Modern, London

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective
10 February – 3 May 2010
About Visiting information Book tickets

Thanks to the Blogger Artmika

more:

Arshile_Gorky

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Arton view October 21, 2009 – January 10, 2010

Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective

Artist Profile: Arshile Gorky

Art Review 'Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective'. From Mimic to Master of Invention

BLOG: Ara Darzi and Larry Gagosian among London's 1000 most influential people in 2009 (unzipped.blogspot.com)

London's Evening Standard puiblished its list of 1000 most influential people in Britain's capital in 2009. At least two of them, prominent representatives of medical profession and art, are of Armenian origin.

For me is the Art Dealer Larry Gagosian from Armenia interesant. His Galleries are very famous Artmika posted in his blog this paragraph:

Larry Gagosian - Art dealer

Legendary Manhattan art figure who launched two galleries in King's Cross and Mayfair in past five years. Now spending more time back in Big Apple, he still has fingers in London market. Has been dubbed “the art world's greatest businessman”. (read also -here)

EU CIVIL SOCIETY: Civil Society Forum Strengthens The Eastern Partnership (egovmonitor.com)

More than 200 Civil Society representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, the EU Member States, international organizations and networks as well as third countries are gathering in Brussels on 16-17 November for the first Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.

more here >>>

POLITICS: Restoring trust between Armenians and Azerbaijanis will take decades (news.az)

News.Az interviews Azerbaijani political scientist Zardusht Alizade.

An article by MP Aydin Mirzazade looking at what both Armenia and Azerbaijan have lost as a result of the Karabakh conflict has been widely published in Azerbaijan. The article revived debate about the cost of occupation for Armenia. What can you say about it?

First of all, I think this article is remarkable. For the first time a member of the ruling team has written an article in the spirit of world culture. He does not advocate hatred for Armenians or curse them, he merely attempts to analyse what would have happened had it not been for the war. Much has been said about this. I have repeatedly told Armenians about it and suggested that they weigh up the advantages they could have had, had it not been for the current claims. Now they think that they won the war and gained Karabakh. What does Karabakh give them? And what did they lose? They have driven all the Azerbaijanis out of Armenia, Karabakh and adjacent regions. But at the same time, they have lost the land where Armenians lived in other parts of Azerbaijan; they lost a strong Armenian influence in Baku, they lost Armenian-settled villages in very favourable zones of Azerbaijan including Shamakhi, Agsu, Agdash and Ganja. In other words, they lost the chance to live in Azerbaijan and influence the development of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations.

full text >>>

NEWS: 6 Nov 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 518 until 13 Nov 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 519 (iwpr.net)

Spoof of Georgian Patriarch Sparks Row
Orthodox leader at the centre of argument over whether the church is too involved in public life. By Ana Kandelaki in Tbilisi (CRS No. 518, 06-Nov-09)
Early Marriages Worry Azerbaijan Officials
Unscrupulous mullahs accused of marrying young girls whose health and education then suffer. By Diana Isayeva in Baku (CRS No. 518, 06-Nov-09)
Karabakh Children’s Home Reveals Strains of Life
Once an orphanage, the institution has evolved to care for the child victims of a broken society. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert (CRS No. 518, 06-Nov-09)

Azerbaijan Wrestles With Nationality Poser
Young Armenian, born in Azerbaijan, faces bureaucratic struggle to gain citizenship rights. By Aytan Farhadova in Baku and Mammad-Sadiq Fataliyev in Sheki (CRS No. 519, 13-Nov-09)
Children Haunted by Georgia-Russia War
Volunteers try to help bereaved youngsters still traumatised by the conflict. By Natia Kuprashvili in Tbilisi (CRS No. 519, 13-Nov-09)
IWPR Probes Shushi Prison Concerns
Prison authorities allow reporter in to check conditions following claims inmates are mistreated. By Lusine Musaelyan in Shushi (CRS No. 519, 13-Nov-09)