Medz Yeghern

We would like to invite you to take part in the project „Medz Yeghern. The palimpsest of memory”. It comprises a series of artistic events: flash mobs, happenings, and meetings related to the one hundredth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on the 24^th of April 2015. They will be taking place simultaneously in cultural and artistic centres of major Polish cities, culminating at 19.15 on April 24. The title „Medz Yeghern. The palimpsest of memory” refers to the term used first by the Armenian journalist and activist Khatchadour Maloumian in 1911, which means “the great crime”. This expression has become for Armenians a synonym of “genocide”. Choosing the words Medz Yeghern for the title of the project is an intentional action aimed at propagating this term and making it leave a trace in the memories of the audiences of the planned events.

The flash mob action „Medz Yeghern. The palimpsest of memory” will be carried out by people summoned by the social media. The central point of the action will consist of a simultaneously performed simple gesture of putting a small stone, a handful of sand, or a pomegranate, down on the ground. These objects bear significance on the map of symbols related to the history of the Armenian people. Pouring down a handful of sand relates to the image of the ruins of Armenian temples, deteriorating under the desert sands: their undermined columns have become the symbol of the Armenian Genocide. A pomegranate stands for fertility and longevity.

Through this simple gesture, as minute as the pouring down of a handful of sand, carried out intentionally by a group of several dozen performers at exactly the same time, the participants of the action will have the opportunity to speak and accept responsibility of preserving memory of the past events, as well as of the reminding and bringing into collective attention the scale and significance of the 1915 events. These actions will also have a broader meaning: the problem of preserving and carrying memory, the possible role and significance of performative actions in speaking about history and recollecting past events.

Enclosed tools useful for the organisation of the project and a short history of Medz Yeghern.