Armenian Dept. of Gulbenkian Foundation Funds 32 New Projects
Lisbon — The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation supports approximately 100 projects per year of various sizes from some twenty countries. In addition, it awards hundreds of scholarships to university students and researchers.
Projects are received on a rolling basis and are evaluated three times a year. In January, 125 projects were evaluated, of which 32 were selected for funding.
Some of the approved projects were continuations of existing initiatives: Zarmanazan, Yertik, Oos Hartag, the Hrant Dink Foundation’s KardDes app. Other projects were new initiatives with existing partners, for example Vlume’s expansion into producing 84 new Armenian-language publications for younger readers, in addition to their audio and e-books for adult readers. This brings a new dimension to the Department’s ongoing support for the production of pedagogic materials for children and its own Zartiss imprint of translated books.
Some of the exciting new initiatives the Department agreed to support include the set up of a junior scholars’ research group at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) at University of Leipzig. The Foundation will be funding two PhD scholarships to research contemporary Armenian topics. Another two will be funded by the Institute itself or external sources. It is envisioned that the Institute becomes the leading Armenian Studies research centre in Germany. Similarly, INALCO’s International Master’s Degree Program in Armenian Studies is being supported for a period of three years to augment its research and teaching capacity with a month-long senior visiting scholar.
Collaboration with TUMO in Armenia will ensure the organization of the Armenian Pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale. Called “Microarchitecture through AI: Making new memories with ancient monuments,” the project will explore the evolving role of artificial intelligence in cultural heritage preservation and as an avenue for new forms of expression. A grant to the Institute of Public Policy, also in Armenia, will support their “Book and Thought” project to prepare 36 podcast video episodes on important books translated into Armenian during the past several years. The series is meant to foster critical thinking through discussions about these books and their impact on socio-political and cultural thought. Finally, support to the “Hi Haleb” initiative – an oral history project about the Armenian community in Aleppo – will produce a comprehensive website that will host videographed interviews, photographs and other materials about the community that is currently under serious threat.
While most of the Department’s activities are outside of Portugal, on occasion it does support initiatives in Portugal to spotlight Armenian culture and history. It sponsored the Sergei Parajanov cycle of films at Cinemateca Portuguesa, where all of Parajanov’s films are to be shown to the Portuguese public. The Foundation is also supporting the translation of the Armenian folk epic “David of Sassoun” into Portuguese by a local young academic who has acquired profound knowledge of the Armenian language through courses at IL-Nova, sponsored by Gulbenkian.
As with all grants at the Foundation, these projects have been approved by the President, Professor António Feijó and the Board of Trustees. The Armenian Communities Department reports to the President, who assumed the direct responsibility for the Department upon Mr. Martin Essayan’s retirement at the end of 2024. On the occasion of approving these projects the President said:
“The Armenian Communities Department, whose deep roots go as far back as 1956 when the Foundation was established, is at the heart of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The Department ties us to our Founder and his culture, to his philanthropy and international outlook. We are keen to enhance our commitment to the Armenian Diaspora throughout the world and to Armenia. These projects are a manifestation of this long-term commitment.”
In the upcoming weeks, the Foundation will consider for approval up to 10 contemporary Armenian culture grants submitted to its innovative արդ եւս|in view program. Among other new projects, it is developing a new research initiative tentatively called the Armenian Diaspora Research Centre which will undertake policy relevant investigations on the challenges facing the Diaspora, as well as Armenia. As the President put it, “it is not only important to preserve culture but also to revitalize it and foster the creation of new culture. Similarly, parallel to supporting original research, the Foundation strives to advance critical thinking and its dissemination.”
