Sergey Parajanov Museum
Encyclopedia
The Sergei Parajanov Museum is a tribute to Soviet Armenian director and artist Sergei Parajanov and is one of the most popular museum
s in Yerevan
. It represents Parajanov's diverse artistic and literary heritage.
. Parajanov himself chose the place (Dzoragyugh ethnographic center in Yerevan) and construction project of museum. Due to 1988 Spitak earthquake and socio-economic problems, the museum was opened only in June 1991, one year after Parajanov's death.
The founding director of museum is Zaven Sargsyan. The museum is one of the cultural centers of Yerevan, known for his exhibitions, publications and honorary receptions (including the annual meetings of Yerevan International Film Festival
guests). Paulo Coelho
, Wim Wenders
, Mikhail Vartanov
, Tonino Guerra
, Enrica Antonioni
, Atom Egoyan
, Nikita Mikhalkov
, Vladimir Putin
, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Yevgeni Yevtushenko, Arnold Rüütel
, Valdas Adamkus
, Tarja Halonen
, Donald Knuth
and many other famous people have visited the museum.
n-style building and consists of two floors. Comprising some 1,400 exhibits, the museum's collection includes installations, collages, assemblages, drawings, dolls and hats. The museum also showcases unpublished screenplays, librettos and various artworks which Parajanov created while in prison. Among the other exponates of museum are two re-created memorial rooms, original posters, festival prizes, signed letters by Federico Fellini
, Lilya Brik
, Andrey Tarkovsky, Mikhail Vartanov
, and Yuri Nikulin
, gifts by famous visitors Tonino Guerra
, Vladimir Putin
and Roman Balayan
, who is the author of "The Night in the Parajanov's Museum" film. The museum uses art and exposition principles of Parajanov himself.
The museum has organized about 50 exhibitions, including those at Cannes
, Athens
, Tokyo
, Moscow
, Rome
, Tehran
, Hollywood etc.
According to "Rediscovering Armenia" guide, "the best museum in Yerevan is small and idiosyncratic, the would-be final home of famed Soviet filmmaker Sergei Parajanov".
(1985)
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s in Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
. It represents Parajanov's diverse artistic and literary heritage.
History
The museum was founded in 1988 when Parajanov moved to YerevanYerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
. Parajanov himself chose the place (Dzoragyugh ethnographic center in Yerevan) and construction project of museum. Due to 1988 Spitak earthquake and socio-economic problems, the museum was opened only in June 1991, one year after Parajanov's death.
The founding director of museum is Zaven Sargsyan. The museum is one of the cultural centers of Yerevan, known for his exhibitions, publications and honorary receptions (including the annual meetings of Yerevan International Film Festival
Yerevan International Film Festival
Yerevan International Film Festival "Golden Apricot" is a Yerevan-based annual film festival. The objectives of the festival are "to present new works by the film directors and producers in Armenia and foreign cinematographers of Armenian descent and to promote creativity and originality in the...
guests). Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.-Biography:Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical,...
, Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
, Mikhail Vartanov
Mikhail Vartanov
Mikhail Vartanov . Film director, cinematographer, documentarian, essayist, photographer and artist who developed a style of documentary filmmaking termed the “direction of undirected action.”...
, Tonino Guerra
Tonino Guerra
Tonino Guerra is an Italian poet, writer and screenwriter who has collaborated with some of the most prominent film directors of the world.-Biography:Guerra was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna....
, Enrica Antonioni
Enrica Antonioni
Enrica Fico Antonioni is an Italian actress, film director and artist, the widow of Michelangelo Antonioni. She directed Con Michelangelo , Fare un film per me è vivere and Noto, Mandorli, Vulcano, Stromboli, Carnevale films...
, Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...
, Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
, Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Yevgeni Yevtushenko, Arnold Rüütel
Arnold Rüütel
Arnold Rüütel OIH was the third President of the Republic of Estonia from October 8, 2001 to October 9, 2006. He was the second President since Estonia regained its independence in 1991....
, Valdas Adamkus
Valdas Adamkus
Valdas Adamkus was President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009.In Lithuania, the President's tenure lasts for five years; Adamkus' first term in office began on February 26, 1998 and ended on February 28, 2003, following his defeat by Rolandas Paksas in the next...
, Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
, Donald Knuth
Donald Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth is a computer scientist and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.He is the author of the seminal multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. Knuth has been called the "father" of the analysis of algorithms...
and many other famous people have visited the museum.
Exhibition
The museum is situated in a traditional CaucasiaCaucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
n-style building and consists of two floors. Comprising some 1,400 exhibits, the museum's collection includes installations, collages, assemblages, drawings, dolls and hats. The museum also showcases unpublished screenplays, librettos and various artworks which Parajanov created while in prison. Among the other exponates of museum are two re-created memorial rooms, original posters, festival prizes, signed letters by Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
, Lilya Brik
Lilya Brik
Lilya Yuryevna Brik is known best as a muse of Vladimir Mayakovsky. She was an older sister of Elsa Triolet and wife of Osip Brik. Pablo Neruda called her "muse of Russian avant-garde"...
, Andrey Tarkovsky, Mikhail Vartanov
Mikhail Vartanov
Mikhail Vartanov . Film director, cinematographer, documentarian, essayist, photographer and artist who developed a style of documentary filmmaking termed the “direction of undirected action.”...
, and Yuri Nikulin
Yuri Nikulin
Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin was a well-known Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films.He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1973 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990...
, gifts by famous visitors Tonino Guerra
Tonino Guerra
Tonino Guerra is an Italian poet, writer and screenwriter who has collaborated with some of the most prominent film directors of the world.-Biography:Guerra was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna....
, Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
and Roman Balayan
Roman Balayan
Roman Balayan is a Ukrainian-Armenian film director.-Career:Graduated by the Ivan Karpenko-Kary Institute of Theater Arts, he has lived and worked in Ukraine. Balayan calls himself a student of Sergei Parajanov. He was nominated and won several international prizes...
, who is the author of "The Night in the Parajanov's Museum" film. The museum uses art and exposition principles of Parajanov himself.
The museum has organized about 50 exhibitions, including those at Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Hollywood etc.
According to "Rediscovering Armenia" guide, "the best museum in Yerevan is small and idiosyncratic, the would-be final home of famed Soviet filmmaker Sergei Parajanov".
Quotes about the museum
"Is there anywhere in the world a museum of Sergei Parajanov? A museum of his works - his graphics, dolls, collages, photographs, 23 screenplays and librettos of unrealized productions in cinema, theater, ballet...It would become an adornment and pride of any city. I know that sooner or later Paradjanov's screenplays would be published in a book and I hope that the city with that museum is going to be Yerevan." Mikhail VartanovMikhail Vartanov
Mikhail Vartanov . Film director, cinematographer, documentarian, essayist, photographer and artist who developed a style of documentary filmmaking termed the “direction of undirected action.”...
(1985)