GLENDALE—Local filmmaker and photographer Ara Madzounian will present an exhibit of his newly released book entitled ‘Birds Nest: A Photographic Essay of Bourj Hammoud’ from March 16-30 at the Roslin Art Gallery from March 16-30 at the Roslin Art Gallery (415 E. Broadway, Glendale, California.) Admission is free. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, from 10am-7pm.
Opening reception of the exhibit will be on Thursday, March 16, from 7-10pm. Limited edition prints will be available for sale.
On Saturday, March 18, at 7:30pm, there will be a special screening of Madzounian’s esteemed film, The Pink Elephant. Admission is free. Priority reserved seating (which includes a complimentary DVD) available at itsmyseat.com/abrilbooks. Discussion will follow the screening with Director Madzounian and special guests, Talar Chahinian and Hrayr Anmahouni.
On Thursday, March 23, at 7:30pm, Ara Madzounian will give a special PowerPoint presentation of his newly released book under the same name, followed by a book-signing reception.
The exhibit is based on the recently released book Birds Nest: A Photographic Essay of Bourj Hammoud. It is a visual celebration of moments captured by photographer Ara Madzounian during his 2008-2009 visit to the Bourj Hammoud district, a geographical extension of Beirut, Lebanon. Armenians who survived the Armenian Genocide began migrating to the area as refugees. Each quarter was populated by natives from a village in their original homeland which re-gifted its name to the new quarter such as Marash, Nor-Adana, and Nor-Sis. Erecting schools, churches, cultural centers and maintaining political affiliations with concerted national codes, it was here where national identity was resurrected as a means to hold on to what was violently ended in the homeland. Between 1975 and 1995, the district witnessed drastic population shifts as a result of the Lebanese civil war. Most Armenian inhabitants of the quarter fled the country and others moved out of the area to better their social ranking. Bourj Hammoud is the last bastion of Armenian collective memory as it is a direct consequence of a crime against humanity perpetrated over a hundred years ago against the Armenian people.
Madzounian was born in 1953 in Bourj Hammoud, where he lived for 20 years until the start of the civil war in 1975. He is an independent producer, director and cinematographer based in Los Angeles. He holds a BA and MFA in Film & Television from UCLA. For eight years he has produced Armenia Fund Telethon. He has also produced educational videos for Los Angeles County Refugee Project. He made his screen-acting debut on ShowTime in Radio Inside, a feature film. Ara has lectured on Armenian Cinema at the ARS Summer Studies Program at Amherst and Bradford colleges in Massachusetts. He has produced and directed over thirty television commercials and many corporate films. His latest feature cinematography work Meltdown was released in 2015. Ara is currently working with the Smithsonian Institution on a project that harnesses the power of storytelling to strengthen cultural heritage sustainability called My Armenia.
Presented by Roslin Art Gallery and Abril Bookstore.
For more information, contact Arno Yeretzian at Roslin Art Gallery (818) 241-0611, noor@abrilbooks.com
