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Armenian Genocide Billboards on Display in South Florida, Massachusetts
By Rosario Teixeira
Executive Director, Peace of Art, Inc.
During the month of April 2013, Peace of Art, Inc., will be displaying Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide, calling for recognition and condemnation of the genocide. Peace of Art, Inc. is a nonprofit educational organization that uses the universal language of art to address human concerns and to promote peaceful solutions to conflict. In Massachusetts, the billboards will be located in Foxboro, Watertown, and Cambridge.
(Also on FLArmenians: 98th Anniversary Armenian Genocide Commemorations in Florida)
One 10′ x 30′ digital billboard is on display now on Route 1 in Foxboro, MA, 1/4 mile south of the main entrance to Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place. A second 11′ x 27′ billboard will be on display on April 1st in Watertown, on Mount Auburn Street in the heart of the Armenian community, close to the Armenian cultural centers and churches. In addition, a third 11′ x 27′ billboard will be on display on Cambridge Street, near Lechmere Station, East Cambridge. This area, with high traffic and high visibility, is the gateway between Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville.
The artist Daniel Varoujan Hejinian, president and founder of Peace of Art Inc., said that “with these billboards we are honoring the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, calling upon the international community to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and to condemn the perpetrators. He added, “98 years have passed but the bloody hand prints of the horrible events of 1915 stained the pages of the world history, when 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives.”
The 2013 billboard depicts the bloody hand prints on the words ‘Armenian Genocide’ over a black background. Since 1996, Mr. Hejinian has been calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In 2004 Peace of Art, Inc. began to sponsor the commemorative billboards honoring the victims and calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This year’s message further calls for the condemnation of genocide.
To date, the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by over 20 countries and 43 U.S. states. However, in spite of his campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide, in the last four years President Obama has failed to use the term genocide in reference to the slaughter of Armenians, which took place almost to a century ago. Once again we urge the President on his second term, to honor his first campaign promise.
The Armenian Genocide is not a matter of concern for Armenians alone but to everyone. Genocide is a crime against humanity. Without recognition and condemnation, the Armenian Genocide remains a wound that continues to bleed, under the hand prints of the culprit.
In a separate and ironically unrelated event, genocide billboards are being displayed in South Florida. Paid for by “Individuals concerned about the plight of Armenians,” and displayed in South Florida are four 14′ by 48′ Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards on heavily traveled freeways to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and to thank the countries that officially have recognized the Armenian Genocide. The billboards can be seen on I-95 in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties and on the Florida Turnpike intersection with Interstate-595. Peace of Art, Inc. is not involved in the Florida Armenian Genocide billboards.
This article originally appeared on Peace of Art, Inc. and is reprinted with the permission of the author.
CORRECTION: This story was updated Tuesday, April 23 at 2:10 pm to clarify that the Massachusetts billboards are separate and unrelated to the South Florida billboards.
Armenian-American Film “HERE” Premiers This Thursday at Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival
Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Florida Armenians cordially invites you to a special evening for the premier of the Armenian-American film “HERE,” this Thursday, October 25th at Cinema Paradiso, the home of the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF). Director Braden King will be in attendance to meet guests and participants. FLArmenians will offer brief program immediately preceding the film’s premier.
We hope you can join us for this very special occasion. A limited number of FREE tickets are available for the premier by contacting FLArmenians, and online ticket purchase is available here.
Film Times:
Premier Thursday night 8:00 PM, Program begins at 7:30 PM. Also showing Friday night 8:00 PM & Saturday night 8:00 PM
Cinema Paradiso is located at 503 SE 6th St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301. Driving directions, map and parking information can be found here.
About the Film:
Year: 2011
Runtime: 126 min
Language: English & Armenian w/English sub-titles
Director: Braden King
Producer: Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Jeff Kalousdian, Julia
Cast: Ben Foster, Peter Coyote and Lubna Azabal
Will Shepard is an American satellite-mapping engineer contracted to create a new, more accurate survey of the country of Armenia. Within the industry, his solitary work – land-surveying satellite images to check for accuracy and resolve anomalies – is called “ground-truthing”. He’s been doing it on his own, for years, all over the world, but on this trip, his measurements are not adding up.
Will meets Gadarine Najarian at a rural hotel. Tough and intriguing, she’s an expatriate Armenian art photographer on her first trip back in ages, passionately trying to figure out what kind of relationship – if any – she still has with her home country and culture. Fiercely independent, Gadarine is struggling to resolve the life she’s led in Canada and Europe with the Armenian roots that run so deeply, if unconsciously, through her. There is an almost instant, unconscious bond between these two lone travelers; they impulsively decide to continue together. HERE tells the story of their unique journey and the dramatic personal transformations it leads each of them through.
Sponsored by Margaret Ahnert and featuring Special Guest, Director Braden King.
About FLIFF:
The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF), founded in 1986, is dedicated to foreign and independent film. FLIFF annually showcases over 200 films from over 35 countries. A recipient of The Guiness World Record for the longest film festival in the world, FLIFF prides itself as being the friendly non-pretentious fest where access to filmmakers is basically unfiltered.
FLIFF takes programming throughout South Florida, including The Weston Foreign Film Series, The Bay Harbor Islands Family Festival, The Hollywood Arts Park screenings, among other satellite operations.
FLIFF also tours the State of Florida and Grand Bahama Island, partnering with The Daytona Beach Film Festival, The St Augustine Film Festival, The Amelia Island Film Festival, and FLIFF On-Location Grand Bahama Island. Filmmakers who submit to FLIFF will have their films considered for one or all of the above festivals, providing a bargain to budget stretched filmmakers.
Since 1998, over $1 million had been raised and invested in our year-round space, now known as Cinema Paradiso. Today, Cinema Paradiso operates year-round featuring foreign and independent film, student films, children’s movies, and serves as a mecca for just about every kind of arts event you can imagine. Benefits for other non-profits, poetry, dance, music, as well as corporate events, book signings and celebrity appearances take place in this versatile space.
The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and Cinema Paradiso are just two of the programs presented by The Broward County Film Society.
Florida Armenians 