Growing up, drawing cartoons was Vartian’s hobby, as he was occupied with academics under the guidance of his uncle who was a doctor. “My uncle would tell me, ‘If you want to make money, be a lawyer,’” remembers Vartian. “But I liked drawing, and doing artwork.” In high school, he was approached to do some of the art and calligraphy for the posters placed around campus for events such as school dances and football games. Lo and behold, he discovered his passion: “I thought, ‘Maybe this is what I want to go into.’ So I changed my course schedule midstream from an academic schedule so I could go to art school.” Yet, as is the case with the pursuit of dreams, nothing came easy. With art school being expensive, Vartian chose to attend the city-run Frank Wiggins Trade School – one that was notorious for placing its graduates in commercial art studios. With the assistance of a professor, Vartian was found a job at such a studio doing freelance work. “I did one job, and the production manager didn’t like the idea. So he didn’t give me any more work. I just did my homework from school there, surrounded by all these commercial artists.” He eventually worked full-time first as a parcel runner, and then doing calligraphy at the counsel of his hiring manager. When the Second World War broke out and he received his draft letter, Vartian knew that the front lines of war were not for him. He immediately went to enlist in the Navy, and ended up at the Coast Guard registry. It was at the Coast Guard offices where he ran into an old friend – his boss from his first job during college. “He probably saved my life. Through the production and illustration that I did, I got transferred to boot camp up in Washington,” recalls Vartian “…I was the guy carrying my own artwork around to the Admiral, and I got transferred into the Engineering Department. That kept me off the front lines.”

Obsidian could be perfectly processed and easily polished, has a vitreous luster and characteristic shell-like fracture. In Armenia, where young volcanic formations cover one-third of the whole territory, obsidian is widely spread and can be found almost everywhere. Obsidian is mainly used as a semiprecious and ornamental stone. Many famous companies, including Faberge and Verfel used to manufacture products from it. Among jewelers it was known as “the Nevadan Diamond,” “the Icelandic Agate,” and “the Montana Jade.” Many stones and minerals of Armenia have an interesting and long history, but that of the obsidian perhaps is unique. The prehistoric man living in the Armenian uplands was the first to pay attention to the double-edged fragments of obsidian and, without additional finishing, to start using them as primitive instruments of labor (scrapers, knives, sickles). Subsequently proto-Armenians learned to process this material skillfully, improving their manual axes, pole-axes, knives, arrowheads and pikes. A number of prehistoric settlements with workshops for processing obsidian were found in Armenia. The most important of them is to the north of Dzhraber Village located by the Yerevan-Sevan Highway, the so-called “arms factory” known among archeologists as the Dzhraber workshop of upper-Acheulean age. In the ancient times the high quality of Armenian obsidian made it possible to “export” the stone to distant lands. Archeologists from different countries have found Armenian obsidian out in Mesopotamia (Assyria, Medea, Babylon, Great Armenia), Persia, on the Crimean Peninsula and even in distant Pechora (Russia). It is no accident that a ready “tool-stone” was exported out of the “land of the stones.” In the Neolithic Era, the city of Jericho, mentioned in the Bible, was the main transportation gateway from Armenia and from Anatolia to Egypt for the merchants of obsidian. According to English archeologist James Mellaart, the city received its popularity due to the trade of obsidian. Another English man and researcher of the Caucasus Mountains, David Marshall Lang, notes the following: “A number of manual axes discovered in various distant regions of the Earth are almost indistinguishable from those found in Armenia. They connect it with an extensive complex of similar centers of activity of the primitive man, which are stretched through southern England, France, Spain, on the farther shore of the Mediterranean, in the area of Sahara, Egypt, southern and eastern Africa, reaching to northern China. Even a cursory look at the world map makes it clear that Armenia is in the focal point of this system of early cultures that were manufacturing tools.” Nevertheless, the obsidian was included into scientific lexicon without any hint of being an Armenian “primogeniture.”

“Artsakh is gorgeous, with incredibly green landscapes. At times the colors look neon. It was really a time where you let go of any type of stress or worry and couldn’t help but connect with the nature, the history of the ancestors who walked on these lands thousands of years ago, and with the people with whom you share love for this land,” said Mandy Messer, a volunteer from Michigan. Mandy, who preferred to go by her middle name, Ani, volunteered for seven months at TUMO, an educational organization, aimed at teaching technology and art to high school students in Armenia. She is a third generation American whose mother is Armenian. “I wanted to volunteer in Armenia because I wanted to get to know the pulse of life there and its people”, she said. “Living in Armenia, you have a completely different perspective on the world. Every situation is framed differently. It was an incredibly stimulating experience.”

She continued, “I didn’t realize until I got back that Armenia was an environment that allowed me to pursue a lot of my personal interests: being a part of nature, picking flowers, doing cartwheels, hiking up mountains, climbing waterfalls, repelling down mountainsides, camping – we became part of the land.”

Armenia revealed itself to the overseas singer through the language of its music. September of 2002 marked Daniel Decker’s first public appearance on the Armenian stage when at the frames of the concert dedicated to the Armenian Independence Day, he performed the song “Noah’s Prayer” (originally titled “Mush”) based on the music composed by Ara Gevorgian, and lyrics written in English by Decker himself. Inspired and fascinated by the musical compositions of Ara Gevorgian, the singer developed a zeal for learning more about the history and culture of Armenia.

Three years later, Decker’s creative collaboration with Gevorgian gave life to another song titled “Adana,” debuted in 2005, at the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide commemorative concert, in Yerevan. The concert was initiated by the former Mayor of Yerevan, Robert Nazaryan, and the minister of Culture and Youth Affairs, Hovik Hoveyan among others. The new composition was named after the city in Western Armenia, that in the beginning of the 20th century turned into a horrendous ground for the first massacres of Armenian populations. Decker’s emotive lyrics, created to flow with the touching sounds of Gevorgian’s music, were born to serve a special mission: to draw international attention to the Armenian Genocide.

According to the singer, one does not write a piece like “Adana” thinking that it will turn into a future hit song. He writes it because it contains a subject that desperately needs to be talked about. “Adana” was translated and performed in more than 20 languages; among one of the performers – a Turkish singer.

“Armenian by Choice”

Judging by the name and the content of Decker’s new album, one can conclude that the Puerto Rican-American singer’s interest in Armenian music only grew over time. The album is proudly titled, Armenian by Choice, and the name is not the album’s only peculiarity. Daniel characterized the whole creative process of recording the new album as a tremendous challenge, and mainly due to the reason that the singer doesn’t speak Armenian. However, his ardor to learn to sing some of the beloved Armenian songs in their native language proved to be stronger. This collection consisting of well-known Armenian songs was created as a tribute to Armenia and to its people, the singer explained. Decker’s first appearance with a song performed in the Armenian language took place during one of his concerts for the Armenians Diaspora in Sydney, Australia. He chose “Cilicia,” that is, perhaps, one of the well-liked songs among the Diaspora.

As the crowds at Viza concerts and the number of fans continue to grow, these lyrics from the song “Viktor” from their latest and fifth album, Made in Chernobyl come to life: “Viktor, my friend, look out! There’s a million fingers pointing at you.” Viza’s live performances are energetic – the mob of music lovers at the concerts not only points their fingers towards their idols, they truly immerse themselves in their inimitable music. The instruments normally associated with a rock band – guitar, drums, keys and bass – are the backbone to Viza’s music. In the forefront, however, are where the more unusual instruments come to life. “The oud was played by Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and originated in the Middle East centuries ago,” said Andrew Kzirian, the oud player of the band. “My goal is to reintroduce the instrument in an interesting and innovative way.”

Bremmer was a boy genius. His Armenian mother, who traces her roots to Aleppo, Syria, eloped with his father, a career military officer, when they were both very young. They were stationed in Ecuador for many years and delayed having children for quite a while. Eventually, they moved to Baltimore where Bremmer was born. His father, who had served in the military for 22 years, died when Ian was only four years old and his mother decided to move back to Chelsea, Mass., where other members of her family still lived.

Bremmer distinguished himself from the very beginning. He skipped several grades in his small Catholic school, graduated from high school at the age of 15 and enrolled at Tulane University on scholarship. Having no idea of what he wanted to study, he was advised by his teachers to major in chemical engineering. “I disliked it immensely. The early courses required far too much memorization of formulas, and I didn’t find the subject matter interesting.” It did not take long, however, before Bremmer developed a passion for political science. He loved reading newspapers and monitoring world events. Political science just seemed like a natural fit.

“I saw how making even very small amounts of capital available to people, who previously had no such access, enabled them to make important changes in their lives,” says Iskenderian. “I saw that working through women was the most effective strategy for bringing about change in poor households.”

Iskenderian began her banking career over 20 years ago, working in senior management at the International Finance Corporation, a private sector of the World Bank; she had previously worked for the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Being able to reach out to those in need was always her priority. After studying development economics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and successfully dabbling in Wall Street, she had a revelation.

“I came to see that empowering people economically was better than any charitable donation. By starting my career in banking, I sought to learn as much as possible about the mainstream financial sector so that I could apply those lessons in serving the low-income population.”

A background of textured gold, figures constructed with golden hues paired with accompanying reddish soil: a representation of human life filled with angst, triumph, and familial collectiveness that are surrounded by darkness and lightness. Raffi Musakhanyan’s art encompasses all of these layers and in order to successfully portray such thought-provoking pieces, “the will and passion to create must be there,” he stated. At one of his exhibits, “the known unknown,” which also featured the work of his son, there were free-standing sculptures displayed upon the gallery floor with a mound of loose, tangible brownish-red dirt underneath each figure. One such persona, animal-like in form, is attempting to stand up straight while carrying a heavy, disfigured oval with great strain, loudly lamenting his state with his snout pointed towards the skies. A powerful piece just on its own, but with the addition of the bed of earth it makes the viewer relate to the work on a more authentic level. “The most important aspect about artist and viewer is that the viewer is able to read and understand you,” said Musakhanyan. This explains the reason behind featuring the sculptures in the paintings, as well as recreating the characters found within the paintings as sculptures. This multi-layered aspect brings forth a “tangible presentation which paired with the single dimension canvas creates a natural flow and rhythm which gives the viewer a real experience,” added Musakhanyan.

With the exotic beats of the Spanish guitar softly pulsing from the speakers, the warm Los Angeles sun illuminating the framed photographs, and the one-of-a-kind designs of Jude Beylerian adorning her atelier, I found myself in awe while in the presence of pure inspiration. Although in the midst of moving homes, designing her new collection, and traveling transatlantic, I joined Jude as she magically balanced being a mother and successful designer.

Luna Belle, Jude’s four-year-old daughter sits in the corner of the studio munching on a blueberry muffin, clearly in one of her mother’s creations. She is one the most stylish youngsters I have ever seen, donning a lace-trimmed apron to shield her silk chemise.

I turn to Jude who is rummaging through a rack of her latest designs, which will be showing during the winter for her Spring/Summer collection 2011. She holds up a denim trench-jumpsuit, meant for roaming the streets of a cosmopolitan city. The rough denim is elaborately decorated with delicate laces and pearls, and complemented by masculine hardware. There is a matching fedora that seems to have two personalities. While looking like a classic chapeau, it has an edgy twist that would bring out the boldness in anyone who wears it.