Role: Artist

Sergei Parajanov or Paradjanov (born Sarkis Paradjanian; 1924-1990) was one of the best known directors of Soviet films. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, to an Armenian family, his work reflected the ethnic diversity of the Caucusus where he was raised. His first major work was Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964), which earned him an international reputation for its rich use of costume and color, and its whimsical portrayal of rural life. Possibly his greatest work, The Color of Pomegranates (1969), described the life of the Armenian poet Sayat Nova. The film angered the Soviet authorities, who claimed that it evoked nationalist sentiment. Claiming that Paradjanov promoted homosexuality, the government arrested him in 1973 and sentenced him to five years in a labor camp. A large number of prominent artists, writers and filmmakers protested his sentence, but Paradjanov was only released four years later, in large part due to the efforts of the French surrealist Louis Aragon. He was banned for making films for many years afterwards, when he was living in Tbilisi, but he was allowed to make The Legend of Suram Fortress (1984), which captured much of the color of his earlier work. He managed to direct three more films before he died of cancer in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1990. A house was built for him in Yerevan which was completed shortly after his death, but which now houses all his belongings and has been turned into the Parajanov Museum.

Sayat-Nova (1712-1795), or 'King of Songs' is the name given to Harutyun Sahakyan . He was probably born in Sanahin, where his mother was also born, and he grew up in a village near Tbilisi, Georgia, and was skilled in writing poetry, singing and playing the Kamancheh. He performed in the court of Heracle II of Georgia, where he also worked as a diplomat, and apparently helped forge an alliance between Georgia, Armenia and Shirvan against the Persian Empire. He lost his place at court when he fell in love with the king's daughter, and spent the rest of his life as an itinerant bard. In 1795 he was killed in Haghpat by the army of Agha Mohammed Khan. \

SEEROON YERETZIAN is an accomplished artist who is equally at ease painting thoughtful and expressive works of art on canvas as well as illustrating in her unique style of Armenian miniature art. She is the proprietor of the Roslin Art Gallery , a local gallery dedicated to promoting Armenian artists from around the world. For the last twenty years, she has passionately studied and mastered the Armenian art of ornate illuminated letters. \

Sarkis was born in Gyumri and lives and works in the capital Yerevan. His neo-expressionist style incorporates a compendium of different modes of representation with a mix of abstract streaks and drips of oil paint, carefully stenciled outlines, delicate drawings and photographs depicting a world in turmoil. Images cohere formally, seeming to imply narrative, but then unravel and slip away as though half-remembered in a dream proving as fallible as any system by which we attempt to structure our existence. He has had solo exhibitions in London, Basel and Paris and has participated in group exhibitions in Russia, Germany, Finland and the USA. His works can be found in museums and private collections.

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1952. Hallaj holds a bachelor's degree from Terlemezian University of Fine Arts.

Painter and graphic designer. Born in 1954, Yerevan. Graduate of Yerevan's Theater Arts Institute

Born in 1946 in Gyumri, Armenia. His monumental and mural works adorn many cultural places of Russia and Armenia.\