Concerts, exhibitions and workshops are part of the program of the Strada Armeneasca Festival, this weekend, at the "Dimitrie Brândza" Botanical Garden in Bucharest.
According to a press release from Creative Arts sent on Wednesday, this year's Strada Armeneasca Festival will feature artists who combine tradition with modernity, poetry with rhythm, and cultural roots with contemporary expression. From the Republic of Moldova come Zdob ?i Zdub, the Osoianu Sisters and Brother Gheorghe & the Small Orchestra, who bring together traditional influences, poetry, and improvisation.
Romania is represented by Fanfare Ciocarlia, Robin and the Backstabbers, Corina Sîrghi & Taraf, with a repertoire of urban romances and tangos.
From Armenia come the musicians from Gata Band, with ethnic jazz, and the band The Bambir, with a sound that brings together progressive rock, folklore and Balkan lyricism.
The atmosphere will be completed by a series of DJ sets and live interventions supported by Miko Baghdasarian ft. Skior and their special guests from Armenia and Ligia Kesisian ft. Lucas Molina.
Entrance is free, and access is allowed within capacity.
On Saturday, from 4:30 PM, at the Festival Library, there will be a conversation about Armenian merchants in Romania. The discussion will start from the volume "From Kayseri to Bucharest. Sewn to the End", signed by Andreea Barbu, and will feature Monica Dudian, Maria Erzian and Paul Agopian, collector of Armenian stories at negustorie.ro.
On Sunday, from 4:30 PM, there will be a discussion about the present and the future: "Roots Beyond Borders" is about what it means to be young and Armenian in the diaspora. The guests are Silva Sahakyan (France), Ruzanna Grigoryan (Latvia) and Manushak Danielyan (Germany), part of the Diaspora Youth Ambassadors Program 2024-2025 and they talk about identity, transnational connections and how to keep a cultural thread alive in a world in constant motion.
Throughout the festival, visitors will be able to explore a series of exhibitions that document, reinterpret and celebrate Armenian culture.
"Armenians of Romanian Jazz" brings to the forefront a lesser-known part of the Armenian artistic contribution to Romania: photographs by Emilian Săvescu and archive images capture figures such as Garbis and Capriel Dedeian, Harry Tavitian, but also images of Johnny Răducanu or Corneliu Stroe - pioneers of a musical scene between tradition and freedom.
"Revolutionary - Armenian Women Who Changed the World", illustrated by Maretta Aivazian, brings stories of courage, vision and change from women from Armenia, the diaspora and Romania.
"The ARARAT Centennial" represents an incursion into the history of the Armenian press in Romania, an archive of cultural memory marked by figures such as Vartan Mestugean and Arsag Bogdan Caus, the spiritual fathers of the publication that gave its name to an editorial era.
The collage exhibition curated by Bucharest Collage Collective brings to the garden fragmented and poetic visions signed by Alexandra Grigore, Beatrice Arzoiu, Cristina Gârleseanu, Oana Iordăchescu and other artists who explore the tensions between image, text and memory.
Saturday and Sunday, between 12:00 and 16:00, the little ones will enjoy a puppet show-reading held by three young puppeteer actors - Radu Stăncescu, Florentina Bălan and Luca Horia Drăghici.
The Armenian Street Festival is organized by the Union of Armenians in Romania and the Armenian Cultural Center in Bucharest.
To access the Botanical Garden, an entrance ticket is charged at 10 lei for adults and 5 lei for pensioners, pupils and students. The fee can be paid in advance at https://events.unibuc.ro/gradina-botanica/intrare-22/.
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