The 100 Year Journey

A commemorative art installation for the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

“If You are against Genocide, you are for Peace”

Artworks by a descendant of genocide who returns to his ancestral land 100 years after the tragedy.

“The 100 Year Journey is not only an exploration and celebration of a peoples’ proud ancient and spiritual history, it is a dialogue of peace. I imagine that this is what my ancestors wanted most during their darkest hour. Therefore I think it is our responsibility today to honor the past by contributing to a peaceful tomorrow. If you are against genocide then you are for peace.” – Gregory Beylerian

Dialogue with Father Vazken about the 100 Year Journey

Listen to This conversation for a better understanding of what the installation is about:

The Zorayan Museum

Installation open to the public from April 15th – 24th, 2015.

The 100 Year Journey Installation has been described as a “portal” constructed from the following artworks created by Gregory Beylerian: 4 paintings, 39 works on paper, hundreds of photographs, two video projections, a soundtrack and commentary writings by Father Vazken Movsesian. This project has been produced in collaboration with Father Vazken Movsesian, founder of In His Shoes Organization. To learn more about this Organization please visit: www.inhisshoes.org

Scroll down to view all artworks, photographs and writings.

Inauguration by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian.
Thousands were attracted to portal, coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. This was a unique commemoration where visitor contemplated the idea of peace – the ultimate direction of the 100 Year Journey.
Artist stands at the center of the 100 Year Journey installation.
The Wool Cross is at the center of the 100 Year Journey. It is the story of persecution, survival and victory. Read the story below.
Peace Flags – The portal takes visitors through a vortex pointing to peace. Students from Los Angeles area schools (Junior High and High School) were invited to express their idea of peace. If Genocide is the ultimate expression of hatred, what is the opposite – that is the ultimate express of love, we asked the students. Their flags marked a new beginning where peace is visualize and actualized, even through the worst of tragedy.
Local students experience the transformation of the wool – from the back of the sheep 100 years ago, it is arrived to stand as a symbol of victory for the human conscience. With pieces and fragments from the historic lands, this artwork pulls you into a new expression of human understanding.
The next generation that will have to struggle with the horrendous reality of violence, ponders the notion of peace and possibilities that are in their hands and their lives.
In response to the 100 Year Journey, students were given a chance to dialog and discuss opportunities for peace.
At one of the local schools, Fr. Vazken engages the students in the preparation for the 100 Year Journey. Special attention was paid throughout the portal to never instill or conjure images or rhetoric of hatred, but to keep the discussion on the antithesis of Genocide, namely on peace.

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The Journey of the Wool

The true story and transformation of 100 year old wool that was inside a comforter blanket and helped a family survive Genocide.

The Felted Wool Cross
The 100 year old wool transformed (using the ancient technique of felting) into a sacred symbol and physical embodiment of transforming darkness into light.
Detail of The Felted Cross showing 24K gold flakes embedded and a piece of 1000 year old pottery from the ancient Armenian city of Ani also know as the City of 1001 churches.
Detail showing needle felting and other techniques used in the making of The Felted Cross.
7 Glass containers preserving the 100 year old wool in its original pure form.
Detail of the wool, ready to go thru the felting / transformation process.
Contemporary felt artist Sara Smelt uses specific calculations with special pigment formulations to match ancient Armenian manuscript color tones to color – dye samples of the 100 year old wool.
Samples of the 100 year old wool after it has gone thru the color – dying process.
The artist is carting the 100 year old wool, which is a process by which the fibers are being combed apart into long strands. The Ventilator mask is to protect the lungs from the small airborne fibers that break free into the air.
Sara Smelt is laying out the carted wool, building layers, so that the fibers will interlock during the felting process. The wool is laid out 30% larger to account for the shrinkage during felting.
Dyed wool and other detail elements are added to the carted wool base to create the foundation design of The Felted Cross.
Using a vibrating hand sander to massage the fibers and detail elements to interlock, nurturing the next stage of the felting process.
After the basic design has been laid out, a special mesh fabric and water soaked towels are placed over the wool to activate fiber shrinkage and continue the interlocking process, further transforming the wool into felt.
The wool design is rolled around a swimming pool noodle then wrapped in bubble wrap and tied. Then the forearms are used to roll the wool back and forth for many hours, locking the fibers tighter and tighter together to become felt.
After many hours of back and forth rolling, the now felted wool is un-rolled, put in very hot water then balled up and thrown on the table many times to shock the fibers into deeper interlocking.
Detail lines are being laid out with a pencil and implemented using a felting needle to push dyed wool fibers into the felt.
Many months of work to implement the fine details using a felting needle.

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The Journey of the Wool

by Gregory Beylerian

Felting process guided by Contemporary Felt Artist Sara Smelt: www.feltevolution.com

Additional felting support by Judith Beylerian and Catherine Bodart

100 year old wool, pieces from Ani, Armenian coins and other artifacts.

35 x 45 inches

During the Armenian Genocide, a young girl Ovsanna Piloyan, was forced to leave her home in Malatya. Like most of the Armenian population that was exiled from their homeland during the Genocide, young Ovsanna escaped with only the few items that she could carry with her.

A wool blanket offers her comfort and security as she moves from villages to towns and to countries, eventually crossing continents and the ocean to find herself in Mexico where she marries Hampartzoom Chiltjian and begins reconstructing her life. From Mexico, her family travels and settles in Los Angeles. All the time the wool blanket is with her, becoming the bedding for her new life.

After her passing, her daughter Sara offered the wool to Fr. Vazken Movsesian to use as a tool to share the story of the Genocide with new generations who are distanced from the atrocities by time and culture.

This wool, is now the centerpiece of the portal. The 100 Year Journey is the story of this “golden fleece” which comforted Ovsanna and a nation during the miracle from Genocide to Life.

Artist Gregory Beylerian has transformed the fleece into a felted cross that stands at the center of the portal. Master felt artist, Sara Smelt, guided the artist through an ancient process of transforming wool into felt. It represents the transformation from death to life. Inside the felted cross are pieces collected from the city of Ani, soil from Armenia, coins and other artifacts. In each of the seven glass niches throughout the museum you will find the wool encapsulated. Following this art installation, each of the capsules will be donated to museums and institutions of higher learning to bring awareness to genocide and to promote the message of peace as found in the 100 Year Journey. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Listen to Havoun havoun, performed by by Lilit Sargsyan, composed by St. Gregory of Narek, 10th Century. Recorded by Gregory Beylerian at the church of St. Mesrop Mashtots in Oshakan, June 2014.

This recording along with 13 other compositions were part of the acoustical experience of the 100 Year Journey Installation.

Click to listen:

The journey back to Armenia (red lines highlight path)

The 100 Year Journey is an experience. It is a transformation that is made possible by touching the essence of the journey. In the Summer of 2014 we returned to our ancestral roots – to a place where our DNA had been absent for the last century. Armenia is the land surrounding Mount Ararat. Over the course of three weeks we traveled throughout Armenia, Artsakh and Western Armenia. This was a pilgrimage to the most sacred space on earth, to both sides of the Holy Mountain, Ararat.

Select Photographs From the Journey traveled.

The photographs presented below are part of a collection of 100’s of images created while traveling along the routes defined on the map in red. The path was designed to give a New Yorker who lives in L.A. with Armenian ancestral roots an introductory understanding of where he and the memories contained in his DNA come from. These photographs are the eyewitness accounts of the soul of a land and its people discovered.

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Full slide show with music of the 100 Year Journey

4 Paintings from the “100 Year Journey”

The following works of art are available (pricing below), 50% of the proceeds go to inhisshoes.org to support Genocide awareness. To learn more about this Organization please visit: www.inhisshoes.org

City of Ani

by Gregory Beylerian

Archival pigment, ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite on canvas

36 x 24 inches

The city of Ani was once known as the City of 1001 Churches. Today it is in ruins. It sits in the province of Kars near the Armenian border. Ani is a testament to fact that the spirit can never die. In this original artwork, the artist declares in vibrant colors and shapes the living spirit over the ruins. Ani is a jewel on top of the Armenian spiritual treasures. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

David of Sassoun

by Gregory Beylerian

Archival pigment, ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite on canvas then glazed in resin.

32 x 48 inches

One of the heroes of the Armenian people is David of Sassoun. A defiant and self-reliant youth, who by the grace of God defends his homeland in an unequal duel against the evil. This folk hero brings together the themes of endurance, intelligence and patience, in a quest for righteousness. The epic story of David of Sassoun has inspired generation in the quest for freedom The area of Armenia known as Sassoun just West of Lake Van was at the center for Armenia fedayi activity during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Fedayis were Armenian civilians who volunteered in the self-defense units in reaction to the mass murder of Armenians and the pillage of Armenian villages by Turks and Kurds. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Genocide Madness

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

Archival pigment, ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite on canvas then glazed in resin. 64 x 22 inches

Genocide is not war. It is a systematic annihilation of a people. It is described as “Man’s inhumanity to man.” It is the ultimate in violence and therefore madness. In this scene, the artist positions people and events in a maddening depiction of horror. The Armenian Genocide claimed 1.5 Million lives. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Armenian Princess

by Gregory Beylerian

Archival pigment, ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite on canvas

24 x 36 inches

Princesses are adorned with jewels and decorations indicating their royal lineage. In this interpretation of the Armenian Princess, the artist decorates her with the jewels and decorations that are of the highest value to the Armenian people. She stands as a marking of beauty and excellence in thought, word and deed. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

39 Works on paper from the 100 Year Journey

The following works of art are available, 50% of the proceeds go to inhisshoes.org to support Genocide awareness. To learn more about this Organization please visit: www.inhisshoes.org

Model for Wool Cross

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 30 inches

Every journey begins with the first step. The artist, designed the pattern for the wool cross from his research of the most ancient icons of spirituality with the use of vibrant colors in a symbolic gesture of life, victory and vitality.

Akhtamar Church

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 30 inches

The Church of the Holy Cross is the centerpiece of the Akhtamar Island, one of three islands on Lake Van – the largest lake in Armenia. The Church itself is a monument to the full circle of faith – with carvings and etchings that project a God’s-eye perspective to human history. From afar, the church floats as does the Armenian spirit – adapting and adjusting to the surroundings and time.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

The Legend of Akhtamar

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

17 x 22 inches

A young Armenian princess was in love with a commoner. Her name was Tamar and lived on one of three islands in Lake Van. In pursuit of his love, the boy would swim every night from the shores of Lake Van to the island, guided by a light she lit and held up for him. When her father learned of this secret rendezvous he smashed the lantern in his anger, leaving the boy stranded in the lake without a sense of direction. His cry, “Akh Tamar” (O~h, Tamar) can be heard to this day… “Akhtamar.” The island of Akhtamar is a bit of light amid the sea of confiscated land that beckons Armenians to return to their love, the holy land of Armenia. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

eternal cross art of armenia gregory beylerian

Eternal Spirit

by Gregory Beylerian

black line cross artwork created by Arpine Shakhbandaryan

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

30 x40 inches

The cross stands front and center of all that the universe projects to our senses. The cross is a symbol of sacrifice, calling on each of us to abandon the ego and give of ourselves as an offering of peace and harmony to the world. Against a dark background the cross is not intruding, but delicate and light. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Jesus

Desert March

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

40 x 30 inches

Inspired from an actual photograph capturing the death march.

Henry Morgenthau, US Ambassador to Turkey (1913-16): “The Young Turks displayed greater ingenuity than their predecessor, Abdul Hamid. The injuction of the deposed Sultan was merely ‘to kill, kill’, whereas the Turkish democracy hit upon an entirely new plan. Instead of massacring outright the Armenian race, they now decided to deport it. In the south and southeastern sections of the Ottoman Empire lie the Syrian Desert … populated only by a few wild and fanatical Bedouin tribes. The Central Government now announced its intention of gathering the two million or more Armenians living in the several sections of the empire and transporting them to this desolate and inhospitable region.”

During the Armenian Genocide, hundreds of thousands were exiled into the Syrian Desert. For the most part, it was a slow death sentence, as refugees would succumb to rape, barbarism, massacres, starvation and disease. In the background is “home” – the last vestige of security for the refugees. “If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking… is freedom.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Ararat by Night

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

40 x 30 inches

Does something that radiates light need to be illuminated? Even at night, in the darkest of settings and darkest of times, Mt. Ararat, has inspired generations of Armenians to move toward the light. It is the centerpiece of the Armenian experience, uniting East and West as the Sun rises and sets over all of humanity. Mt. Ararat has looked over the Armenian people through tragedy and fortune. It is the national symbol of the Armenian nation and the symbol of stability and hope for the new day.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

by Gregory Beylerian

black line Eh artwork created by Arpine Shakhbandaryan

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

30 x 40 inches

This is the 7^th letter of the Armenian Alphabet. By itself the letter is the present tense of the verb “to be.” It is the symbol of the Divine, that is, God exists in the eternal present. God is. The letter itself was crafted by Mesrob Mashdots, the saint who invented the Armenian Alphabet during the early 5^th Century. Its placement as the 7^th letter of the alphabet is significant because seven is the letter of completeness. Whereas heaven is symbolized by the number 3, for instance the Trinity, and the number 4 is symbolic of the earth – the four directions of North, East, West, South – the number 7 = 3+4, that is a completeness of heaven and earth, which is God.

The letter is pronounced “eh” as in “elegance.” The symbol of eternity, the wheel at the corner of the two perpendicular lines is poetically placed, so that the mirror image of the entire symbol will yield the traditional imaged etched on the Khatchkar. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Warrior portrait Armenia Gregory Beylerian

The Great Warrior

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 20 inches

Tigran the Great, emperor of Armenia 140-55 BC. Under his reign the Armenian Kingdom expanded beyond its traditional boundaries. He was a warrior great and mighty who held the country together against some of the largest empires including the Seleucid, Parthian and Roman Republic. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

The Lament

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

40 x 30 inches

Inspired by an 800 year old fresco in an Armenian church located in Ani, Turkey.

A passionate expression of grief or sorrow, which characterized the expression of Genocide. These are the first faces and steps in the 100 Year Journey. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

“The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one.” – Lao Tzu

Skull

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

30 x 40 inches

The skull is the underlying structure of the head. As such it houses the senses of sight, sound, smell and taste and the process of feel. It is within the skull that the feelings from without are brought together to begin the transformation process. The artist touches on feelings with the use of colors against a backdrop of darkness. We have the power to transform the darkness to the light and allow colors to bleed through. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Totem Mandala

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor and graphite)

20 x 30 inches

Inspired from ancient Armenian manuscripts.

Holy and sacred texts have been preserved by the Armenian Church by carefully copying ancient scrolls from generation to generation. Monks would engage in prayer as they meticulously wrote the contents of volumes, letter-by-letter, word-by-word, page-by-page to insure an accurate rendering. In between sessions of writing, the monk would articulate his love for beauty by accenting the page with ornaments and icons of holiness. Here, a small ornament which appears on a page of manuscript, meticulously rendered by the artist today. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

The Armenian Cross

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

17 x 22 inches

Simplicity in the flow. Created by one line, that intertwines the trinity of body, soul and mind. The head, arms and foot of the Armenian Cross each testify to the beauty that is found in the most simplest of forms and they come together to form the whole. The colors reflect the diversity of humanity. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Bird on Flower

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

30 x 40 inches

Inspiration to live spiritually. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. .. And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you?” – Jesus

Saint Gregory

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

30 x 40 inches

St. Gregory the Illuminator, as his name implies, brought the Light of Christ to Armenia at the end of the third century. Light overcomes darkness, as truth defeats ignorance and love incapacitates hate. The Light of Christ has been the guiding force of the Armenian people, directing them through the darkest periods of oppression, massacres and even genocide. Christ is the manifestation of love. Appropriately in this rendering of the patron saint of Armenians, the artist Gregory Beylerian has placed the message of Love in his arms, as a gift to the nation. It is the ultimate message that Love conquers all.

St. Gregory was imprisoned for his beliefs in a deep pit (Khorvirab) at the base of Mt. Ararat for 13 years. Upon healing Armenia’s King Tirdates, St. Gregory emerges from the pit to baptize the King and people, converting the Armenian nation, which becomes the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity in 301. Within two years he builds the cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin (the descent of the Only Begotten) which remains as the center of the Armenian Apostolic Church to this day. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Hand of Peace

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

30 x 40 inches

Peace is within and without you. Extend. Pick up. Hold. Release.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

guardian of love Armenia Gregory Beylerian

The Guardian of Love

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 30 inches

Inspired from an Armenian manuscript depicting the gospel from the 12th century.

The word “gospel” means Good News. The Gospel was brought to Armenia in the year 41 by the Apostle Jude Thaddeus. Along with the Apostle Bartholomew, who came to Armenia in the year 45, they are known as the First Enlighteners of Armenia. The message of the Gospels is one of victory against the odds. The Good News is that Light overcomes the dark and Love is more powerful than hate. This message is the “military strategy” that has guided the Armenian people. This artwork depicts a small ornament on one of the Gospel Books at the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin. It presents the coat-of-arms for strategy, built on love deep in the heart.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Children of Genocide

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

40 x 30 inches

Inspired from an actual photo documenting orphaned Armenian children of the Genocide.

Children are born into a world we have created. They have no borders and boundaries. They are not Armenian, Turkish, Jewish, Cambodian, Ethiopian, Polish, Rwandan or Darfuri, they are merely children. They are truly the innocent bystanders of Genocide. Their faces reflect innocence and fear. We have it within us to give them something better. It comes from us harnessing the child essence with which we came into the world and creating a world where peace is our goal.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Crane with Pomegranate

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

15 x 40 inches

Inspired by an Armenian manuscript from the 12th Century.

Saghmosavank Asdvadsatur

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 30 inches

Inspired from an ancient Armenian manuscript from Sahmosavank monastery.

This art work is based on images from Saghmosavank – a monastery which heralds the name of the psalms – a sacred song or hymn for worship. The monastery is amidst valleys and rolling green hills. It is a wonder that engages all of the sense. The word “Asdvadzatur” literally means “Given by God.” Here are images of the essential elements of life – faith, hope and love – united to tell the story of God’s grace to a people in affliction. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Khatchkar

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

17 x 22 inches

Khatchkar literally means “cross (khatch) stone (kar)”. Armenia is a land of stone. In monastic life, monks dedicated themselves to a prayer life, accented by deep contemplation on life. Some monks would dedicate themselves to carving these cross stones. Some are intricately chiseled as offerings of love. The practice of carving a khatchkar is meditative, much like a koan in that the pattern has always existed, only waiting for the artist to uncover it. By virtue of the media on which the cross is carved (the stone) there is no room for mistakes, but there are no mistakes, because each khatchkar is a reflection of the perfection of the human soul.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Etchmiadzin Cathedral

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

30 x 40 inches

This is the center of the Armenian Orthodox World. It is found in the town of Vagharshabad, about 13 miles from Yerevan, the current capital of Armenia. The word “Etchmiadzin” is a compound word which expresses the vision for the Cathedral . “Etch” means “descent” and “Miadzin” means “The Only Begotten.” Together, Etchmiadzin describes the vision of St. Gregory the Illuminator. Following the Conversion of Armenia in 301A.D. in his dream, St. Gregory sees Christ descend from heaven and point to four corners where the Church of the Armenian People would be built. The building of the Cathedral was completed in 303. It stands today and the functioning headquarters of the Armenian Church.

In this rendering, the artist has chosen vivid colors to express the vitality and strength of this architectural marvel. One continuous line outlines and accents the virtues of this center of Armenian spiritual life, uniting Armenians from throughout the world.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Angel of Etchmiadzin

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 20 inches

Inspired from a stone carving located at The Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the Mother church of Armenia.

The ornaments take on human persona, as do all the monuments to faith. They are not merely stone and mortar, but actual expressions of the human spirit. This piece points to the life that comes from structures – cathedrals and churches – and the definition for living, accented by the virtues of patience, endurance and love.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Etchmiadzin Eh Cross Armenia Gregory Beylerian

The Cross of Etchmiadzin

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 20 inches

The positioning of the letter “eh”- the symbol of God – on top of the Cross is found throughout Armenian religious art. It is the positioning of the Divine – the eternal “I Am” – at the place of sacrifice. It is the call to abandon ego, to give of the self, following the example of Christ on the Cross. Our path must be one of egoless suffering. Herein we understand the importance of charity, compassion and fulfillment.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

flow of divine Armenia Gregory Beylerian

Flow of the Divine

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 20 inches

Essential to the acceptance of the Divine – that is, a power greater than the self – is the acceptance of a universal flow. Nothing is stagnant. Everything is in motion. The concept of eternity is based on this motion. We are each a part of the flow, in exists within us and without us. And we are each necessary components to lasting peace.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

St. Nektarios reminds us, “Seek God in your heart, not outside it.”

Gerhard Monastery Armenia Gregory Beylerian

Geghard Monestary

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 20 inches

On the Cross, the side of Jesus was lanced by a spear. That instrument of torture – the Geghard – is part of the mystical treasures held by the Armenian Church. The Holy Geghard was kept in the mountains of Armenia where this monastery was later built. The entire monastery is a stone carving with caves and crevices where monks – and the faithful to this day – found solace and peace. The monastery is about 40 miles from Etchmiadzin. It houses the treasures of faith and wonder.

– Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Komitas

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print

13 x 19 inches

Komitas was one of the most prominent members of the Armenian community who fell victim to the Genocide. Endowed with a remarkable voice and talent for musical scripts, he was responsible for a musical renascence, traveling through the villages and notarizing what he heard. He is referred to as “Komitas Vartabed.” The word Vartabed denotes his position within the monastic order at Holy Etchmiadzin. Komitas Vartabed was a monk of the Armenian Church and laced each of his creations with the ancient spirituality that was found in the land below his feet and the universe above his head.

Djugha Khatchkar

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

20 x 30 inches

This particular angel appears on a Khatchkar from Djugha. Its uniqueness is found in the extended hand which connotes an extension from the spiritual world to the temporal world, bringing a chance at lasting peace. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

Pomegranate Tree Armenia Gregory Beylerian

The Pomegranate Tree

by Gregory Beylerian

signed and dated verso

archival pigment print ( ink, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and graphite)

24 x 30 inches

The pomegranate grows readily in the orchards of Armenia. The pomegranate is a national symbol of life. Its symbolism comes from the Christian story. The multitude of seeds are the people that are held together by the unity of Christ’s love for all people of all nations. There are royal attributes to this fruit. The little crown on each pomegranate depicts the Prince of Peace, Christ, and his reign over our lives. The red color is symbolic of the blood of Christ while the thick skin is symbolic of the Armenian Church which holds the entirety together. On this tree, the artist moves beyond the limits imposed by the skin and present a collection of many elements held together by a human-like tree. – Fr. Vazken Movsesian

The Burbank Mall

Installation open to the public from April 27th – June 14, 2015

Due to the success of the 100 Year Journey installation at The Zorayan Museum, The Burbank Mall offered a retail space for the project to be presented to the public there.

Panoramic view of the 100 Year Journey installed at the Burbank Mall.
View of front entrance to the 100 Year Journey Installation at The Burbank Mall.
Detail view to left side of the installation at the Burbank Mall.
Detail view of one work on paper, two paintings and four glass containers holding the 100 year old wool.
View of the right side to the 100 Year Journey installed at The Burbank Mall with Peace flags seen hanging from the ceiling and The Felted Wool Cross at center.
View of the left side of The 100 Year Journey installed at The Burbank Mall with an LCD screen presenting photographs from the journey to Armenia and Historic Western Armenia.

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The Dreamers

The 100 Year Journey was co created from the collaborative passions of Father Vazken Movsesian and Artist Gregory Beylerian.

To learn more about Father Vazken’s Organization, go to:

inhisshoes.org.

Thank you to the following for their gracious support: The Zorayan Museum, The Chitjian Foundation, Krikorian Theatres, Vahagn Setian Foundation and Zoom Inc.

The 100 Year Journey

“If You are against Genocide, you are for Peace”

Dialogue with Father Vazken about the 100 Year Journey

The Zorayan Museum

The Journey of the Wool

The Felted Wool Cross

Click to listen:

The journey back to Armenia (red lines highlight path)

Select Photographs From the Journey traveled.

Full slide show with music of the 100 Year Journey

4 Paintings from the “100 Year Journey”

39 Works on paper from the 100 Year Journey

The Burbank Mall

The Dreamers