THE SINS OF THE FATHERS: A MISSION OF INTERCONNECTION
On the evening of October 24, 2018, the Ministry of Culture of Artsakh hosted the premiere presentation of the Armenian translation of Siobhan Nash-Marshall’s Sins of the Fathers. Artsakhi Ministers of Culture and Education, University Rectors, professors, musicians, CINF students, all came together to celebrate the fruits of CINF-ARTSAKH collaboration. It was an evening of speeches and music, tears and hope.
Lernik Hovhannisyan, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Youth Affairs of the RA opened the celebration highlighting Siobhan Nash-Marshall’s extraordinary contribution to the Armenian nation. Her book, he stated in his moving speech, is a milestone not just in genocide scholarship generally, but to Armenian Genocide scholarship. But Professor Nash-Marshall, he added, is not just an internationally crucial scholar. She is a person of action. Her CINF work in the Middle East and Caucasus, he stated, is crucial to the preservation of both the cultural heritage and the socioeconomic health of the endangered Christian communities in the region.
In his speech, Sergei Shahverdyan, the founder of cultural and tourism development in Artsakh, and former Minister of Culture, thanked Siobhan Nash-Marshall, a real friend of the Armenian people, for her exceptional work, and her CINF team for its untiring and impressive work in Artsakh.
The chair of the Philosophy Department of Artsakh State University, Prof. Anna Hakopyan, thanked Siobhan Nash-Marshall not only for her brilliant book, but also for her shimmering love of the Armenian people. “I read the Sins of the Fathers and the Masseria delle Allodole side by side,” she confessed. “The two books are not just perfect complements to each other, they show how a magnificent Godmother, Antonia Arslan, transmitted her sacred knowledge and love, to her God-daughter, Siobhan Nash-Marshall. And for this we thank both Godmother and God-daughter”.
Prof. Nash-Marshall began her speech in Armenian. Her book, she said, is a gift to the people of Artsakh, who like all Armenians are not just descendants of the victims of genocide, but genocide victims themselves. “The genocide is not over yet,” she claimed. “It continues in the denialist politics of the Turkish government, and in its falsification of history.”
After her speech, the audience rushed to Professor Nash-Marshall, and the author spent the better part of an hour autographing her book. It was extraordinary to see her sitting at a table surrounded by students who spoke to their beloved professor.
The evening also included a surprise performance by Hakob Khalatyan who gave a wonderful performance on his kamancha.
After the presentation, the minister of Culture invited the guests to a banquet in the Florence Garden restaurant. His final genats to Siobhan Nash-Marshall summed up the evening: “Thank you for your sacred unifying and interconnecting work… this dinner, with its guests from different backgrounds and different places, is another proof of the success of your mission… you not only facilitate communication of Armenians with the world, but also the communication of Armenians with Armenians… Cheers”.
