Armenia - The ALIPH Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation support the documentation of Armenian heritage

The Armenian Monument Watch project

The project is led at INALCO by Anna Leyloyan-Yekmalyan, Senior Lecturer in Russian and Caucasian Arts, a specialist in Armenian art and architecture, medieval art of the Christian Caucasus, Russian art and medieval iconography of Eastern churches. She is co-founder and scientific director with Professor Hamlet Petrosyan (Yerevan State University) of the independent academic platform "Monument watch".

This is an independent academic platform that scientifically documents Armenian heritage (sites and monuments). It draws on contributions from archaeologists, architects, cultural anthropologists, Armenian studies specialists and translators. The main objective is to identify, map and inventory immovable cultural heritage, museums and cultural centers, with a view to safeguarding them.

ALIPH and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation have already honored the Inalco Foundation with their support around two projects: the colloquium "Arts and Heritage of Afghanistan, One Hundred Years of Archaeological Research 1922-2022" as far as ALIPH is concerned, and the training program in Armenian Studies IMAS as far as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is concerned.

This program is part of the Foundation's heritage preservation projects, while continuing a tradition of Armenian studies at Inalco that dates back to 1798. Inalco's Armenian Studies department is the only one in the world outside Armenia to offer a comprehensive training program covering a wide variety of disciplines (language, linguistics, ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary history, art history, socio-anthropology, literature, translation), from the first year of the Bachelor's degree to the Doctorate, open to both beginners and advanced speakers of the language, and validated by a wide range of research and professional diplomas. To date, 78 students study Armenian at Inalco.

About ALIPH

ALIPH is a unique initiative for international cooperation to meet the challenge of protecting cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict zones.

ALIPH, whose acronym stands for the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, aims to act in favor of cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict zones through a grant program that allows it flexibility and responsiveness.

ALIPH's three areas of intervention are: preventive protection to mitigate the risks of destruction, emergency measures to ensure the safety of heritage, and post-conflict actions so that populations can once again enjoy their cultural heritage.

About the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation - Armenian Communities Department

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, based in Portugal, is dedicated to promoting knowledge and improving people's quality of life through the arts, charity, science and education worldwide. Through its philanthropic activities, it serves universal human values such as respect for diversity and difference, tolerance, and preservation of the environment.

The Armenian Communities Department aims to help Armenian diasporas, wherever they may be, to develop their critical faculties, particularly by addressing internal Armenian debates, in order to make them enlightened communities about their homeland. In this way, the department ensures that the Armenian language and culture are given their rightful place in these diasporas, as well as in education and research. Its action takes the form of supporting artistic creation, setting up Armenian language courses, or enabling certain hopefuls to obtain university scholarships.

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