Republican Scientific Conference November, 6-8

On the 6th of November the republican conference entitled “Archaeological ceramics in Armenia: research, fixing and restoration” was started.
The opening speech was delivered by Khachik Harutyunyan, Director of the Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage, and Hovannes Sanamyan, the Deputy Director. Khachik Harutyunyan, emphasizing the importance of the conference in the exchange of professional knowledge and skills, and experience, welcomed and thanked more than three dozen participants (historians, archaeologists, ceramists, restorers-conservators, fund keepers, art historians, culturologists, researchers in the natural sciences, and others) from various museums and research centres of Armenia.
The opening of the conference was also attended by the head of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Folk Crafts of the ministry of ESCS of the RA Astghik Marabyan. Congratulating on the organization of the conference and emphasizing the presence of participants from various institutions, Astghik Marabyan appreciated the organization of such conferences and seminars, wishing the research centre success and new achievements in the preservation and restoration of historical and cultural heritage.
This was the first scientific conference dedicated to the traditions of Armenian pottery, the study of pottery material and the problems of its fixation, its restoration and preservation.
On the first day of the conference, the following presented their reports:

1. Armine Harutyunyan (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, NAS RA)
   “On the Origin of Ancient Armenian Pottery”
2. Annah Azizyan (“Erebuni” Historical and Archaeological Reserve-Museum, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the NAS of the Republic of Armenia)
   “Methods of Performing Ornamental Motifs on Shengavit (Kur-Araks) Pottery”
3. Anahit Atoyants (Laboratory of General and Molecular Genetics, Research Institute of Biology, Yerevan State University)
   “Paleopalynological Studies at Archaeological Sites”
4. Lilit Gasparyan (“Shengavit” branch of the “Erebuni” historical and archaeological reserve-museum)
   “Jacques de Morgan’s archaeological excavations in Armenia in 1887-1888”
5. Karen Pahlevanyan, Svetlana Poghosyan, Arus Asatryan, Ruzan Nergararyan (Sardarapat Heroic Battle Memorial Complex, Museum of the History of Armenian Ethnography and Liberation Struggle)
   “Archaeological Pottery Collection of the Armenian Ethnography Museum”
6. Marine Kirakosyan (“Erebuni” Historical and Archaeological Reserve-Museum)
   “Pottery of the Kapan Region according to the Collection of the “Erebuni” Historical and Archaeological Reserve-Museum”
7. Diana Abrahamyan (Hovannes Sharambeyan Museum of Folk Arts)

“The dynamics of the historical development of clay female-shaped salt-cellar, based on the example of the collection of the H. Sharambeyan Museum of Folk Arts”
On November 7, the second day of the conference, the following presented their reports:

1. Tatyana Vardanesova (YSU Institute of Armenology)
   “Study of Archaeological Ceramics: Methods and Principles of Research Based on the Work of the Tigranakert Expedition”
2. Arman Nalbandyan, Astghik Melkonyan (Scientific Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage)
   “Glazed bowls discovered during the 2022-2023 excavations of the Lorreh fortress city and their restoration”
3. Anna Baghdasaryan (Historical and Cultural Reserve Museums and Historical Environment Preservation Service)
   “Art expert and restorer: observations on one specimen”
4. Arman Nalbandyan (Scientific Research Center of Historical and Cultural Heritage, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia)
   “Pottery with “hieroglyphs” and traces of restoration discovered from the St. Hovannes Monastery in Meghri”
5. Astghik Melkonyan, Liana Zhamgortsyan (Scientific Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage)
   “Ancient and Traditional Methods of Restoration of Ceramic Objects and Variants of Their Use, Based on the Example of Finds Discovered from Archaeological Monuments of the Republic of Armenia”
6. Lilit Mikayelyan (Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University, Institute of Oriental Studies of the NAS of the Republic of Armenia)
   “Stone and Ceramic Tile Masonry, in Armenian and Iranian-Seljuk Architecture of the 12th-14th Centuries: The Problem of the Interaction of Material, Colour, and Composition”
7. Astghik Simonyan, Tigran Zakyan (Historical and Cultural Reserve Museums and Historical Environment Preservation Service)
   “Peculiarities of Ceramic Restoration: Addition of Missing Parts, Colouration of gypsum”
   On November 8th, the final day of the republican scientific conference entitled “Archaeological Pottery in Armenia: Study, Conservation and Restoration” began with a roundtable discussion on “Qualifications and Standards for Restorers of Museum Objects and Collections.”
   The discussion was attended by Yeranuhi Margaryan, Deputy Head of the Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of ESCS, and restorers from various museums and Scientific research centres of Armenia.
   During the discussion, restoration specialists presented proposals for making changes and additions to the Regulation.
   As a conclusion, the conference participants visited the ceramics laboratory of State Academy of Arts of the RA.