Asbarez – In her first official visit to Los Angeles, the new Minister of Culture for the Republic of Armenia, Lilit Makunts, will visit Glendale and discuss Armenia’s Cultural Revolution in a public talk at the Downtown Central Library Auditorium at 222 E. Harvard Street in Glendale on Friday, June 29.
Makunts was appointed Minister of Culture of the Republic of Armenia on May 12, 2018, as part of the newly-established government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian signed a decree to appoint Makunts based on Pashinyan’s request.
The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and will focus on recent cultural developments as well as Makunts’ vision for the future of Armenia. A public question and answer session — facilitated by Alec Mouhibian, Vice President of Productions and Programs for Creative Armenia — will follow the presentation.
“Glendale is honored to be hosting this event for Minister Makunts,” Mayor Zareh Sinanyan said. “I am proud that she has chosen to announce her vision for Armenia to the diaspora in our city.”
Previously, Makunts was a professor at the Russian Armenian University in Yerevan, and the head of Russian Armenian university department of International Cooperation. She holds a Ph.D. in Philological Sciences. She has also worked as a contract specialist for the American Peace Corps and, since her student days, has been actively engaged in civic and political initiatives to promote democratic changes in Armenia.
Founded in Yerevan and Los Angeles in 2017, Creative Armenia is an arts foundation with a mission to elevate Armenian culture to the global stage. It has a mandate to discover, develop, produce and promote talent across the arts. On June 15, the organization entered a public-private partnership with the Republic of Armenia to rejuvenate the arts, build creative industries, develop creative careers and projects and realize strategies toward a cultural awakening.
Glendale’s Library, Arts and Culture Department began in 1907 and includes six neighborhood libraries as well as the Brand Library and Art Center, housed in the historic 1904 mansion of Glendale pioneer Leslie C. Brand, and the Downtown Central Library, a 93,000 square foot center for studying, learning and gathering.
