An exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Sergey Parajanov opened in the Belgian House of Representatives.
On October 22, the opening ceremony of the exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Sergey Parajanov was held in the Belgian House of Representatives, co-organized by theEmbassies of Armenia and Ukraine in Belgium. The leaders of two chambers of the Belgian Parliament and a number of deputies, Foreign Affairs Ministry employees, Ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic corps, journalists and representatives of Armenian community structures were present at the ceremony.
President of the Belgian Federal Parliament Peter De Roover, President of the Senate Valérie De Bue, MP of the Brussels Parliament and Chairman of the Christian Democrats and Flemish faction in the Senate Benjamin Dalle, Ambassador of Armenia in Brussels Tigran Balayan and Chargé d’affaires of Ukraine Nataliia Anoshyna delivered remarks.
In his speech, President De Roover expressed his gratitude to the Embassies for organizing such a unique exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Sergey Parajanov. He noted that with masterpieces like ‘The Color of Pomegranates’, Parajanov not only pushed the boundaries of cinema but he captured the cultural identity and soul of Armenia and Ukraine. He particularly emphasized that the challenges faced today by the Armenian and Ukrainian people demand our continued solidarity and attention and called to look at this exhibition not only as a tribute to a great artist, but also as a message to defend the freedom of creation and the protection of cultural identity.
The President of the Senate, Valérie De Bue, expressed her deep gratitude to the Embassies for organizing the joint event and noted that the Belgian House of Representatives and the Senate have always come up with resolutions supporting the two peoples and will continue to do so. She emphasized that cultural monuments unfortunately are still being destroyed in the 21st century, and called on European countries to fight for the preservation of cultural identity.
In his speech, the chairman of the Christian Democrats and Flemish faction, Benjamin Dalle, referred to the cultural genocide carried out by Azerbaijan and mentioned the legally binding decisions of the International Court of Justice and the neglect of those decisions by Azerbaijan. He noted that the Belgian Parliament will continue to support Armenia, both in the form of statements and resolutions.
Ambassador Tigran Balayan expressed gratitude to the President of the Federal Parliament of Belgium and the President of the Senate for supporting the initiative to organize the exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Sergey Parajanov in the parliament. He thanked the Sergey Parajanov museum in Yerevan and theMinistry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia for providing necessary materials for the exhibition. He particularly emphasized that UNESCO included Sergey Parajanov’s anniversary in its Calendar of anniversaries of eminent personalities and important events for the 2024-2025 cycle, as well as mentioned that the President of Ukraine awarded the maestro Parajanov with the “National Legend of Ukraine” award.
At the end of his speech, Ambassador Balayan mentioned that he is sure that the visitors of this temple of Belgian democracy will enjoy the presence of Parajanov’s works, and it will enrich the cultural life of the Parliament in the coming days.
Chargé d’Affaires of Ukraine Nataliia Anoshyna also thanked the Parliament and all the organizers and mentioned the inadmissibility of restricting cultural freedom. She emphasized that cultural monuments which are part of the cultural identity of peoples, continue to be destroyed up until now. She also expressed her gratitude to the Belgian Parliament for always standing by and supporting Ukraine.
In her speech, she thanked the Embassy of Armenia for coming up with the idea of the exhibition and making the Embassy of Ukraine a part of this initiative.
The opening ceremony was followed by a reception with Armenian and Ukrainian drinks and food.
