Vardablur․ Komitas: Earth and Song

The new academic year just kicked off and the holidays are over. But for ICA, August was quite an intense and busy month! Currently, we are bringing to life one of our most promising and long-term projects–“Komitas: Earth and Song”–in Vardablur village (Lori Province).Vardablur is an important cultural crossroads, where the paths of Hovhannes Tumanyan, General Andranik, and Komitas Vardapet crossed at the beginning of the 20th century. It is there that Komitas heard and wrote down “Lori’s Plough Song”, one of the gems of Armenian folk music. Half a century ago, this region, rich in natural clay, was also renowned for its roof-tile factory. In 2021, based on these traditions, ICA established a ceramic studio and a community choir in Gyulagarak. At the moment we are renovating a new studio kindly provided by the community hall of the Vardablur village, where the youth from the seven villages of the community will have the chance to learn pottery making and sing in the community choir.