Remembering and Appreciating
Naming the Ceramics Studios
State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia loves to follow and preserve its traditions. It’s very important to appreciate and show respect to the work of our teachers, artists, professors who have earned merit in the past, in the form of exhibitions, naming studios and setting nominal prises.
Yesterday was such a day for the Academy; two of the ceramics studios were named after Iosif Babyan and Hripsime Simonyan. The idea belonged to the head of the chair Maria Babyan who is also the daughter of Iosif Babyan.
Hripsime Simonyan is considered the founder of Armenian applied arts, she was the head of the ceramics department of the Institute of Fine Arts and Theater, she was the first painter of the porcelain factory established in Armenia in 1947, she created a series of miniature sculptures and a collection of tableware for mass production. See was awarded the title of People’s Artist. Iosif Babyan studied with her at the Institute of Fine Arts and Theater, later they became colleagues. For many years she was a senior lecturer at the Department of Decorative and Applied Arts, she also used to work at the Artists’ Union. She has had many exhibitions not only in Armenia, but also abroad.
The ceremony took place in the backyard of the Academy.
After the Rector’s speech, Maria Babyan opened the commemorative plaques, then invited all the attendants to “Albert and Tove Boyajian” exhibition hall where the works of Iosif Babyan and Hripsime Simonyan were exhibited.
The exhibition was also attended by the granddaughter of Hripsime Simonyan, Arevik Grigoryan who addressed the audience with warm speech. Maria Babyan in her turn noted that special corners would be set in the studios that would remind the students about the creative artistic approaches and styles that Iosif Babyan and Hripsime Simonyan had.
Melanya Badalyan
Translated by Naira Stepanyan
