Project Save Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Alexanian, a documentary photographer since 1972, never went to (Western) Armenia until October 2011 with his daughter. They went to Kharpert (Harput, Turkey) and buried the wedding photograph of Alexanian’s paternal grandmother in the soil of the family’s ancestral property, perhaps inspired by Project Save. They created a movie called “Scars of Silence,” which will come out in 2016. Alexanian screened an excerpt from this documentary.

The masters of ceremonies extolled Ruth Thomasian’s patience and dedication to her work, and then invited her onto the stage. Thomasian talked about how Project SAVE (the initials stand for Salute Armenians’ Valiant Existence) was primarily about Armenian social history. She felt each generation has its own approach and understanding of the past. She said that the archived photographs represent the changes in all of our lives. A selection every year is made for the Project SAVE calendars to show a different theme to the public, and each picture tells “a little story.” There is enough variety concerning Armenian life across the decades to form an inexhaustible reservoir for future calendars.

She spoke about how moving Project SAVE from New York back to the Boston area years ago opened up greater opportunities of funding and connection with the public. She does programs in schools with children and events for senior citizens, but photographs are a way to easily make connections with people. Photographs from Project SAVE have been used in exhibits, plays, museums, books and other fora. While speaking, Thomasian showed some photographs from the archives to the audience, and made a plea for donation or sharing of original photographs.

Thomasian concluded by introducing Tsoleen Sarian, the new associate director of Project Save, as the next generation of leadership of Project SAVE. Sarian’s grandparents donated their photos to the archives. Sarian said she feels it is important to continue the work that they valued — the preservation and continuation of the stories, customs and values of the Armenian community through Project SAVE, which shares this collective memory with the world. Sarian explained that the digitalization of the entire archives, which allows the Armenian heritage to be more accessible, needs the support of the entire community.

Sarian then introduced Suzanne Adams, the archivist of Project Save. Adams said that having original photographs helps tell the most accurate stories. In their original form, photographs are artifacts created in a particular context, time and place, and their analysis can determine, for example, approximate dates when these are otherwise unavailable. She said 5,000 out of 45,000 photographs have been digitized. The next step would be to put the collection online, which would require a great commitment of resources, as Sarian pointed out.

Tufankjian and Alexanian invited Tom Vartabedian, a longtime supporter of Project SAVE as a journalist and photographer, a financial donor and a board member, to the stage to be honored with an award. He congratulated Thomasian for her 40-year commitment. He introduced his family members, including wife Nancy, daughter Sonya with husband Pat, and son Ara with his own daughter Maya. He declared, “I list five qualities that embellish my life: My family, God and my church, my health, my Armenian ethnicity, and, last but not least, my career as a journalist and photographer.”