The land in between
Orient meets Occident, Script meets Identity, Yesterday meets Tomorrow
When it comes to the future of education, who would think of a small country in the Caucasus? In the intermediate kingdom of Armenia, characterised to this day by 2,000 years of conquest and occupation, the most amazing ideas are emerging around the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies. How can children really learn something for life alongside school ... and at the same time fundamentally change a society that is still characterised by the USSR/Russia? Why was this country one of the first to establish a state religion and a completely new writing system in the first centuries after Christ? It is certainly not only due to the outstanding Armenian brandy or the legend that wine actually has its roots here ...
On this study trip, we visit friends and colleagues who show us their everyday private and professional lives. A search for traces between the catacombs of the Matenadaran State Library, the TUMO digitisation project for the preservation of Armenian cultural sites and Lavash bread baked in earth ovens.
A cooperation event of the newsletter magazine eight days a week - Streifzüge durch den Wandel (short: 8daw) with the TUMO Centre for Creative Technologies in Yerevan, the GRANSHAN Foundation e.V. and the Typographische Gesellschaft München e.V.
Living Programme Planning
Current status of programme modules with provisional allocation to days
Thursday, 5 September 2024
The hotel is booked for arrivals from 3:00 pm the day before, 4 September, so that you can move straight into your room after arriving in the early hours of the morning: sleep for three hours first.
At noon
The fixed meeting point is the first lunch together at 12:00 noon, where the detailed itinerary is also introduced.
Afternoon
First guided tour of Yerevan
In the evening
Short lecture on the history of Armenia during dinner
Friday, 6 September 2024
In the morning
Visit to studios and ateliers, architecture, design and advertising, modern and traditional
In the afternoon
ABC: introduction to the Armenian language and the Armenian alphabet
Workshop with Ruben Malayan: writing in Armenian and using calligraphy to develop the ideas of everyday life into the visionary
((Location still unclear – possibly in one of the studios visited in the morning))
Saturday, 7 September 2024
In the morning
Guided tour of the Mesrop-Mashtoz Institute for Ancient Manuscripts, or Matenadaran for short. The curator, senior researcher and GRANSHAN juror Davit Ghazaryan will give us an insight into the collection and the restoration laboratory: How is the very special Armenian red actually made? If all goes well, a particularly interested small group will then be allowed to visit the catacombs, where books from the early days of book printing can be found, as well as the Armenian national treasure, the Echmiadzin Gospels from 989, set in an ivory binding from the 6th century.
From noon
GRANSHAN Conference & Ceremony: deep insights into Armenian and Georgian typeface creation and culture; with the presentation of GRANSHAN diplomas to the Armenian winners of the 13th GRANSHAN Type Design Competition 2023/2024 and the awarding of the "GRANSHAN Lifetime Honour Medal"
In the evening
Banquet for the travellers, speakers and award winners (sponsored by Kochan & Partner)
Sunday, 8 September 2024
During the day
Drive via Oshakan with its garden of letters to the highest mountain in Armenia, Aragats. Here, even in September, it is cold enough to eat kash, the Armenian national soup made from cow's feet boiled in water for at least one night. Depending on your taste, with a lot or a little less garlic and accompanied by vodka. On the way back, stop at the Alphabet Monument, a bizarre landscape of letters made of stone in the Artashavan area, erected to mark the 1,600th anniversary of the Armenian alphabet. Return to Yerevan at approx. 16:30.
In the evening
Vertical tasting of well-known and lesser-known Armenian brandies during dinner (optional)
Monday, 9 September 2024
Full day
Visit to Gyumri and the local TUMO branch: presentation of the digitisation project for the preservation of Armenian cultural sites
In the evening
possibly an artists' evening with readings, for example by Ruben Grigorian and Ashot Grigoryan
Tuesday, 10 September 2024
In the morning
Architectural tour in Yerevan, during which the cultural-historical development can be traced, from the Middle Ages through the USSR era to the present day. Visit to the Museum of Architecture
In the afternoon
Visit to the College of Design and the Parajanov Museum
In the evening
Dinner with wine tasting of Armenian wines (optional)
Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Morning and afternoon
Swimming trip to Armenia's largest lake, Lake Sevan, with a visit to the Sevanavank peninsula with the monastery of the same name and its two churches (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
Large lunch with fresh fish at the invitation of the 8daw team
In the afternoon
Free time at leisure
Tursday, 12 September 2024
In the morning
Guided tour of the National Gallery
In the afternoon
Visit to the TUMO Centre in Yerevan in full operation
afterwards
TUMO conference: Interested participants of the trip give an insight into their work, current commitments from Veronika Burian, Lutz Engelke and Boris Kochan
Friday, 13 September 2024
During the day
Drive to the Geghard cave monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the Roman-Hellenistic temple of Garni. Lunch with an Armenian family. We also watch the production of lavash (thin flatbread). If you wish, you can take a narrow path down into the gorge to the Symphony of Stones.
In the evening
Joint final dinner with music
Saturday, 14 September 2024
Transfer in the early hours of the morning, most flights depart between 3:00 and 6:00 am. The hotel is booked until Saturday 14 September, so check-out is possible by 11:00 am at the latest.
More about the conditions and so on you will find on the webseite of the main organizer, the newsletter magazine eight days a week (short: 8daw).