Tbilisi hosts Hovhannes Tumanyan 150th anniversary days

The Tbilisi City Hall, in collaboration with the Yerevan municipality, has launched special cultural days dedicated to Hovhannes Tumanyan in celebration of the great Armenian poet’s 150th birthday anniversary.

A delegation led by Deputy Mayor Tigran Virabyan has headed to the Georgian capital to participate in the festive events.

The tour started with a visit to the Armenian Church of St Echmiadzin. Accompanied by Archmandrite Kirakos Davtyan, the prelate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, they later headed to the cultural, educational and youth center Hayastan to get familiarized with its activities and conditions. The center operates a pre-school institution, which currently has 50 children.

According to a press release by the Yerevan City Hall, the delegation also visited the pantheon of Armenian writers to pay respect to their memory.

Petros Adamian Tbilisi State Armenian Drama Theatre, which is currently under repair, was the next site on the municipal officials' agenda. Artistic director Armen Bayanduryan, whom the deputy mayor met at the construction square, said the one-time dilapidated building is now being fully restored. Since its inception in 1958, the only Armenian state theatre outside Armenia's state borders has played a great role in the local Armenians' cultural life, serving simultaneously as a unique kind of bridge in the Armenian-Georgian friendly relations.

Yerevan and Tbilisi will collaborate also on the level of municipal parliaments. The delegation members representing different  factions in the Yerevan Council of Elders have met with their colleagues in Tbilisi to outline the possible trends and areas of effective cooperation. They have particularly emphasized the importance of exchange and more active mutual visits. The Yerevan municipality officials have also invited the Georgian colleagues to visit the Armenian capital.