Mobile International Festival

AUTHENTIC DRESS FROM ARMENIA DONATED TO MUSEUM

Betty Eastman
Parade of Flags
Mobile International Festival

Featured Exhibits

Who are the Armenians?
This comprehensive exhibit incorporates panels, artifacts and hotographs to give visitors a panoramic view of more than 3,000 years of Armenian history and culture. Visitors of any ethnic background are sure to walk away with newfound knowledge and discover their own ansers to the question "Who Are the Armenians?"

Fabric of a Culture:
Armenian Traditional Costumes
Location on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, Armenian dress reflects the history and culture of the Armenian people. This exhibit explores the role and regional style of the clothing of men, women and children from the late 19th century to 1915. On display are rarely seen examples of costumes from ALMA's extensive collections oand samples of fabrics made in the Armenian silk industries of Historic Armenia.

The Medium is in the Messages: Armenia Political Iconography
A fascinating display of posters, prints and other late 19th and early 20th centry pieces from ALMA's collections highlight Armenian political iconography and its ability to raise political awareness to the masses.

Carved in Stone
This exhibit showcases the remarkable architectural models oficonic church designs created by master craftsman Manoog Boyadjian of Chicago. Haghpat, Ejmiatsin, Hripsime and Zvartnots are among the church models that will be on view. Learn about the man, his work and the meaning of his models in the art culture of Armenia.

Armenian Musical Traditions
To illustrate the various gnres of traditional music in Armenia and the mucial instruments that developed there, this exhibit examines religious, folk, troubadour, and contemporary styles as weel as the unique American-Armenian musical style played at picnics in the United States. The exhibit was made possible by contributions in memory of Frederick Margosian.

Many authentic art articles, objects and clothes are found in Mobile International Festival. One of those is the outfit worn by Betty Eastman for several years that has a history in itself from Armenia. Betty represents the Republic of Armenia proudly. It is her heritage and, fortunately, she is able to trace her ancestry very accurately.

This hand-made garment of pure silk that is made of embroidered material belonged to the maternal grandmother of Betty. Her grandmother was born in 1870 in Gesaria, Armenia (now known as Kayseri, Turkey). Can you imagine wearing something that has three generations of history? Betty wore this beautiful silk dress during the Parade of Flags.

Preservation of delicate items like clothes is a major concern for many of us. Because of this concern that she decided to donate it to the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) in Watertown, Massachusetts. The museum recently had an exhibition from February to March 2010 that featured “Fabric of a Culture – Armenian Traditional Costumes”. The paragraph to describe this exhibition goes, “Located on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, Armenian dress reflects the history and culture of the Armenian people. This exhibit explores the role and regional style of the clothing of men, women and children from the late 19th century to 1915. On display are rarely seen examples of costumes from ALMA’s extensive collections and samples of fabrics made in the Armenian silk industries of Historic Armenia”.

Betty Eastman’s donation to the Armenian Library and Museum of America will continue to help generations of people with knowledge and understanding of history and culture of Armenia.