Yerevan /Mediamax/. Aurora Humanitarian Initiative continues to support the Matenadaran, Armenia’s national repository of ancient manuscripts, with a new grant of USD 20,000. With these funds, the Matenadaran will commission the preparation and design of an interactive table-map of Armenian Scriptoria.

“Our collaboration with the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is invaluable. This new project of the interactive table-map will be a very helpful visual aid that presents the scriptoria for the spiritual and cultural centers. These advanced technological solutions are the most impactful ways of introducing this rich heritage, and its significance to global culture,” said Vahan Ter-Ghevondyan, director of the Matenadaran.

Simply by touching the interactive map every visitor of the Matenadaran will be able to travel deep into the history of the development of the dozens of scriptoria.

Individual multi-touch windows will present detailed information and images of the writing centers, as well as their brief history, geographical location, and architectural characteristics of the complexes in which they existed. Additional windows will provide information about manuscripts, such as their titles, numbers and locations, scribes and miniature artists, statistical data, and other. 

“We are delighted to continue the cooperation with the Matenadaran, the immense depository of Armenian manuscripts. These manuscripts are windows into the intellectual history of Armenia and the Western world. Aurora believes in the value of presenting the Armenian past and present within the context of global developments. This project does just that, going beyond preservation to easy and multi-layered access,” stated Vartan Gregorian, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.

This is Aurora’s fourth grant to the Matenadaran within Aurora’s Armenian Memory Act program, aimed at enhancing the preservation and use of archives and documentation of the Armenian experience. In 2015, funds from Aurora enabled the Matenadaran to purchase a special scanner to digitize manuscripts.

The 2016 grant funded the training of ten Matenadaran guides in Germany.

The 2017 grant helped Matenadaran organize more than 50 lectures on general topics in the humanities, as well as specific subjects related to the Matenadaran collection.

A new brochure is currently being prepared for guides and researchers working in the Matenadaran.