O my friends of bygone days, o my mountains green,
now I see you again, and I recollect those happy days
and I visualise before me those well-loved faces
that are no more
“Anoush“, Canto the First, chapter II, by Hovannes Tumayan
Translation and curation to Italian: Claudia Cerini, Kegham J. Boloyan
Translated into English here by Lucrezia Milillo
Artidea Cultura performing Armenian traditional dance,
photo of Lucrezia Milillo
I realised how little I knew about Armenian culture only after being invited to listen.
On 18 December 2025, the Biblioteca Ricchetti in Bari hosted an evening dedicated to Armenian culture, where literature, dance, and music came together to offer a layered and deeply thoughtful encounter with a cultural world whose forms of expression have been repeatedly threatened, displaced, and rearticulated.
The evening opened with the presentation of the Italian translation of “Anush”, a poetic work by Hovhannes Tumanyan (Հովհաննես Թումանյան), introduced by Professor K.J. Boloyan.
Boloyan is Professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of Bari Aldo Moro and the University of Salento. Of Armenian Syrian origin, he is actively involved in promoting intercultural dialogue and historical memory, particularly in relation to the Armenian Genocide, through translations and orientalist studies. He is also President of the Centro Studi di Orientalistica of Bari and Vice President of the Unione Armeni d’Italia.
Professor K.J. Boloyan, photo by Lucrezia Milillo
His introduction offered both scholarly depth and clarity, guiding the audience through the historical, literary, and cultural significance of Tumanyan’s work.
Hovhannes Tumanyan, considered the national poet of Armenia, was born in 1869 in the village of Dsegh, in what is now the Lori Province. His writing, deeply rooted in realism, draws from everyday life, folklore, and oral traditions, transforming them into poetic narratives that speak to collective memory and moral imagination. Anush, one of his most well-known works, is emblematic of this approach.
Armenian writer Hovhannes Tumanyan, Unknown author
Map showing Bari, where the event took place, and Dsegh, the Armenian village where Tumanyan was born
Tumanyan’s life intersected with some of the most turbulent moments in Armenian history. He was actively involved in peace-making during the Armenian Tatar massacres of 1905 to 1906, supported Armenian refugees during and after the genocide, and worked tirelessly to preserve Armenian cultural life through institutions such as the House of Armenian Art. These dimensions of his biography further situate Anush within a broader landscape of cultural resistance and continuity.
The literary moment was followed by a series of traditional Armenian dances performed by the association ArtiDea Cultura Bari, whose aim is to create bridges between cultures through traditional music and dance. Each dance was preceded by a thoughtful introduction curated by Donatella Maiellaro, who explored the dance’s cultural background, musical structure, traditional clothing, and historical roots. This allowed the audience to read the movements and understand Armenian dances and music as meaningful practices of Armenian social life, enriching the enjoyment of these aesthetic performances.
Donatella Maiellaro explaining some fundamentals
of Armenian dance and music to the audience,
Photo by Lucrezia Milillo
What stood out was the accessibility of this knowledge. Complex aspects of Armenian intangible heritage were conveyed with precision and clarity, making it possible for those unfamiliar with the culture to fully appreciate the dances. The body became an archive, and movement a form of storytelling. In a context marked by historical rupture and loss, these dances emerged as practices of continuity, anchoring identity in shared gestures and rhythms.
The value of this approach became even more evident when considering the impact of the Armenian Genocide, which caused not only the loss of lives but also the destruction of social cohesion, cultural transmission, and material heritage.
That this event took place in Bari is not incidental. The city has long been part of a Mediterranean geography of refuge, passage, and encounter, and it holds a specific, often overlooked connection to Armenian history. In 1924, two ships carrying Armenian refugees arrived in the port of Bari from Athens and Thessaloniki, where survivors of the genocide had sought temporary shelter after the massacres that culminated between 1915 and 1920. For many, Bari became a place of resettlement and reconstruction.
This history is further reflected in Apulia’s Armenian cultural and religious traces, from medieval churches to twentieth-century intellectual figures such as the poet Hrand Nazariantz, who lived and worked between Conversano and Casamassima. In this light, the evening at the Biblioteca Ricchetti reactivated a longer, shared Mediterranean history of displacement and cultural connection.
The evening was further enriched by the musical performance by Jack Sorressa, who played the duduk. The duduk is a traditional Armenian woodwind instrument, typically made from apricot wood, whose warm and melancholic timbre has come to be strongly associated with Armenian musical identity. Duduk music is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, precisely because of its deep connection to the expression of Armenian culture and social life.
Jack Sorressa playing the Duduk
In a time when cultural heritage is often reduced to simplified symbols or aesthetic consumption, this evening invited listening and contextualization. It reminded us that to understand a different culture, it takes time, care, study and practice.
Left to right: Prof Carlo Coppola, Prof Kegham Jamil Boloyan, the dancers of Artidea Cultura and the duduk musician Jack Sorressa
Photo by Lucrezia Milillo
Lucrezia Milillo 