The Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia recently hosted French-Armenian Anna Majkalian, who gave an interview to Hayern Aysor’s correspondent.

Hayern Aysor: Anna, welcome to the Homeland, your home! How and when did you find yourself in France?

Anna Majkalian: Thank you! I left for France 10 years ago and settled in Paris where I got married to a French filmmaker and actor and gave birth to my daughter. By profession, I am an actress. I graduated from the Jazz Art College of Yerevan and went on to obtain a degree from Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinema and started acting at the musical comedy theater. When I realized that an actor can’t pursue a career in Armenia, I started undertaking initiatives and getting involved in organizational activities.

Hayern Aysor: Have you ever worked by your profession?

A. M.: During my internship, I used to work at the State Theater of Song. Afterwards, I worked as an actress and singer at Water World and participated in shows for a little while. I have also taught speech culture at Haybusak Institute, given lectures on the history of culture and instructed conduct and aesthetics at School #115 of Yerevan. Later, my husband and I played at Michel Galabrou Theater in France. My husband was the director, and I was his assistant. We were co-workers. I am a very active and enterprising person and have never loved to sit and wait. Our goal of pursuing careers in acting was to help reinforce cultural ties between Armenia and France.

Hayern Aysor: What initiatives have you undertaken in Armenia and what have you succeeded in doing?

A. M.: I have organized many events, including the Miss Aragatsotn and Miss Armavir pageants. I have worked on girls’ plasticity and have also worked as a producer. Thanks to my hard work, the ladies made it to the first stage and achieved success. I have also been the representative of the International Arts Competition organized in the USA and organized the entire competition. I was supposed to participate as a singer, but it didn’t work out. I organized the competition the next year as well. Singer Andre performed and returned to Armenia with a victory.

Hayern Aysor: Anna, what have you done to preserve the Armenian identity in France? What do you do in Issy-le-Mulino?

A. M.: I work as actively as I do here. I am connected to the Armenian community. My ultimate goal is to create a theater where the Armenian actors will be able to star in plays in Eastern Armenian, but most of them know French or Western Armenian. So, I decided to teach them Eastern Armenian in the first place. The local Armenian Church provided me with a small area where I hold my lessons. We are mainly a group of three. Actress Armine Gsbrielyan from Armenia helps me a lot. I have taken many books and textbooks from Armenia and try to solve the problem with costumes for plays. I have gathered many devoted professionals who wish to help me in some way. I am very grateful to the Armenian Church for granting me an area, but that small hall is narrow for our lessons and performances. We still need textbooks, and I have already addressed the relevant department of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia with this issue. I am certain that they will help us.

Hayern Aysor: Can you share any memorable performance?

A. M.: I suggested and organized a New Year’s event at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in France. After that, the Embassy offered me to participate in the UNESCO cultural program during which representatives of nine countries would present their cultures at the hall of the UNESCO in the form of fairy tales. I staged Hovhannes Tumanyan’s play “Barekendan” where I personally played the role of the woman, Romeo Mouradian played the role of my husband, and Artur khachoyan was the Barekendan. I must say that we put in a lot of effort to stage the play, gathered in our small apartment, rehearsed for days and even at the theater. The boys would be tired after work, but were willing to rehearse.

Armenia’s H1 Armenian Public Television covered this event and the activities of our small cultural school during its news broadcast and showed a part from our performance. We teamed up with a theater company of young Georgian-Armenian actors and organized the performance of Pierre Sheneau’s play “You Will Be Alive”. The actors worked with their director in Tbilisi via video messages. In relation to the four-day Artsakh war, I organized a charity concert with the help of St. John Church of Paris and St. Mary Church of Issy-le-Mulino and sent all proceeds to the families of soldiers killed and wounded during the war and to Artsakh. The proceeds from guest singers Samvel Galstyan, Ruben Avagyan and Lilit Yeghiazaryan were immediately sent to the addressees.

Hayern Aysor: What are your dreams and goals?

A. M.: My dream is to see Armenians united, provide Armenian children with an Armenian upbringing and have Armenian cultural life reach a high level.

It is a difficult, but desired dream, and I believe it is very important to turn that dream into a reality. This is one of the incentives for preservation of the Armenian identity abroad. I created a Sunday art school in Issy-le-Mulino where students learn Armenian, as well as study Armenian culture, history and theater…We have successes that we hope will be ongoing. I made those achievements step-by-step. For me, doing anything that will contribute to preservation of the Armenian identity has become a principle for me. We give children of different age groups Armenian language lessons and teach them to read and write in the native language so that they can speak in Eastern Armenian during performances. They speak better when performing their roles and sort of get used to speaking in Armenian. Perhaps my biggest dream is to see my Homeland strong and in peace.

Hayern Aysor: Anna, you are visiting the Ministry of Diaspora today. Do you know about the Ministry’s strategy and activities?

A. M.: Yes, I know and commend all the programs.

Hayern Aysor: What language does your 7-year-old daughter speak in?

A. M.: When people ask her what her nationality is, she says she is a French-Armenian. My daughter is fluent in French and Armenian. We visit Armenia almost every summer so that she communicates with Armenian children, speaks in Armenian and lives in an Armenian environment.

Hayern Aysor: What is your concern about your daughter’s future?

A. M.: I want my child to live in the Homeland in the future and I want the future of the Homeland to be good. I feel pity for our many talented actors, singers and musicians who aren’t able to make it to the international arena.

Hayern Aysor: What is your mission in Armenia? What will you be taking with you?

A. M.: I have come to take the sun and receive energy from my native land.

Interview by Karine Avagyan