“It is already the third year I have come to Aghavnadzor. I do not only spend my summer vacation here, but also combine practical, useful and pleasant things in one place together with my coursemates and lecturers, far away from the capital and studies. I have an unusual and definitely useful time here from the educational point of view,” Eva said before entering the territory of the education and sports center. The third-year student hurries to place her bag and go to study the locality.
The students of the Pedagogical University have started recurrent traditional practice. The students of the Faculty of Fine Arts are undergoing plein air practice in turn in the Aghavnadzor-based education and sports center of the Pedagogical University.
The first group has already completed its work envisaged under the program, and the landscapes, well known to the brush, are already on the canvas… Kecharis monastery ensemble, Trdatavank, Bjni, Teghenis – these are the places where the students visited and worked - wonderful nature and unquenchable rivalry… The first group of about hundred students competed with each other and all of them became winners.
Not only did the students visit the places of interest and monuments, but also they obtained professional skills in Aghavnadzor: with working tools and enthusiasm they prepared for the quiz.
The most important and difficult task was awaiting in the end: the students were to paint a portrait which is even difficult to do for experienced professionals. But no one went into a
nose dive. The young artists of the Pedagogical University portrayed their friends and figures with just a few brush strokes.
The working practice ended with a visit to the artificial lake of Hankavan. The students completed their trip, but not their rest. There were even more reasons to please and surprise the guests and holiday-makers.
The young people met with the widows and family members of the Artsakh war heroes: folk songs and Kochari [Armenian traditional dance] continued well after midnight.
The next meeting was with representatives of Armenian Diaspora.
The last and the most decisive day: the time for the exam during which the stress was laid on students’ diligence rather than on their marks.
“All of them have worked; some more, some less. The most important is that they love to paint, consult and take a stand.
Every year, students are getting more and more skillful, with the paintings becoming more comprehensive and meaningful,” the coordinator of the practice, Sevada Sargsyan, said while summarizing the results of the plein air practice.
David Davtyan
