Discover the Armenian Museum!
Join us:
The Armenian Bar Association and the Armenian Museum of America
Present a Colloquium on
Reclaiming the Forgotten Survivors of Genocide
Legal Perspectives on the Fate and Future of National Artifacts, Collective Identity, and Cultural Markers
When: Tuesday, March 20 from 7-9 pm
Where: Adele & Haig Der Manuelian Galleries, 3rd floor.
An important aspect of the Armenian Genocide is that, along with the mass murder of a nation, the world witnessed an unprecedented effort in the annals of human history to eradicate the very essence of Armenian identity via its rich cultural heritage. This was done through the confiscation of valuable works of art, the destruction of Armenian books, libraries, museums, schools, and religious institutions, as well as the change in Armenian place names throughout Western Armenia. Karnig Kerkonian and Nicholas Koumjian will lead a discussion of this unaccounted-for loss of cultural heritage as a consequence of the Genocide.
Karnig Kerkonian, Esq., International Law Expert
Karnig Kerkonian holds an A.B. magna cum laude in Government from Harvard University and two law degrees—a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a post-doctoral Diploma in International Law from Cambridge University. Mr. Kerkonian joined Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago working on federal litigation and appeals and, in 2003, began his own practice now in its fifteenth year. He currently leads the international practice group at Kerkonian Dajani LLC, focusing on international transactions, foreign sovereign immunities litigation and commercial sanctions regime matters.
Nicholas Koumjian, Esq., Prosecutor, International Criminal Courts
Nicholas Koumjian is the International Co-Prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. From 2007-2013, Mr. Koumjian was trial counsel and Senior Appeals Counsel for the prosecution of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia for crimes in Sierra Leone. He previously served as the chief prosecutor for the UN-staffed and funded Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor and worked as a trial lawyer at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Criminal Court (ICC).