after long preparations and delays, on May 10, within the framework of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the exhibition “Under the Spell of Ararat – Treasures from Ancient Armenia” was opened at the Drents Museum in Assen, Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official opening ceremony of the latter was attended by the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Ministers of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Foreign Affairs, Economy, Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, the Mayor of Assen, the RA Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and other high-ranking officials. An interesting selection from the archaeological collection of the History Museum of Armenia, as well as a relic of the Noah՛s Ark, a loan from the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiatsin, were put on temporary display. Various valuable exhibits from the Old Stone Age to the period of the adoption of Christianity are presented: pottery, hearths, weapons, jewellery, ritual objects, stele, and other cultural values, among which are the unique ritual silver cup found in the archaeological site of Karashamb; one of the boundary stones with an Aramaic inscription of King Artashes I; the coins of Tigranes the Great; as well as the Bible printed in Amsterdam in the 17th century from the museum collection, as a symbol of Armenian-Dutch cultural ties. The exhibition will give museum visitors the opportunity to discover the valuable cultural heritage of Armenia until October 30 of this year.                                                                                                                                                                  • At the invitation of Harry Tupan, Director of the Drents Museum, the opening ceremony of the exhibition was also attended by Davit Poghosyan, Director of the History Museum of Armenia, and Nzhdeh Yeranyan, Deputy Director on the field of scientific activities, and, from May 2, the working group of the museum (A. Ghazaryan, Deputy Director of development; S. Hovsepyan, Chief Curator; and A. Simonyan) was directly involved in organising the exhibition at Drents Museum.
• During the press conference organised at Drents Museum before the opening ceremony of the exhibition, D. Poghosyan gave a speech, placing this exhibition in the context of cultural dialogue and centuries-old Armenian-Dutch friendship and thanking all the partners and organisations involved.
• Within the framework of the exhibition, an illustrated scientific catalogue was also published, which contains extensive articles on the historical and cultural heritage of Armenia and the Armenian-Dutch cultural ties.