A day in the life of a Jammer — greetings from Armenia!
If you thought a trip with Adventures in Preservation (AiP) was simply a work trip, keep reading.
By Judith Broeker*
Today I’ll take you with us as we experience life in Gyumri.
As we take the short walk along the bustling main street — passing fresh produce, coffee shops and the pigeon vendor — we anticipate what our preservation expert, Naruk, will say about the progress we made yesterday scraping and sanding the historic wood door and window frames at the Aslamazyan Gallery. Are we ready for the next step? Applying putty to repair cracks and damaged sections. The answer is, yes, so we’ll start that now.
We work outside in the courtyard with spring flowers blooming and the project set up under the wooden balcony, one of the last completely intact traditional wood balconies still in place in Armenia. It is also in great need of conservation work if funds can be raised.
We work with enthusiasm, because of our great progress and in anticipation of Silva (a curator at the Gallery) bringing a selection of her clothing designs for us to see, try on, and maybe order custom designs for ourselves.
Silva arrives with several designs and fabric samples. Two jammers ordered custom made sun dresses, and will have them to take home next week. Great fun seeing their designs come together!
Back to puttying, while we decide which of the excellent nearby restaurants we want to try for lunch. The consensus is Old Armenia, and after another hour of work, we head out to have their amazing traditional soup, a medley of fresh vegetables cooked and served in a clay pot along with delicious brown bread.
Back at work — we do actually work hard — we’re completing the application of putty, which will dry overnight and be ready for sanding tomorrow. Today the four of us are working on two door frames for the anticipated new museum shop and two small window frames for windows that provide light to the traditional multi-arched basement rooms. The arches protect the building from damage during an earthquake.
We just have time at the end of the afternoon to see the beautiful pottery made by Armen, AiP’s partner in Gyumri. He finds time to make his amazing pieces between his work to care for the dogs of Gyumri, developing programs to save his city’s remarkable historic district still in great need after the 1988 earthquake, starting a program for young women in rural areas to give them viable opportunities to earn a living, and serving as a tour guide to show visitors the country he loves. We take this opportunity to select plates to take home as gifts.
We worked about five hours today and accomplished a great deal. It’s time for a walk through a portion of the historic district we haven’t yet seen. The stone residences are intricately decorated with carved stone detailing, and were all damaged to some degree by the massive earthquake. About half are habitable and we meet some of the families as we walk the street. All the houses need repair and conservation at some level. A number of the beautiful buildings are beyond repair, a great loss to the integrity of the neighborhood. But there’s still time to save some, if investment and funding can be organized.
Our evening walk leads us to another wonderful restaurant, where we enjoy local cheeses and spreads, pancakes rolled with vegetables and meat, and delicious tomato soup. We finish the meal with a chocolate delight, and discuss tomorrow’s wine and cognac tasting at a private gallery of historic art. Oh, and we’ll also continue work on our 190 year old door and window frames. It will be another fantastic day as a jammer in Gumri, Armenia.
*About the Author
Judith Broeker is the founder of Adventures in Preservation (AiP), which was preceded by her own company, Preservation UnLtd. She’s currently AiP’s Program Director. Judith is a materials conservation specialist with both research and hands-on experience gained at historic structures in the United States and abroad. She holds a Master’s degree in History with an emphasis in historic preservation. She responds to all AiP requests for preservation assistance and works with community members to develop each project. For her, nothing is better than exploring a historic site with camera in hand.
