David Ohannessian: Art, Exile, and the Legacies of Genocide | Sato Moughalian

E471 | David Ohannessian is one of the foremost pioneers of the ceramic styles associated today with the city of Jerusalem, but the remarkable story of how he ended up there has never been properly told. Born in 1884 outside of Eskişehir (modern-day Turkey), David Ohannessian became a master in the iconic Kütahya style of Ottoman ceramics. He worked on important architectural projects of the Ottoman government, only to be deported during the Armenian Genocide. He managed to survive, however, and continued his craft afterward in Jerusalem, where he became involved with restoration of the Dome of the Rock and opened his own ceramics studio in the Old City. Yet the past stayed with him, especially the weight of his experience during the genocide. In this episode, Sato Moughalian discusses Feast of Ashes, her recent biography of Ohannessian. She also talks about his story's personal resonance for her as Ohannessian's granddaughter. His artistic persistence provided a model of resilience to emulate in her own art, but the violence and displacement experienced by Ohannessian and his family also left a legacy of secrets and complicated grief in Moughalian's life that was long felt but seldom addressed. More at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2020/08/ohannessian.html Sato Moughalian is a flutist and writer based in New York City. Her biography of her grandfather, Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian, was published by Redwood Press/Stanford University Press in 2019, longlisted for the PEN/America Jacqueline Bograd Weld Biography Award, and was a finalist for the AAP PROSE Award in the Biography & Autobiography. With Perspectives Ensemble, a chamber group she founded at Columbia University in 1993, she explores and contextualizes the works of composers and visual artists and was awarded the 2013 Ramon Llull Prize for Creative Arts. She is principal flutist of Gotham Chamber Opera, American Modern Ensemble, and has made more than 35 chamber ensemble recordings, most recently Manuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo/El Retablo de Maese Pedro (Naxos). Sam Dolbee is a lecturer on History and Literature at Harvard University. His research is on the environmental history of the late Ottoman Empire told through the frame of locusts in the Jazira region. CREDITS Episode No. 471 Release Date: 13 August 2020 Recording Location: New York and Somerville, MA Audio editing by Sam Dolbee Music: Blue Dot Sessions, "Um Pepino"; Sato Moughalian accompanied by Jacqueline Kerrod and John Hadfield, "Kamancha (Sayat-Nova)"; Zé Trigueiros, "Petite Route" Special thanks to Chris Gratien Bibliography and images courtesy of Sato Moughalian available at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2020/08/ohannessian.html