Poland in Armenia

The Armenian premiere of the film was organized through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, the Matenadaran, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Yerevan, the Armenia National Cinema Center, and the Culture Development Foundation.

The documentary film “Lost, Found, Hidden” is the fruit of a five-year investigation by the director Vahram Mkhitaryan. It reveals a remarkable journey of the medieval Armenian manuscript, the Skewra Gospel, from the shores of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia to the modern-day Poland. The film tells the story of how manuscript was lost after World War II and almost accidentally discovered at the end of the 20th century, and disappeared again.

In many ways, the Skewra Gospel reflects the history of the Armenian community in Poland, making the manuscript’s journey especially symbolic.
The filmmakers trace the people who played a decisive role in the discovery and rescue of the manuscript, and whose lives were forever marked by this remarkable artifact.

Among the attendees were the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Daniel Danielyan, Director of the Matenadaran Arayik Khzmalyan, representatives of the diplomatic corps and ministries, the film’s creative team, and others. Among the special guests were Professor Joanna Rapti (France) and Professor Krzysztof Stopka from the Jagiellonian University (Poland), who also appears in the film and had done research on the Skewra Gospel while discovering its history since the manuscript appeared in Poland.

During the event, Professor Günter Prinzing of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz was awarded the RA Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Medal for his significant contribution to the development of Armenology and the preservation of the Skevra Gospel. Deputy Minister Daniel Danielyan presented the medal to the film's director Vahram Mkhitaryan, who will then hand it over to the professor living in Germany.

The film was created within the framework of Armenian-Polish cultural cooperation by the Poland-based “Milky Brother” Foundation, with co-financing from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration of the Republic of Poland, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and the Armenia National Cinema Center.

The late former researcher of the Matenadaran Vardan Grigoryan once said:
“The Skewra Gospel is 740 years old, and no one knows when it left Skewra or when it will return…”