An innovative, open media studio in the heart of Yerevan, Tumo Center for Creative Technologies officially opened its doors on August 14th 2011. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, NKR President Bako Sahakyan, members of RA government, heads of art and IT companies, and others were present at the opening ceremony.
Tumo Center for Creative Technologies is a unique educational center, which has been established on the initiative of “Simonyan” educational foundation with the goal to provide thousands of children with an unprecedented educational practice. Up to 10 000 juniors have an opportunity to become members of “Tumo”.
Watch a TUMO Center Video below:
The opening event of the center was an amazing experience for all the members,it kicked off 2 days before the opening – on August 12. “Reincarnation” band and DJ BaxStar from the USA came forth with an open-air concert, young people had an opportunity to play a game of interactive lights invented by juniors of the center. The wall of the building was turned into a huge screen, on which a special 3D clip was shown and an interactive game was held.
About 2,000 people played this game. World-famous American-Armenian rock singer Serj Tankian was the main hero of the stage. He performed accompanied with 4 dozen of Armenian classical musicians, presenting works from “Elect the Dead Symphony” album.Today, a year later, the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies has much to boast about. Over 50 million dollars was invested to this project and it was worth it. Many famous ceremonies and exhibitions were held in the center, such as Golden Apricot Film Festival’s exhibition, Robotics’ ‘TEDx.Yerevan’ projects and so on.
There are special workshops at Tumo where interested students can take part in the creation of music, one of these workshops is ‘Garage’ were students have created ‘Garage Band’ and during music study famous musicans such as Misho, or DJ Serjo appear as teachers.
The latest achievement of the students was the official video for Serj Tankian’s latest album’s song “Uneducated Democracy”. Serj Tankian is one of the members of the board of Tumo, so there are close relations between him and the members of the center. The animated video is made by a group of 14 to 18-year-olds at the Center.
Tumo even has a special cinema theatre where children are watching films, 3D animations etc. Beside all this there is a game room where children can play different computer games.
Four exciting areas of study and practice. Four fast-growing career fields. And, more important, four fields rich in opportunity for young people to grow in skills that will help them succeed in any career their future brings. Tumo is like a club with registered 
members. You register, pay a nominal fee, agree to terms of use, and you’re in. Simple Members, ages 12 to 16, choose an area of focus: Animation, Video Games, Web Development, Digital Video and Audio. A coach helps guide you.Your plan helps you achieve proficiency in your area of focus. And it gives you basic exposure to the other three areas.
Tumo is a program. It’s hands-on, and it’s fun. Any motivated teenager can become a member. Members advance through levels of knowledge and skill. They produce creative content and media applications. Then they join teams working on real-life projects.
Welcome to a place unique in all the world. Welcome to Tumo.
