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The Armenian Genocide has left an irreversible trace in our history and in our spirits and the reflection of grief, yearning, hope is woven in chain in the Armenian fine arts. When human languages is powerless to express what happened in 1915, the language of art does have the power to do so. Different generations of Armenian famous artists have continuously addressed the great iniquity and the artworks dedicated to the Armenian Genocide have always had their unique places in their art. Armenian artists greatly contributed to the global acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide thought their art. Many of these works have been exhibited to public but even more of them are unknown till today.

100 years

CULTURAL GENOCIDE

Acts and measures undertaken to destroy the culture of a nation or an ethnic group is called "cultural genocide". Many facts prove that simultaneous with the massacres and deportation of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, the government of the Young Turks masterminded and implemented systematic destruction of the material testimonies of the Armenian civilization.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

A genocide is the organized extermination of a nation aiming to put an end to their collective existence. The extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and the surrounding regions during 1915-1923 is called the Armenian Genocide. Those massacres were masterminded and perpetrated by the government of Young Turks and were later finalized by the Kemalist government.

100 arts

The anguish of the Armenian Genocide, which is being reborn with every Armenian, has its own reflection in the Armenian fine arts. Many Armenian well known artists have created artworks both in Armenia and in Diaspora that are the speaking witness of the Armenian great pain, loss and yearning. These artworks are also ode to the Armenian viable genes, will power of giving birth, living and creation. Genocide is the type of crime that does have any expiration date. Human speech is sometimes powerless in expressing those things that are possible to express only through art. These 100 artworks will continuously tell the world about the unhealed wound of the Armenian, millions of innocent victims, demolished heartlands, bowed churches, lost homeland and infinite belief. The power of art is undeniable and artworks are eternal.

Artist:

Martiros Sarian

Title:

The Year of 1915 of Armenian People, 1965

Location:

Sarian Family Collection

Artist: Martiros Sarian
Title: The Year of 1915 of Armenian People, 1965
Location: Sarian Family Collection

This sketch is the only M.Sarian’s work directly depicting the subject of Armenian Genoside in Western Armenia. Apparently the artist has drawn an Armenian woman, mentioned by him in the book of his memoirs ‘From my life’. She managed to escape the Turkish massacre and had settled by the walls of St.Hripsime church. This woman was losing her black-eyed sons one after another making shrouds for them out of her dresses using her own her for sewing.

Artist:

Sarkis Hamalbashian

Title:

Ani is Beyond the Border, 2014

Location:

Artist's Collection

Artist: Sarkis Hamalbashian
Title: Ani is Beyond the Border, 2014
Location: Artist's Collection

Sarkis Hamalbashian: "Since my childhood, as an heir to survivors of the Armenian Genocide, I have heard stories about it and later tried to depict my impressions in my works. Later I realized that those stories were messages that should be passed to future generations through their representation in our works, until the recognition of the Genocide and the fulfillment of justice."

Artist:

Martiros Sarian

Title:

Egyptian Masks, 1915

Location:

Martiros Sarian House-Museum, Yerevan

Artist: Martiros Sarian
Title: Egyptian Masks, 1915
Location: Martiros Sarian House-Museum, Yerevan

This work is the first response of M.Sarian on hearing about the Gret Genocide committed upon his nation. Viewing the fruits and household items, chaotically scattered on the canvas, the onlooker can discern the painter’s cry from the very heart. The Egyptian masks like history’s judges condemn the massacre of Armenians as universal tragedy.

Artist:

Ashot Hovhannisyan

Title:

Escape, 1971

Location:

National Gallery of Armenian, Yerevan

Artist: Ashot Hovhannisyan
Title: Escape, 1971
Location: National Gallery of Armenian, Yerevan

Shahen Khachatryan (Art critic): "Ashot Hovhannisyan’s art is the artistic form of understanding the country’s deepest layers and great power. Looking at the hands, feet, movements of the displaced people, one can see the artist’s inner power. The artist also painted himself on the carriage in the background in white as a part of the struggling power. His speech is about making his land asserted, fostering the progress of the identity of the nation."

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SHARED ARTS section.
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shared arts

Artist:

Adriana Angolian