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100

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100

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mission

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:

Valentin Podpomogov

Title:

Requiem, 1981

Location:

Modern Art Museum of Yerevan

Artist: Valentin Podpomogov
Title: Requiem, 1981
Location: Modern Art Museum of Yerevan

Valentin Podpomogov, who was Armenian from his mother’s side, was deeply concerned about the Armenian Genocide in 1915. As an expression of pain and anguish he created series of canvases dedicated to the Genocide, the most actual one of which is this work: Completely demolished formerly inhabited soil, where you can see the church miraculously still standing far away.
The huge bell ripped off the church and the dust still at unease after the devastation makes us feel through the 1915 all over again. But as a shine of hope and salvation, one can see the God’s light cracked from the black sky.

Artist:

Krikor Momdjian

Title:

The Missing Poet, 2009

Location:

Artist's Collection

Artist: Krikor Momdjian
Title: The Missing Poet, 2009
Location: Artist's Collection

Krikor Momdjian: "This painting is to remember the missing poets who were arrested on the night of April 24th in 1915 in Constantinople and put to death, around 2500 Armenian intellectuals. The nature is revolting in anger. You can smell the blood in the dirty water explosion. They will never be forgotten, on the contrary, their memory has been cherished almost everyday for the past hundred years. I hope their souls will come to rest when justice is achieved by recognition and conciliation."

Artist:

Yurik Harutyunyan

Title:

Exile, 2000

Location:

Artist's Collection

Artist: Yurik Harutyunyan
Title: Exile, 2000
Location: Artist's Collection

The artist deciphers the Armenian exile through abstract images. On the one hand the black dots that symbolize the cross that the Armenian nation was carrying on their shoulders going through infernal tortures, on the other hand the sparkling light that carries the symbol of hope, faith towards the salvation. The country is not in the claws of hell, paradise is its final destination.

Artist:

Minas Avetisyan

Title:

On the Road to Der-Zor, 1966-1967

Location:

Perished in the Fire

Artist: Minas Avetisyan
Title: On the Road to Der-Zor, 1966-1967
Location: Perished in the Fire

Eastern Armenia had become a safe haven for many people who found refuge here from the Turkish vandalism, with revenge and hatred in their heart, built new villages, gave birth to children and brought them up in the spirit of Mush - The grandfathers of Minas also originated from Mush. From his ancestors Minas inherited a strongly built body, will power and open heartedness.

For Minas Avetistyan the "On the Way to Der Zor" painting is his idea of the collective image of the Armenian nation. Though surviving the calamity of Genocide, The nation will powered, strong as rock continued to live and spread its roots.

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SHARED ARTS section.
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shared arts

Artist:

Adriana Angolian