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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:

Minas Avetisyan

Title:

By the Walls of Aghtamar. Farewell, 1968

Location:

Alex and Marie Manougian Museum, Detroit

Artist: Minas Avetisyan
Title: By the Walls of Aghtamar. Farewell, 1968
Location: Alex and Marie Manougian Museum, Detroit

Minas Avetisyan got acquainted with the art of Archile Gorky in 1968. Deeply inspired by Gorky’s painting, Minas, with his radiant and unique colors, created the wonderful painting "At the walls of Akhtamar, Farewell" depicted Vostanis (Archile Gorky) in the center, who going through the calamity of the Genocide was mentioning the loss and pain of the Armenian land in his paintings.

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."

Artist:

Marie Adamian

Title:

Black and White, 2012

Location:

Private Collection

Artist: Marie Adamian
Title: Black and White, 2012
Location: Private Collection

Marie Adamian: "The tree of life, the fruit of which gives eternal life, according to the Bible, is depicted in the symbolic contrast. The “Black and White” title of the artwork symbolizes the void, pressure, depression of the black color on the one hand and the innocence, the idea of unity and wholeness of the white on the other hand, which is typical to the tragic centennial history of the Armenian nation."

Artist:

Krikor Momdjian

Title:

Open Diary, 1996

Location:

Artist's Collection

Artist: Krikor Momdjian
Title: Open Diary, 1996
Location: Artist's Collection

Krikor Momdjian: "Like an open book, we see on one side a photo-document in which we witness how in a barbaric way Armenians were slaughtered in 1915. I did not want to paint the image but used it as it is - an horrible evidence. When I saw this picture for the first time as a little boy, I was choked that human beings are capable of such acts. History seems repeating itself as we think about what is happening now in the middle east, not far from Anatolia, where the massacres of Christian Armenians and deportations occurred. But I believe we can change this, for the sake of future generations, by education and information in healthy thinking. showing empathy for other people and cultures to create a better world."

share your arts

Here, you can upload your artwork dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. The uploaded artwork will be published in the
SHARED ARTS section.
Note: the site carries no responsibility over the copyright genuinity issues in the SHARED ARTS section. But still if you come across possible violation of copyrights, please, do not hesitate to contact us via info@100years100arts.am email address.

shared arts

Artist:

Adriana Angolian