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100

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100

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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:

Hovhannes Zardarian

Title:

Armenians Exiled Towards Ararat, 1975

Location:

Artist's Family Collection

Artist: Hovhannes Zardarian
Title: Armenians Exiled Towards Ararat, 1975
Location: Artist's Family Collection

Hovhannes Zardayan was born in 1918 in kars (Western Armenia). During the Genocide, the Zardaryans takes the exile path as well and the emotions connected to the lost motherland was reflected in the "The Exile of the Armenians to Ararat" canvas. Hovhannes Zardaryan was an artists of free soul. He used to say "Everybody has his own dream. The dream begins with the birth and something makes the human say something. The most important thing is get the word heard. It’s a big happiness when you are able to express your feeling on a canvas."

Artist:

Haroutiun Gakentz

Title:

The Portrait of a Writer Vivan Tjitejian, 1957

Location:

National Gallery of Armenian, Yerevan

Artist: Haroutiun Gakentz
Title: The Portrait of a Writer Vivan Tjitejian, 1957
Location: National Gallery of Armenian, Yerevan

Armen Yesayants (PhD in Art History): "The anguish of the entire nation is centered in the art of Haurtyun Kalentz. In the artistic heritage of Kalents the theme of Genocide was depicted both directly and indirectly: Kalentz said: There in the foreign country, Armenian faces seem to be a part of the motherland. For me the portrait is also landscape and much more than that. The portraits are my motherland."

Artist:

Grigor Khandjyan

Title:

Yeghern (Illustration to Paruyr Sevak's), 1963-1965

Location:

National Gallery of Armenian, Yerevan

Artist: Grigor Khandjyan
Title: Yeghern (Illustration to Paruyr Sevak's), 1963-1965
Location: National Gallery of Armenian, Yerevan

Shahen khachatryan (Аrt critic): "Series of Grigor Khanjyan book illustrations are dedicated to the Armenian tragedy. The unique composition of the paintings, linear, impactful sounds enhance the bitter sufferings. In Paruyr Sevak’s “Unsilenceable Belfry” poem Grigor Khanjyan always depicted the genius musician Komitas as an high spirited shepherd with the nation. But when the extermination of Armenian occurs the light extinguishes and the darkness prevails…"

Artist:

Tigran Tsitoghdzyan

Title:

Armenian Mirror, 2013

Location:

Private Collection

Artist: Tigran Tsitoghdzyan
Title: Armenian Mirror, 2013
Location: Private Collection

Tigran Tsitoghdzyan: "This painting is the mirror of Armenian society."

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SHARED ARTS section.
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shared arts

Artist:

Adriana Angolian