Exhibition in Genocide museum reflects national character, says director

The Armenian-Genocide Institute-Museum on Tuesday hosted the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 25th anniversary of independence.

Entitled “From Genocide to Re-Building Independence”, the exhibition features records and valuable pieces collected over the past decade, Hayk Demoyan, the museum’s director, said in a speech at the ceremony.

“Over the past couple of years, we have worked more actively and intensively,” he said. “It [the exhibition] features our national character, providing a comprehensive outlook of our nation’s struggle, and battle for liberation, our hopes and most importantly, expectation. That’s an expectation for a statehood. The items you will see are unique bearers of state symbols our ancestors painted generations ago, hiding them and imprinting their episodes on pieces of metal, wood and paper,” he said, describing the event as a good opportunity to see the values pursued by previous generations and the sacrifices made.

“Yes, the great sacrifice was the Great Massacre. Some of those who perished had a desire to live in free and independent Armenia. Hence the title too, was not randomly selected. In and before 1915, the orphans, widows and survivors would paint, knit and imprint various episodic images of Armenian flag and coats of arms,” he said, adding that most of the items on display are original pieces.