I’m Beginning to Fear: Naira Zohrabyan

Member of the National Assembly from the Prosperous Armenia faction, Naira Zohrabyan, wrote on her Facebook page: “Cultural rhino-skinning continues.

Yesterday, on a rainy day, perhaps due to some officials’ nerves being unsettled because of the absence of ‘A-vitamin’, the Ministry of Culture, barely breathing, issued a decree to dismiss Konstantin Orbelian from the position of the Opera Theater director and to relieve Agnesa Shahnazaryan from her position as the director of the Vanadzor State Drama Theater. I do not know whether the second dismissal is due to the spring ‘A-vitamin’ deficiency or if we are dealing with the absence of a much more serious hormone, ‘serotonin’, which prevents various officials from being harmonious and peaceful, from being happy, and from making absurd decisions.

Nonetheless, my intention is by no means to discourse around the elements of the periodic table and the hormones of misfortune and happiness.

Now, what is Konstantin Orbelian guilty of, for having prepared for the Grammy and several major awards during the revolution but not having managed to walk from Gyumri to Yerevan? Or perhaps he never had the desire to walk, confident that having a high culture would be essential for any government, and that the artist who can ensure these standards would be valued. I received a call earlier from a group of actors from the Vanadzor theater, and they were in sheer shock because Agnesa had managed to create a truly high-quality theater with a series of interesting performances and tours.

It seems that officials ‘governing’ culture in Armenia should cling to these figures firmly, because the creative output they provide is of high caliber. But no, it turns out that the revolutionary trend has its own rules of the game, where ‘art’ is merely a blind appendix. To be honest, I, who am not easily afraid or discouraged, am starting to be fearful. Fearful that if this rhino-skinning logic continues, our revolutionary trendsetters in culture will also invent a new trend in culture - the velvet culture trend, where Sos Sargsyan has already been classified as a genre, and Manen and Monen may likely be labeled as counter-revolutionaries, because, as stated from the podium of the National Assembly, they do not have the right to be compared to the colors of Martiros Saryan. And as one of those who walked from Gyumri to Yerevan candidly shared with me the other day, ‘Don’t you think the velvet revolution should have its own unique culture?’ And for the first time, I truly felt afraid when I briefly tried to envision the cultural velvet of the revolution.

And finally, a real story. In Paris, at one of the famous exhibitions, both Picasso and the Soviet culture minister, Furtseva, were invited. Both forgot their invitations. When Picasso, trying to prove he was the artist, quickly sketched a dove of peace on a piece of plain paper, he was let in. But do you know how Furtseva got in? They told her that Picasso proved himself by sketching quickly, and she, surprised, asked, ‘Who is Picasso?’ She was immediately let in because, from her answer, they convinced themselves that she surely was the Soviet culture minister. And now I am starting to fear this cultural rhino-skinning, which is the very beginning of the end.”