Exhibition of Artifacts Evacuated from the Shushi Carpet Museum Opens in Yerevan

On February 20, an exhibition showcasing artifacts evacuated from the Shushi Carpet Museum during the war opened at the National Museum-Institute of Architecture named after Al. Tamanyan in Yerevan. According to Armenpress, the carpets are from the personal collection of Vardan Astsatryan, the founder of the Shushi Museum, and were evacuated from Shushi on November 1, 2020.

“During the war, a large rocket exploded near the carpet museum in late October, damaging the building and smashing doors and windows. I had to evacuate the carpets because there was no alternative. I realized in time that we could lose these carpets representing historical and cultural value. I called the Minister of Education, Science, and Culture of Artsakh, they provided a car and we evacuated the exhibited artifacts. About 100-120 carpets remained in the Shushi museum fund,” Astsatryan explained.

He noted that around 160 carpet pieces were successfully brought out from Shushi. The oldest exhibited piece from the Shushi carpets in Yerevan is 350 years old, originating from the village of Shosh in the Askeran region.

“This collection of carpets, dated from the 17th to the early 20th centuries, was purchased from families where they were made. Thus, their history, locations, and dates are also known,” he added. The Shushi carpet exhibition in Yerevan will last for at least three months. According to Mark Grigoryan, the director of the National Museum-Institute of Architecture named after Al. Tamanyan, it is currently unclear where the carpets will be preserved in the future. For now, the evacuated carpets from Shushi will be kept in the History Museum of Armenia and temporarily also in the exhibition hall of the National Museum-Institute of Architecture.

The exhibition features 71 carpets, the overwhelming majority of which are from Artsakh settlements. There are also old carpets from settlements in Armenia. In his remarks, exhibition curator Narek Van Ashughatuyn noted that Mark Grigoryan, the director of the National Museum-Institute of Architecture named after Al. Tamanyan, readily welcomed the exhibition of carpets evacuated from Shushi. “The exhibition of carpets provides an opportunity to return to our roots, to get to know, understand, and reappraise ourselves,” said Narek Van Ashughatuyn.

Present at the opening of the Shushi carpets exhibition in Yerevan were also Lusine Gharakhanyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of Artsakh, representatives of cultural institutions, museums, and artists.