‘It Was an Attempt to Fool the Public; It Is Impossible to Take the Carpets to Artsakh’ - Vardan Astsatryan

The carpets, embroidery, and rugs evacuated from the Shushi Carpet Museum have yet to find a permanent residence in Armenia two years after the 44-day war. About fifty of these samples are currently displayed at the Lori-Pambak Geographical Museum in Vanadzor, but only temporarily, reports NEWS.am.

Vardan Astsatryan, the founder of the Shushi Carpet Museum, informed the media that the carpets have been at this museum since November. An agreement has been made with the museum's administration for the carpets to remain there for one year, but Astsatryan plans to relocate them earlier, though it is unclear where to.

“There are problems with the conditions at the Lori-Pambak Geographical Museum, which is why I want to move them. Since a solution has not been found for this issue for more than two years, I have named the museum a traveling one, and I will circulate through various cities until I find a permanent residence,” said Astsatryan.

During the 44-day war, the carpets, embroidery, and rugs evacuated from the Shushi Carpet Museum and transported to Armenia were initially entrusted to the National History Museum of Armenia. Three months later, renovations began there, and in February 2021, the items were moved to the Tamanyan National Museum-Institute of Architecture. It was planned for the carpets to stay there for six months, but due to a lack of appropriate storage, they remained at the National Museum of Architecture. From January 30, 2022, they were removed from display and kept at that museum. After discussions with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports in February, it was decided that those carpets would be exhibited at the National History Museum of Armenia, where, however, renovations had to be completed by summer before the carpets could be moved there.

Yet, the heritage evacuated from Shushi during the war has not been transferred to the History Museum.

He noted that a proposal had come from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports to move them to the History Museum, but he rejected their offer. “The management of the History Museum was making statements that I should not take the carpets evacuated from the Shushi Museum there. The director said it cannot be the case that two museums exist in one museum, while I said that it was his superior who made that suggestion. Nevertheless, I received the response that there was not even a written order on this matter, hence he has no obligation to accept our carpets into that museum. This means the Ministry is trying to cover the noise, pretending to resolve the issue, but I do not agree to that. It was an attempt to fool the public. It is impossible to take the carpets to Artsakh as long as there is no agreement. I have no expectations from the government of Artsakh today, especially under conditions of the blockade,” said Vardan Astsatryan.

The founder of the Shushi Carpet Museum continues to hope for support from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, which he says should provide a permanent residence for the heritage saved during the war. “The Ministry is responsible for the cultural policy of the Armenian people, and this museum is our people’s heritage. The ministry should not have allowed us to reach this point; they should have done everything to ensure that the museum continued to operate. It was the only museum where all samples have attribution records. We know from which village they came. There is no other museum in the world with carpets where more than 90 percent of the samples are known by attribution. I acquired these carpets from the villages where they were created; they are a great platform for scientific research. Until now, I do not understand everything that is happening when the relevant authorities are not trying to provide these carpets with a permanent residence. It is simply shameful,” said the founder of the Shushi Carpet Museum.