It Is Impossible for Artists to Be Deprived of 'Their Home': Options Are Being Discussed, Says Pashinyan

According to the Prime Minister, one of the options for resolution is that buildings belonging to unions can only be alienated after public hearings, wherein a project would be presented, or perhaps the government would have a priority in acquiring those buildings in the event they are put up for sale or receive them as donations.

"You say the Union of Artists, but this is public property, meaning it does not indicate that if someone is not an artist, the property does not belong to them. That property, of course, in a very understandable sense belongs to them as well, and thus the answer is straightforward: no, it is not possible for artists to be deprived of their building, nor for creative unions to lose these buildings in any sense, because there may also be a solution that it is given for free use, indefinitely, etc., meaning discussions are ongoing. But the question we need to resolve is the following: that all those properties—both of sports unions, cultural unions, and those unions that have received property from the government or the state, even during the transition period, must be exempted from alienation without proper public or legislative oversight," he stated.

Garnik Danielyan responded, mentioning that there have been cases in the past where properties of unions had been sold for very insignificant amounts due to various reasons, and this should become a subject of investigation. He stressed that the general issue for artists is to continue creating and gathering in places where they congregate, inviting international partners and organizing discussions.

Pashinyan, in turn, addressed the artists: "Today, 55 thousand apartments are being built in Armenia, and I want to call on artists to have specific projects, so that the walls of those apartments will be adorned with the paintings of Armenian artists, because those paintings will be hung on those walls one way or another."