Armenia

The Armenian diaspora has always made a lot of efforts to preserve the Armenian culture and heritage outside of their homeland and make foreigners feel a part of that experience. They always sticked to the mission of raising awareness about our cultural and literary patrimony. The Museums and Cultural centers built all over the world many centuries ago or recently, from Fresno to Singapore contributed greatly to that mission. Here is a selection of the best Armenian museums abroad that are worth visiting.

Matenadaran is currently one of the most tourist-ridden landmarks of the Armenian capital, without which would be impossible to imagine Yerevan’s modern architecture and the urban spirit. But it is much more than a simple museum, a library or a research institution. It is one of the crucial loci of Armenian modern history, one of the crucial spaces which created modern Armenia as it is today.

A decade ago, one of Yerevan’s architectural landmarks, Cascade, finally became something more than just a huge stairway to Zeytoun district. It was renovated and inhabited by the pieces of contemporary art. The initiator of the project was American-Armenian businessman and philanthropist Gerard Cafesjian. It is called Cafesjian Center for the Arts now. Regional Post talked to the Center’s head, Vahagn Marabyan, about the things that have taken place recently, and those that are on their way.

There more than 140 museums of different subjects and sizes in Armenia. Regional Post selected 12 of them, that should definitely be in your must-visit list.

In 2018, a part of Yerevan’s historical Kond district was turned into an open air street-art gallery. We talked about this amazing art project with its author Sergey Navasardyan (aka yerevantropics).

Last year, Yerevan Zipline Airlines opened its doors at Arabkir (Molokan) park and up to this day, enables its visitors to fill in their daily dose of adrenaline, witnessing the beauty of Hrazdan Gorge. Regional Post team visited the sight along with other representatives of Armenian media outlets and discovered the perks of this unique experience.

Today higher technologies are the language and medium of the new generation, with a transformative effect on almost every sphere. To discuss the cases of its influence on culture, education, and the museums, in particular, we talked to Arman Atoyan, the Co-founder of Arloopa, IT company specialized in the creation of AR and VR products.

Every great initiative once was a dream lucky enough to receive support and have someone to stand for it. Bridge for CSOs programme became this support for numerous projects, creating a “bridge” between great ideas and the Armenian diaspora all around the world.