Hasmik Poghosyan: “Culture is becoming a leader in all relations”

By Vestnik Kavkaza

In Moscow the conference of the Council of Europe Ministers of Culture is ended. The Bolshoi Theater gathered 230 delegates from 50 countries; 22 countries were presented at the level of state secretaries and ministers, including Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Hasmik Poghosyan, the minister of culture of the Republic of Armenia, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the most interesting projects in her sphere.

-    Please tell us about the cultural events that will be held in Armenia this year. What are the most important?

-    First of all, “Yerevan – world literary capital” declared by UNESCO is still going on in Armenia, and in April we plan to end this Year. As for crucial events, this year we celebrate the anniversary of Aram Khachaturian. I believe it will be a really great event not only for us, but for the international community. Many countries pay tribute to this great name. I think it will be a crucial event. A lot of projects are expected within digitization of cultural heritage; and we will have a series of international conferences, projects which will be implemented in Armenia. There will be a lot of events. In Armenia, cultural life is very active – many festivals, international formats, interesting meetings. I would like to highlight a project called “The Literary Ark.” Many European writers come to us. They become acquainted with our country and write about their vision of a new modern Armenia. We translate it into Armenian and get a bilingual book. Every year modern literature about contemporary Armenia is created.

-    What does contemporary Armenia look like?

-    It is very interesting. It is absolutely different from the Armenia of 20 years ago that had no independence. Independence led to a new vision of the country, a new balance of forces within the country, a new vision of the future and a new format of the modern situation. It is a fairly democratic country; it is very open. Today I will speak about it. We have absolute access to everything. Sometimes it causes negative consequences, but in general we try to provide a balanced policy on accessibility to the heritage which used to be inaccessible for us for many years because of linguistic, geographic, and physical barriers. Today the doors are open and the society should accept the situation. The developments which are going on in Armenia are a format for real independence of the country.

-    What are the most interesting projects implemented together with Russia?

-    We have the warmest and the most intensive relations, starting from exhibition exchanges… Of course Russia participates in all our projects – in the bilateral format, within the CIS, through cooperation in the Intergovernmental Fund of Humanitarian Cooperation, at international platforms, for example, at the current conference. Our traditional form of exchange with Russia is Armenian seasons in Russia and Russian seasons in Armenia. This year we will focus on the city of Gyumri at Russia’s suggestion. It is the second city of Armenia and has been declared the cultural capital of the CIS. At the Russian side’s suggestion, many Russian projects will be implemented in Gyumri. Gyumri looks forward to Russia’s arrival. It has a Russian military unit, a Russian community, a church, a cultural center. There is a real Russian presence.

-    Do you agree with Mr. Medinsky that culture is gaining new functions and encouraging harmonization of relations today?

-    Of course. Today culture is becoming a leader in all relations. I am very glad about culture, because I think international and bilateral relations will benefit from promotion of culture.