On May 24, at the initiative of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia and with the support of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Dolls Gallery hosted the solemn opening ceremony of Georgian-Armenian artist Armen Hovhannisyan’s personal exhibition called “World of Dolls”.

Greeting the attendees, the Doll Gallery’s artistic director Marina Khachmanukyan noted that it was more than a festive day for her since it was the first time the Gallery was hosting a personal exhibition.

Transmitting the welcoming speech of Acting Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia Hranush Hakobyan, Deputy Minister Serzh Srapionyan emphasized that Armen Hovhannisyan’s dolls were “completely Armenian”. “Living and working in Tbilisi, which was once the center for Armenian culture, Armen has expressed himself in almost all fields of the arts and has been praised several times, but his favorite field of arts is doll-making. To this day, Armen has created over 200 dolls and has been able to showcase his best works to art lovers during events and exhibitions held in Georgia and other countries,” the Deputy Minister noted, adding: “Today’s exhibition is a unique expression of the Armenian-Georgian friendship since the collection of Armen’s vivid dolls is being showcased in the Homeland and is presented to the Armenian audience in the colors that are characteristic of Tbilisi. Armen has created the images of Parajanov, Tumanyan and Komitas. It is nice that Armen has many ideas and plans at a young age.”

Serzh Srapionyan granted the certificate of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia to Armen Hovhannisyan for his contributions to the development and dissemination of Armenian culture within the Armenian community of Georgia and on the occasion of his 30^th birthday.

In his speech, Director of Hayartun Educational, Cultural and Youth Center (adjunct to the Holy Etchmiadzin Church of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese) Levon Chidilyan noted that Armen’s exhibition was symbolic and showed that there are new Georgian-Armenian talents. He added that Armen would be turning his big dream of creating a doll theater into a reality soon.

Expressing gratitude to the RA Ministry of Diaspora for helping organize the exhibition, Primate of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan said the following: “I think all dolls are nice. This gallery took us back to our childhood. Armen Hovhannisyan is also a poet and has written wonderful poems. His dolls have also charmed Georgians and attracted their attention. They are also showcased in Georgian and Armenian doll museums.”

At the end, Armen Hovhannisyan gave a speech in which he expressed gratitude to the organizers for presenting his works in Yerevan and read one of his poems. “I don’t want to speak. I suggest you look at my dolls. They will do the talking for me,” Hovhannisyan said.

The exhibition will run until May 27.