Throughout the centuries, the Armenians, who have had sea to sea Armenia and a splendid Historic Armenia, have had their share of the bitter destiny of being hit and deprived of the lands of their ancestors. It seems as though Armenians were born knowing the words “Diaspora”, “repatriation”, “immigration” and “emigration”, but by God’s will, one day, all Armenians around the world will gather on Armenian land and create a powerful Armenia. Over the past years, more and more Armenians have been returning and repatriating to Armenia. Some of our compatriots came to Armenia many years ago, found their place and role in Armenian society and grew professionally. One of those Armenians is Gabriel Panosian, who moved to the Homeland 12 years ago. Panosian gave an interesting interview to Hayern Aysor at the newspaper’s editorial office.

Karine Avagyan: Mr. Panosian, please tell us about the odyssey of Gabriel Panosian the Armenian.

Gabriel Panosian: I am the son of Armenians from Musaler. I was born in Lebanon, lived in the United States and settled in Armenia 12 years ago. This is my odyssey.

Karine Avagyan: What made you repatriate?

Gabriel Panosian: I have served as a scout leader in Lebanon for many years. I have always advocated patriotism to the scouts and have taught them to shape Mount Ararat with soil and stones. I have always thought to myself that I am living in Lebanon temporarily, that I am living in Lebanon temporarily and that I must come to the Homeland someday. At the time, Armenia was under the Soviet regime, and I couldn’t imagine visiting Armenia. The first time I visited Armenia was on October 9, 1974. When I returned to Lebanon, I shared my impressions with my fellow Armenians. The second time was during the elections for President of the Republic of Armenia in 1991, and I prepared a couple of reports during those days. Later, my family and I moved to the United States of America, but I realized that that wasn’t where I was supposed to be either. When Armenia declared its independence, I decided to visit Armenia. At the time, I was the director of the Voice of Hamazkayin radio show in San Francisco. I am an electrician by profession, but have always been involved in the arts. I have been interested in painting since childhood. On several occasions, I have said that I regret not being born in Armenia. If I was born in Armenia, I would have a different destiny, I would be able to choose my profession in a favorable environment and I would have the opportunity to express my inner feelings through the education that I would receive.

Karine Avagyan: Gabriel, you are mainly involved in photography, and it seems as though you have succeeded in that area. How did you become a photographer?

Gabriel Panosian: As I said, I have always loved and aspired for the arts and culture. I have had opportunities to prepare reports and be the director of a radio show. There is an interesting story of how I became a photographer. During a demonstration, I took a photo showing how Kiro Manoyan had wrapped himself to a pole and how police officers weren’t able to pull him back from the pole. I sent the photo to the editorial staff of Aztag Daily. The staff liked it a lot, printed it and wrote my name and last name under it. The photo attracted many people’s attention, and I became the photojournalist for the daily newspaper. I started collaborating with the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia ever since it was established. The Minister encouraged me a lot, and I am thankful to her for that. I still collaborate with the Ministry and participate in all of the Ministry’s events with great pleasure. The respected Minister thought I was an official representative of Aztag Daily and was amazed when she found out that I was taking photos at my initiative. In 1993, I visited Artsakh for charity purposes and witnessed how a one-and-a-half year old girl by the name of Lola was returned to her family. I met her family, came to Yerevan and wrote about this in the presses. This was my first article. I mainly take photo.

Karine Avagyan: Have you ever thought of opening your personal exhibition?

Gabriel Panosian: I have held nine exhibitions, but have only showcased abstract photos. I must say that Hranush Hakobyan encouraged me to hold those exhibitions.

My photos have also been showcased at various group exhibitions. I always want to see what others don’t see. I don’t want to see the same thing. I have taken many photos in Artsakh. I have taken photos of the doors to the city of Shushi, as well as the churches in Shushi. I have photographed the shapes of Armenian homes, as well as Turkish and Azerbaijani homes to show the differences. There were two girls who would always come to my exhibitions. They attracted my attention. One day, I approached them and asked what had attracted them so much, and they told me that they would come and tell me the next morning…The next day, the girls came with a notebook that contained poems that had been written based on my photos. I was charmed…When I left for the United States a year later, my friend, Yeznik Balayan learned about this and urged me to publish those poems. I returned to Armenia, found those two girls and told them about my idea. They got very happy, and it turned out that they had thought of the same thing. The book-album of poems based on my photos has already been published. It features photos and the particular poem based on the impression of the particular photo. We will organize the presentation of the book soon.

Karine Avagyan: I am aware that you are the founder of the “Hot Plate of Food” initiative. Could you provide details about this initiative?

Gabriel Panosian: As you saw, winter was harsh in Armenia this year. I have a farm in the Noramarg village of the Ararat Valley. I thought of going there to see how things were. I saw that half a meter of snow had fallen. I couldn’t even open the door and go inside. It was even snowing heavily on that day. There were a couple of familiar and unfamiliar people standing outside. I asked what they were doing standing outside in that weather, and they told me that they had no jobs, no food and no heating and didn’t think there was any sense in going home. I couldn’t sleep that night. I was thinking about what I could do to help. I promised myself to find a solution. To fulfill my decision, I addressed some of my acquaintances who approved of my “Hot Plate of Food” initiative, after which I visited the head of the village and presented my program. The head of the village got very happy and told me that I was sent from God. We decided to feed 100 socially disadvantaged villagers once a day. I purchased the food and hired people to work. The head of the village brought the list of the people in need, and it turned out that there were 150 people in need. I said I didn’t have enough room (I had set aside room in my house to place chairs and tables so that people could come and dine). I considered the fact that some of those people would be coming from one end of the village and that the roads were dirty. How would they reach the place? What could I do? How could I carry out the program in a way that would be appropriate? My assistant, Arevik and I consulted and decided to provide dry food to the people so that they could come and take the food with them and make it at home. On the first day, we distributed food to over 60 socially disadvantaged people. The next day, the number grew to about 400. We distributed 15-20 kg of food to each person, including vegetable oil, macaroni, rice and sugar…There were pleasant and unpleasant incidents…There were people who refused the help, saying that there were people in far worse conditions and that it would be better to help them. A group of wonderful young people helped me unconditionally. Later, I told myself that it would be better to give the needy potato seeds instead of potatoes so that they could sow the seeds. This is exactly what we did, and we distribute about 4 tons of seeds. The Armenians abroad mainly provided their financial assistance. The program was designed for two months, but we worked for three months. Now our goal is to officially implement this initiative and establish a non-profit organization. We prefer to help the residents of the borderline villages in Ararat Valley. They are also unique soldiers because they aren’t leaving their settlements and are always alert.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to all those who joined our initiative, especially our three benefactors, including Gabriel Jemberjian, Jirayr Sarkisian and his wife, Srbouhi and Vahan Janoian. Later we were also joined by Noubar Demirjian. We have distributed food to about 1,200 people, and have given potato seeds to 600 people.

Karine Avagyan: Thank you, Mr. Panosian! I wish your humanitarian initiative success. I also wish you success in your career. May you never take photos of an Armenian with a sad look on his face! May you always see smiling faces, and may everyone always have a hot plate of food!

Karine Avagyan