Frid Soghoyan: I thank all my compatriots for the warm reception. Autum is truly hot, but I have a purpose for being here. I received an invitation from the government of Artsakh to take part in the celebration dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the country’s independence. I took part in the celebration, came to Yerevan and am leaving tomorrow. I’m very sad that I wasn’t able to visit my hometown Gyumri. I could have visited for a short period, but that would be just a visit. I would like to stay there longer and spend more time with my family, friends and acquaintances, but this is how things worked out.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mr. Soghoyan, how many sculptures, statues and monuments have you sculpted? 

F. S.: Oh! It’s a long list…I have many sculptures and can’t even set them apart because they are all like my children…I’ll only name the bust of Stepan Shahumyan near the Malatia-Sebastia district building in Yerevan; the series of sculptures along the entire wall in the hall of Mergelyan Institute; the “Girl with the Jugs”, which is currently located in the hall on the first floor of “Shoghakat” television station’s building, and the high relief located at the front of RA city police building. I have also sculpted the fountain located in the patio of the Institute of Art and Theater; the monument to Vazgen I, which is one of my favorite works, was placed in Etchmiadzin last November, and there is another monument to the victims of the earthquake in Spitak and Leninakan, which is one of the works that was placed next to the White House in 1991. In Gyumri, I have sculpted a homonymous monument called “To the Innocent Victims”. Also in Gyumri I have a monument in memory of the Stocking Factory workers who died in the Great Patriotic War. The earthquake demolished the monument, but we intentionally don’t want to restore it so that it stays as a silent testament of the horrible earthquake. In Kiev I have a bronze statue of a worker. I also have sculptures in Archangelsk and Moscow…There is a monument to a worker near the entrance to Artik city and another monument near the entrance to Akhuryan city. In Gyumri I have a very impressive statue that I especially like to talk about. It portrays the old duduk player from Gyumri surrounded by his grandchildren. I sculpted that with my two sons and dedicated it to Shirak. I have a monument to the victims of the Great Patriotic War in the Talish village of Martakert region in Artsakh, another one in the Chaylu village of Shahumyan region…I created these last works in my prime.

“Hayern Aysor”: Who were your first teachers? 

F. S.: My first teachers were the stone chipping masters in Gyumri and I learned a lot from them. I used to stand by them and watch. Then, they would give me the stone and teach me how to work with it. Of course, I grew up in a family of artists. My mother, Elizabeth Stempel was director of the first theater in Leninakan, and my father, Mkrtich Soghoyan was a great art fan. You know, Gyumri is like a great depository of arts and crafts.

“Hayern Aysor”: What have you learned from your family and citizens of Gyumri?

F. S.:  I have learned how to be a human being. I remember seeing many refugees come to Leninakan after the Great Patriotic War. We had three bedrooms. We gave them two bedrooms, and my family and I stayed in the third one. Each neighbor would prepare a meal every morning in turns, and we would all sit together and eat. I grew up in a warm, sincere environment.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mr. Soghoyan, what made you settle in Moscow?

F. S.: I was invited to Kiev to work on a memorial complex dedicated to soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War. It was a large-scale, time-consuming project. I was the sculptor, and I had to sculpt a large, important sector. I invited a young sculptor by the name of Alik Avetisyan from Yerevan to help me. It took me years, but I was highly appreciated and received the Lenin Prize. Of course, I had already received many medals and certificates before that.

“Hayern Aysor”: Tell us about your family. 

F. S.: I have two sons, Vahe and Mikayel, and both of them are sculptures. My wife passed away in 1981 when my children were still in school. We stayed in Kiev for a while and then moved to Moscow. Both of my sons are successful men. Mikayel has received the ranking of RA Distinguished Sculptor by RA President Serzh Sargsyan at the Armenian Embassy in Moscow, and my other son, Vahe has received the ranking of Distinguished Sculptor of the Russian Federation. That’s my family. My grandchildren continue the traditions. They draw and create.

“Hayern Aysor”: Have you ever participated in symposiums for sculptors? 

F. S.: No, I have simply been president of the commission for the symposium held in Ijevan.

“Hayern Aysor”: Have you ever received an invitation to live and work abroad? 

F. S.: Yes, but I declined because I mostly work in Armenia and Russia. I can’t and don’t want to live far away from  all that.

“Hayern Aysor”: Do you think you might resettle and create in your hometown Gyumri?

F. S.: I might. We’re currently renovating our home in Gyumri, which was destroyed during the earthquake. I would really like to have a museum in Gyumri.

“Hayern Aysor”: Do you pass your great experience and professional skills on to young sculptors? Do youu give lectures at any university? 

F. S.: I don’t give lectures, but I always help youth who ask me for help. My studio is in central Moscow. There is a school for the deaf and mute, and I am connected to the children there. I attend their art lessons and give them advice.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mr. Soghoyan, as you can see, there are many sculptures and monuments in Yerevan and we have many sculptors…Whom do you see as a leader?

F. S.:  I won’t answer that question. I will only say I like Kochar’s “David of Sasun” and the statue of Al. Tamanyan by Artashes Hovsepyan. I think Ghukas Chubaryan is a great sculptor, and I highly value his sculpture of Mesrop Mashtots placed at the patio of the Matenadaran. I have studied in the Sculpting Department at the Institute of Art and Theater with great lecturers such as Ara Sargsyan, Grigori Aharonyan, Karo Mtsaturyan, Shakaryan…They were my second teachers after the stone chipping masters in Gyumri.

“Hayern Aysor”: Doesn’t taking orders disturb an artist?

F. S.: I can work by taking orders, but an artist should determine his own structure, style and form…Unfortunately, that is often dictated.

“Hayern Aysor”: What was your impression of today’s Yerevan?

F. S.: There are too many cafes and many billboards that make you tired of looking at them. I didn’t have enough time to take strolls in the city. I regret to see that Armenians are not preserving the traditions of old Armenian architecture. Of course, Yerevan has changed a lot.

“Hayern Aysor”:  Don’t you regret choosing to become an artist, a profession that seems to be a profession that will make one happy? 

F. S.: Yes, the road to becoming an artist is difficult. An artist is the most vulnerable and highly sensitive person, but also a happy person. I don’t regret choosing my profession. I fulfilled my mother’s dream. I never get tired because it is my life, my world. An artist should never get tired. To get tired means to finish what you’re doing.

“Hayern Aysor”: Are you just beginning to establish contacts with the RA Ministry of Diaspora?

F. S.: I am very pleased to see such a ministry, which is the home of all Armenians in the Diaspora. I would very much like to see the Ministry of Diaspora find, identify and study the roots of great, renowned Armenians with foreign names and last names.

“Hayern Aysor”: What would you like to wish all Armenians? 

F. S.: When I was working in Samarghand, where I had received an order to create the sculptures of 18 old and 5 new thinkers, I met many Armenians who had no connection to Armenia…That made me feel great pain. I wish Armenians unite, remember the native language, their faith and the homeland. I would like to see Armenians live a good life and safely.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mr. Soghoyan, I was reminded that you will turn 75 years old on October 2 and that there are preparations for your 75th birthday-anniversary in Moscow. 

F. S.: Yes, I have heard that they have decided to hold a grand celebration, but don’t write 75…

“Hayern Aysor”: Let’s switch the numbers and make it 57…

After this, the notable, distinguished sculptor with a God-given talent laughed whole-heartedly, joked by using the sweet words that the people from Gyumri use, while his nephew, young architect, scientist Tigran Manukyan added that his uncle, Frid Soghoyan, has always been lively and loves to tell jokes. Tigran says he is grateful to his uncle for helping him decide what profession to choose and for his invaluable advice.

This great Armenian with the temprament of a Pole and an Armenian, great God-given talent, the image of Saroyan and Noah reborn from the Flood, lives and creates like the old masters of Gyumri as he persistently softens the stone and looks at people and the world with a smile on his face.

Interview by Karine Avagyan