CULTURAL MISAPPROPRIATION: THE THREAT TO ARMENIAN TEXTILE ARTS

  The Armenian Rugs Society has been nurturing Armenian woven arts culture among academics and artisans alike, worldwide, for nearly 40 years and continues to support Armenian woven arts internationally through a number of programs, symposia, lectures, and exhibitions that aim to build textile arts communities and consciousness in Armenia and around the world.

  Armenian woven arts traditions have been passed from generation to generation for thousands of years by highly skilled artisans who have produced stunning works of staggering beauty. Fortunately, Armenian millennial woven arts culture has continued to flourish over these many years despite the manifold life-threatening obstacles it has faced.

   However, and unfortunately, its detractors and their attempts at destroying Armenian arts have grown, as well.
    
  The governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to eradicate Armenian monuments, architectural sites, churches, monasteries, and precious cross-stones whenever they are able. And, when they are unable to physically decimate indigenous Armenian high arts, they attempt to appropriate these works and purposefully distort their provenance in an attempt to rewrite the world’s historical record.

  The Turkish and Azeri states have not only engaged in genocide, but continue to attempt to strip the survivors of genocide, and their progeny, of any and all cultural meaning, memory, and motifs that have somehow survived and, indeed, form the fundament of Armenian cultural identity.  

  These callous forces that continue to lay siege to world heritage sites, traditions, and artifacts are in fact laying siege to world culture, to Armenian culture, and to every Armenian and global citizen whose roots can be found in every hand woven double-knot, made by the graceful hands of true artisans.

   Private sector groups and individuals, supported by official Azerbaijan and Turkey, have unleashed an aggressive attack against Armenian culture, backed by billions of petro-dollars and pseudo-intellectuals willing to distort truth for monetary gain.​ They continue to publish books, catalogs, and academic papers, sponsor conferences with lavish accommodations and entertainment, and create front organizations in their own countries and across Europe, in an attempt to erroneously claim Armenian woven arts traditions, Armenian carpets and rugs, Armenian embroidery, Armenian artifacts, and Armenian culture as their own.

   This unabashed falsification of history and cultural capital not only strikes at the heart and soul of Armenian cultural identity, but is a harsh blow to the international arts community and to woven arts scholarship in general, putting in serious danger whole academic disciplines and bodies of work.
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   In essence, these interlopers are attempting to convince the world that Armenians did not exist for millennia in the lands of their ancestors and that they are not the authors of traditions that not only demarcate Armenian cultural identity, but traditions with which world heritage and the arts have so strongly been influenced.

    To leave the victims of genocide bereft of all meaning, tradition, and identity, to which they cling so dearly, is to deny their very existence and is the final, and most horrendous, stage of genocide.

    It is an attempted "final blow" to the survivors of genocide and their progeny, to say they did not exist, that they never created these works, that these glorious traditions are not Armenian.

   The Armenian Rugs Society has never worked alone and cannot work without your help, especially now, when so much is at stake...

   We need your help and the help of every individual who comprehends the severity of this onslaught and its untold horrific consequences not only for Armenians, but also for all people.

   We need your help to continue fostering a climate of inquiry, curiosity, and awareness among the next generation and society at large, regarding the world of Armenian woven arts, while preserving and nurturing a growing global awareness of Armenian rugs and sacred symbolism in every sphere.

   You can become a part of this great effort by continuing to be well-informed, vigilant, and active in appreciating and furthering Armenian woven arts and textile culture. 

   We invite you to join the Armenian Rugs Society today and become part of a growing global community of scholars, artists, collectors, and organizations passionate about the fascinating and sublime world of Armenian textile arts.
 
  Your generous donations and support go a long way in helping us protect and nurture our precious woven arts, artisans, and age-old traditions.

    Thank you for continuing to support the Armenian Rugs Society and the cause of Armenian culture...!