The year of the Armenian Genocide Centennial is tragic for the Armenian Museum of France. Around 1200 works of art rescued by the Mets Yeghern survivors were removed from the exhibition halls and ended up in boxes. The Director of the Museum alarms but the French government ignores the issue.

In 1949, French Armenian Nourhan Frangian brought together the collection of artworks by Armenian migrants. In 1953, during the presidency of Vincent Auriol, the collection was housed on the first floor of the building located at 59 Avenue Foch in the 16th district in Paris- this is where the exclusive exhibits were located over the past years.

In 1987, Frangian Foundation and Armenian Museum of France were established. In the same year, the collection was recognized public property. After the death of the founder of the Museum, his son- Frederic Frangian- inherited this patriotic work.

Talking to Mediamax, Frederic Frangian noted that the Museum is currently in a hopeless state - the doors have been closed for around 15 years - and now it’s on the brink of destruction.

“After the death of my father, I undertook this activity but later I became a director of a non-existing museum, as I had to close it. Due to lacking conditions of the 19th century building,  we couldn’t host visitors. Another museum collection located at the same address was also close to the public”, he said.

In August 2011, on the occasion of reconstruction works, French Ministry of Culture turned to the Armenian Museum to empty their exhibition halls temporarily and transport the collection assuring that after the reconstruction- in May 2012- it will be returned to the former place in the same form.  After the construction works, however, the Armenian Museum was banned to go back to its area- the exhibition halls became the vault of the neighboring museum.

The Armenian Museum alarmed about the situation, appealed to all the possible bodies but the efforts were in vain, moreover, the situation deteriorated: the fixtures of the building doors were changed thus blocking the entrance to the Armenian Museum, and there is no information on the fate of the collection.

After the 3 years of silence of French Ministry of Culture, on February 17 this year, Minister Fleur Pellerin wrote a letter to the administration of the Museum noting that the issue could be addressed once for all.

A few days ago, Frederic Frangian met with the Ministry representatives to find out that the possible option mentioned in the letter was to transport the items in the Museum to the Marseilles where the collection would be transferred to the vault of the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilization.

In fact, it was suggested to store the samples, that means the collections won’t be exhibited. Thus, another hope for saving the Museum is fading away.

The Director and administration of the Museum met with a number of politicians who expressed their opinion on the Ministry’s decision. According to them, the Minister’s letter was only for defusing the tension. When the year of the Armenian Genocide Centennial passes and the attention to Armenia wanes, the issue of the Museum will be “buried” for good.

The same people say that the situation has also it’s “advantages”- the Ministry already demonstrates that the exhibition halls of the Armenian Museum will be used to other ends and won’t be allocated to the Museum, while the security issue had been the reason for transportation of the collection before that. Now it’s easier to notice the attitude of the long years toward the Museum.

The administration told us that they rejected the Ministry’s offer- it’s not open to question that the Armenian Museum be “buried” in a vault of another museum.

“While I’m alive, I will be fighting to save the Museum. I can’t let the invaluable works which destruction will mean an annihilation of a whole history be festered in the boxes”, the Director stresses.

He doesn’t want to politicize culture. He tries to believe that it’s only an issue of an area. But he doesn’t hide his surprise, either, that French President Francoise Holland is going to leave for Armenia on the Armenian Genocide Centennial event but he completely ignores the fate of the Armenian Museum.

“I keep believing in people and don’t want to think it a deliberate step but I can’t ignore that everything was illegal. A unique cultural heritage encapsulating a history of 3000 years and around 1200 artworks- is endangered”, added Frangian.

People often ask the Director of the Museum why he doesn’t want to transport the collection to Armenia. His position is unchangeable- all the exhibits should remain in France. “The collection was created by the Genocide survivors and if we take it to Armenia it will mean sweeping away all the traces of the migrants. The items were brought by those people who mostly migrated from Turkey. My parents also came from that place in 1917”, he notes.

The dedicated Director doesn’t stop his efforts to save the Museum and present it to the world. This cultural hub was given life in a virtual version - www.le-maf.com is where you can visit and see the whole splendor of the collection. Besides manuscripts, it comprises outfits, religious samples and other items. 3D site has been available since 2009, and it’s still being improved and enriched.

The online signature collection is one of the efforts to save the Museum which is available up to now.

Ellada Ghukasyan-Barseghyan,

Mediamax’s correspondent in Paris