Who Remembers The Armenians?

Being an immigrant and an artist, I often find myself staring at the last names of the famous artists my American peers admire–Shakespeare, Pisacco, Armstrong– and noticing that none of these famous artists had the last name I did, ending in -yan, being an extension of my culture and my family. I wonder what it must feel like to have a name that could be pronounced without being tongue tied. There is a silence that so often surrounds the voices of Armenians in the arts. We have been silenced, not only in the world of arts but in the minds of people. After all, who remembers the Armenians?

In the world of DaVinci lives Vosdanig Manouk Adoian, an abstract expressionist who fled the Armenian Genocide. After moving to the United States he changed his name to Arshile Gorky. As he lives in the United States, his art has been redefined as “American” art, ignoring its deep cultural symbolism. Gorky draws inspiration from his experience being displaced and traumatized by his mother dying of starvation and his sister getting taken far away from him, experiences shared by many Armenians. His art is beautiful and meaningful, but now, the name "Gorky” is rarely uttered and if it is, “American-Armenian Artist” is always attached. 

Another name that rarely makes the list of the 30 greatest classical composers of all time, is Soghomon Soghomonian or better known as Komitas. Composer Komitas Vardapet survived the Armeian Genocide and subsequently composed 80 works, laying the stones that rebuilt Armenian culture after an unfathomably tragedy. On April 24th, when Armenians flock together to remember the Armenian Genocide, it’s Komitas’s songs that we sing.

I am a woman. I am Armenian. I am an artist. And yet, I do not exist. Hours of google searches for famous Armenians, famous Armenian technicians, famous Armenian stage managers and I find none. As a woman I am a rarity in technical theatre work, as an Armenian I do not exist.

Still the question remains: why are Armenian voices, despite our talent, significance, and imprint on the world of art, silenced? One likely reason is the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Genocide of 1915 not only took over 1.5 million lives, but also killed Armenian culture. The first people targeted were the artists, writers and musicians of Armenia. The survivors scattered themselves around the four corners of the world, giving up their Armenian heritage in the fear of being targeted outside of their home. Even still, the government of Turkey has perpetually denied the Armenian Genocide and shunned Armenian history, blaming the “displacemnet” of Armenians on World War I. Our stories have been buried, as we fight for visibility and recognition.

How many generations have to pass before the art of Arshile Gorky, Soghomon Soghomonian, Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, and many others receive the recognition they deserve? How many years do we have to be just a footnote in history? For years our identities have been erased, our history reduced to nothingness. Recognition isn’t just praise, it's the acknowledgement of the contributions we have made in the global world of art. Each brushstroke, each note we produce is a declaration: we are still here, and we will not be silenced again.