The “Silent Witnesses of History” Program Concludes at the “Yntaniq” Children and Youth Creative Center

“Any people that does not want to die will never die…”
— Anatole France

On May 30, the “Yntaniq” Children and Youth Creative Center in Gyumri held the concluding event of the “Silent Witnesses of History” program, launched in April and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The event was attended by heads of national minority and rural communities of Shirak Province, school principals, representatives of the municipal and regional administrations, members of the Shirak Writers’ Union, cultural figures, clergy of the Shirak Diocese, parents, and students.

Welcoming the attendees, Arthur Minasyan, Director of the “Yntaniq” Center, expressed his gratitude for their cooperation and active participation in the program. In his speech, he highlighted the role of seminars, cleaning memorials, installing informational signs, preparing an informational guide on Armenian monuments, and organizing symbolic tree plantings in promoting cooperation, expanding teenagers’ knowledge, strengthening national and military-patriotic education, and enhancing the role of extracurricular education.

The attendees then took part in the opening of an exhibition featuring the best individual and group creative works and prize-winning entries from thematic competitions organized within the framework of the program. The works were created by teenagers from the “Yntaniq” Center, national minorities, and communities of Shirak Province. Particularly impressive was the work by the boys from the jewelry-making group, who used brass and melchior ingots to recreate the present-day appearance of the Church of the Holy Savior in the historic city of Ani, winning first prize.

The teenagers’ creative works expressed the richness and uniqueness of centuries-old national culture. Through their creations, they conveyed their indignation and protest, the Armenian people’s unyielding spirit of rebuilding and living, and their strength to struggle and endure.

The authors of the winning works received prizes, while the heads of national minority and community organizations were awarded certificates of merit.

In their speeches, parents noted that the program had become a unified movement for their children, in which everyone recognized the importance of solidarity in preserving peace and the country’s national historical and cultural heritage.

H. Feroyan, President of the Union of Yazidis of the Northern Regions; L. Harutyunyan, President of the Gyumri Branch of the “RUSSIA” Public Organization; and G. Hakobyan, Principal of Torosgyugh Secondary School, also expressed their gratitude and emphasized the importance of implementing such a large-scale and multifaceted program.

The program concluded with an artistic performance, during which the students of the Center and teenagers representing national minorities gave inspiring and impressive joint performances. The “Forget-Me-Nots” dance production, choreographed by M. Torosyan, Head of the Center’s Artistic Department, deeply moved the audience and once again affirmed that no matter how much the world may try to cover that tragic page of Armenian history with a veil of oblivion and the dust of time, countless silent yet eloquent witnesses will continue to testify:

WE EXIST, WE SHALL CONTINUE TO EXIST, AND WE SHALL MULTIPLY…