99 - all you should know about the Genocide April, 2014 | Page 34
The 90 th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at Tsitsernakaberd
meters, which was approved by the Art Council
the sculptures, he ordered us to stop working
of the Art Foundation of Armenia on May 4, 1972.
immediately.”
Van Khachatur made three samples in gypsum
and moved them to Tsitsernakaberd, where they
began to work on them. But this, too, was never
completed. Moscow was closely watching the
construction of the memorial complex. Central
The sculptures remained that way for a long
time, up to 2003 . “It was the fall of 2003 when
I was told that heav y machiner y had been used
to remove the sculptures and replace it with
Committee Second Secretary Anisimov arrived in
stones,” says sculptor Van Khachatur, “Even
Yerevan.
today, if you approach the 8 th and 13 th stones,
“We had been working with the artisans on
the sculptures for two days and had etched
you can see the traces of those sculptures
there.”
in the part of the mother in two places,” Van
This, then, is the real story of the construction of
Khachatur recalls, “when Anisimov came to
the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex, released
see the memorial complex. As soon as he saw
from its cocoon of numerous legends.