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WHAT ACTUALLY WAS DESTROYED DURING THE JULY FIRE AT THE MARTIROS SARYAN HOUSE-MUSEUM
14:01, November 8, 2013
Anna Babajanyan
On July 19, a fire broke out at the Martiros Saryan House-Museum
in Yerevan.
Fire crews responded and extinguished the blaze a half hour later.
They stated that only a few household items were destroyed on the
first floor.
The Ministry of Culture also issued a statement that nothing of value
had been burned.
Even Museum Director Rouzan Saryan (a granddaughter of the famous
painter) was quick to point out that none of the master's canvases
or other items had been damaged.
But do their statements correspond to what really happened? It
appears not.
Hetq has learnt that a few days before the fire, Araxi Saryan (the
painter's daughter-in-law) requested that she bring a large container
through the first floor living quarters so that she could rummage
through the painter's various items located there.
That container was destroyed in the fire.
In a conversation with Hetq, the museum's chief archivist Sofia Saryan
verified that other items had been destroyed as well, and that not
one container, but six had been destroyed.
"I had brought those trunks to the first floor. They contained photos
of Saryan's works as well as film negatives of the painter's personal
photos," Sofia Saryan said.
She stressed the importance of the photos for the preparation of a
Saryan catalog, and that they comprised the bulk of the catalog's
photographs. They document the existence of this or that Saryan
work, even those works whose current location is unknown or which no
longer exist.
The archivist says that the information has nevertheless been preserved
and that the lists of works have been registered. As regards the
negatives, they have been digitized and most are on display at the
museum. When we asked how many photos and negatives had been destroyed,
Sofia Saryan had trouble answering. She only noted that the trunks
had been full.
Hetq's source at the Ministry of Culture claims that the trunks
contained much more interesting items; particularly documents,
manuscripts, and other photos, films, and other cultural items.
Sofia Saryan denied this to be the case, pointing out that she had
sorted out the materials in the trunk for later work.
If we accept, for a moment, that the trunks did not contain such
valuable items, we can only assume that all six merely contained
photos and film negatives already preserved. Thus, the claim that
further work was to be done on them at a later date doesn't ring true.
Our same source says that these valuable items had been stored in the
first floor hallway for days and that they were all destroyed in the
fire. The source argues that the museum management is now attempting
to conceal the contents of the trunks, just like it was trying to
cover up the fact that they never existed in the first place.
When we visited the museum, we saw a number of trunks lined up
along the first floor hallway. When we asked what they contained,
management tried to avoid answering. They even attempted to keep us
away from photographing them.
We should add that even during the construction now going on at
the museum, many of its valuable items haven't been relocated. You
would think this would be the first step management would take to
safeguard them.
This runs counter to an earlier claim by museum director Rouzan
Saryan that the painter's canvases and other valuables had been
removed for safekeeping.
We wrote to the Ministry of Culture based on the claims of the
museum's chief archivist. We inquired if the ministry was aware that
the above photos and negatives had been destroyed, and if so, why
did they conceal this news? If not, what steps were they planning to
get to the truth and prevent such losses in the future? In addition,
who would be held accountable for the loss?
We also asked what the steps the ministry has to date taken to digitize
the Saryan Museum's archives.
The Ministry merely responded that trunks contained personal household
items of the Saryan family and black and white photos of the painters
works which have already appeared in numerous catalogs and albums.
They also claimed that all of Saryan's works in the museum have
been digitized.
In essence the ministry and the museum's chief archivist are now
rejecting the early claims of the emergency services and the ministry
itself that only household items had been destroyed.
It now appears that the Ministry of Culture knew all along that other
items had also been burnt.
The Ministry never answered our question as to why they saw fit to
conceal this truth, as well as our other questions regarding future
prevention and culpability.
As to the fire itself, we should note the museum's fire extinguishing
system mysteriously never kicked in. Sofia Saryan didn't deny this
fact. What she did say, as a justification, was that the fire was
caused by an electrical short and that all systems were down at the
time. "The maintenance systems were being changed and the wires were
overloaded," she claimed.
We then contacted the Ministry of Emergency Affairs, asking why they
had misconstrued the facts and why the museum's anti-fire system
failed. They responded that an investigation had never revealed such
trunks (naturally, since they were destroyed-A.B.) and that museum
management and eye witnesses never mentioned their existence in
their statements.
"We have nothing to hide. Our inspector knew nothing about any trunks,"
Sergey Hayrapetyan, Chief of the Fire and Technical Safety Inspectorate
at the ministry, told Hetq.
"So the museum perhaps concealed this information from you?" we asked
Hayrapetyan. "Of course," he replied. "Perhaps they hide it from us
as well."
Hayrapetyan added that fire detectors hadn't been installed on the
first floor and that the fire never reached the second floor to set
off the system. He noted that all detectors must be checked yearly
and that it is the responsibility of museum management to do so.
P.S. Renovation work at the Saryan House-Museum will continue for
another year. In the meantime, the painter's work will be on display
at the National Gallery and the Matenadaran. The English version of
the new Martiros Saryan House-Museum website is now under construction.
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/30549/what-actually-was-destroyed-during-the-july-fire-at-the-martiros-saryan-house-museum.html
14:01, November 8, 2013
Anna Babajanyan
On July 19, a fire broke out at the Martiros Saryan House-Museum
in Yerevan.
Fire crews responded and extinguished the blaze a half hour later.
They stated that only a few household items were destroyed on the
first floor.
The Ministry of Culture also issued a statement that nothing of value
had been burned.
Even Museum Director Rouzan Saryan (a granddaughter of the famous
painter) was quick to point out that none of the master's canvases
or other items had been damaged.
But do their statements correspond to what really happened? It
appears not.
Hetq has learnt that a few days before the fire, Araxi Saryan (the
painter's daughter-in-law) requested that she bring a large container
through the first floor living quarters so that she could rummage
through the painter's various items located there.
That container was destroyed in the fire.
In a conversation with Hetq, the museum's chief archivist Sofia Saryan
verified that other items had been destroyed as well, and that not
one container, but six had been destroyed.
"I had brought those trunks to the first floor. They contained photos
of Saryan's works as well as film negatives of the painter's personal
photos," Sofia Saryan said.
She stressed the importance of the photos for the preparation of a
Saryan catalog, and that they comprised the bulk of the catalog's
photographs. They document the existence of this or that Saryan
work, even those works whose current location is unknown or which no
longer exist.
The archivist says that the information has nevertheless been preserved
and that the lists of works have been registered. As regards the
negatives, they have been digitized and most are on display at the
museum. When we asked how many photos and negatives had been destroyed,
Sofia Saryan had trouble answering. She only noted that the trunks
had been full.
Hetq's source at the Ministry of Culture claims that the trunks
contained much more interesting items; particularly documents,
manuscripts, and other photos, films, and other cultural items.
Sofia Saryan denied this to be the case, pointing out that she had
sorted out the materials in the trunk for later work.
If we accept, for a moment, that the trunks did not contain such
valuable items, we can only assume that all six merely contained
photos and film negatives already preserved. Thus, the claim that
further work was to be done on them at a later date doesn't ring true.
Our same source says that these valuable items had been stored in the
first floor hallway for days and that they were all destroyed in the
fire. The source argues that the museum management is now attempting
to conceal the contents of the trunks, just like it was trying to
cover up the fact that they never existed in the first place.
When we visited the museum, we saw a number of trunks lined up
along the first floor hallway. When we asked what they contained,
management tried to avoid answering. They even attempted to keep us
away from photographing them.
We should add that even during the construction now going on at
the museum, many of its valuable items haven't been relocated. You
would think this would be the first step management would take to
safeguard them.
This runs counter to an earlier claim by museum director Rouzan
Saryan that the painter's canvases and other valuables had been
removed for safekeeping.
We wrote to the Ministry of Culture based on the claims of the
museum's chief archivist. We inquired if the ministry was aware that
the above photos and negatives had been destroyed, and if so, why
did they conceal this news? If not, what steps were they planning to
get to the truth and prevent such losses in the future? In addition,
who would be held accountable for the loss?
We also asked what the steps the ministry has to date taken to digitize
the Saryan Museum's archives.
The Ministry merely responded that trunks contained personal household
items of the Saryan family and black and white photos of the painters
works which have already appeared in numerous catalogs and albums.
They also claimed that all of Saryan's works in the museum have
been digitized.
In essence the ministry and the museum's chief archivist are now
rejecting the early claims of the emergency services and the ministry
itself that only household items had been destroyed.
It now appears that the Ministry of Culture knew all along that other
items had also been burnt.
The Ministry never answered our question as to why they saw fit to
conceal this truth, as well as our other questions regarding future
prevention and culpability.
As to the fire itself, we should note the museum's fire extinguishing
system mysteriously never kicked in. Sofia Saryan didn't deny this
fact. What she did say, as a justification, was that the fire was
caused by an electrical short and that all systems were down at the
time. "The maintenance systems were being changed and the wires were
overloaded," she claimed.
We then contacted the Ministry of Emergency Affairs, asking why they
had misconstrued the facts and why the museum's anti-fire system
failed. They responded that an investigation had never revealed such
trunks (naturally, since they were destroyed-A.B.) and that museum
management and eye witnesses never mentioned their existence in
their statements.
"We have nothing to hide. Our inspector knew nothing about any trunks,"
Sergey Hayrapetyan, Chief of the Fire and Technical Safety Inspectorate
at the ministry, told Hetq.
"So the museum perhaps concealed this information from you?" we asked
Hayrapetyan. "Of course," he replied. "Perhaps they hide it from us
as well."
Hayrapetyan added that fire detectors hadn't been installed on the
first floor and that the fire never reached the second floor to set
off the system. He noted that all detectors must be checked yearly
and that it is the responsibility of museum management to do so.
P.S. Renovation work at the Saryan House-Museum will continue for
another year. In the meantime, the painter's work will be on display
at the National Gallery and the Matenadaran. The English version of
the new Martiros Saryan House-Museum website is now under construction.
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/30549/what-actually-was-destroyed-during-the-july-fire-at-the-martiros-saryan-house-museum.html