The idea of having a monument dedicated to the “Victims of March 1st” was raised by a group of young people in Vanadzor. They think that it is important to have such a monument first of all because it has been 8 years since the death of a group of protesters who were killed on March 1, 2008 in the civic protests after the presidential elections. Those who were responsible for planning and carrying out these killings, which has dramatically affected the way Armenians now view presidential elections and their human rights to protest those results, have never been identified or prosecuted!
These and other ideas were made by a group of active citizens and the participants of the discussions conducted by Peace Dialogue NGO in the communities of Stepanavan, Alaverdi and Vanadzor of Lori region from November 27 to December 11, 2015.
The discussions were aimed at introducing the participants to the concepts of individual and collective memories and the role and importance of each individual in the formation of collective/community memory. The discussions also helped people see the link between collective memories and public monuments as a component of a community’s cultural memory.
The discussion meetings were implemented as part of a small grants project in the framework of the project ‘Women’s Peace Agency.’
The discussion groups were diverse in terms of age, gender and professions and included high school pupils, university students, civil society representatives and representatives of cultural institutions.
During the discussions the participants and the organizers talked about the unique nature of individual and collective memories and discussed how the social and political systems influence the formation of memories and how these processes develop in authoritarian and democratic systems, the discussions highlighted the importance of each individual’s role and participation in the formation of these memories.
In the end of the meetings the participants were given the opportunity to offer their own personal ideas of new monuments for their country. What new monuments would they like to have, but do not see now? They were also given the opportunity to make suggestions on how to change existing monuments based on the message these monuments will give to future generations. It is noteworthy that in addition to the examples mentioned above, there was an overwhelming number of proposals to have monuments that were devoted to the Armenian Genocide and the Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1992-94. This clearly shows the memories which are prioritized in our society, the ones that are considered “right and important” and which have the central role in the public discourse.
Other proposals offered by the participants regarding new monuments and the modified monuments will be displayed online and will be available on the webpage and Facebook page of Peace Dialogue NGO.
The project “WOMEN’S PEACE AGENCY” is implemented with the support from the Finish organisation Crisis Management Initiative (CMI).
