BRUSSELS, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. An exhibition featuring art about the Armenian Genocide opened at the Museum of the Belgian Resistance in Brussels. The paintings are the work of Samo, an artist from Yerevan who lives in Belgium. The exhibition was organized to raise awareness about what happened to the Armenian people and to prevent future genocides.

“Art is very powerful because it can make people aware of things without using words. Paintings speak for themselves,” Samo told “Armenpress”.

“This is not only art; it is a message to humanity so that something like this will never happen again.”

Life and death are shown side by side in Samo’s art. Almost every painting shows a moon and a sun. The moon symbolizes the death and destruction which the Ottoman Empire brought upon the Armenian people and the sun represents the life and hope which remained. Samo also likes to depict people in movement; almost nobody in his paintings is standing still.

“I want to show movement, movement which always goes in the direction of life,”explained Samo.

“These people journey towards the sun, towards light and towards our promised land; Armenia.”

The Museum of the Belgian Resistance is home to a big collection of artefacts and objects related to the fight of ordinary Belgian men and women against the Nazi invader during the Second World War.

For its conservator Jean-Jacques Bouchez, hosting Samo’s art is a natural step and is in line with the broader mission of the museum.

"For us Samo is also a resistance fighter. He fights so that the Genocide will be remembered and condemned by everybody," he explained.

"The Belgians fought the Nazis and we see it as our duty to fight those who commit Genocides. We stand alongside those who have suffered."

The opening event was attended by about 50 people who were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the art on display. Following the opening speeches the documentary ‘Aghet’ about the Armenian Genocide was shown. The exhibition is ongoing until 4 November 2015.