YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian together with spouse Nouneh Sarkissian on April 25 visited the Ara Sargsyan and Hakob Kojoyan House Museum.

Accompanied by Director of the Museum Anna Sargsyan, the President and his wife toured the exhibition halls and got acquainted with the works.

The House Museum is the branch of the National Gallery of Armenia. The two great masters of the Armenian fine arts – sculptor Ara Sargsyan and painter Hakob Kojoyan, have lived in this house for years which is located in the center of Yerevan.

The Museum’s section devoted to Ara Sargsyan presents works, collections from the Gallery and the family of the famous sculptor and etc.

Hakob Kojoyan’s works are displayed in the second floor of the House. Some of the works are from the funds of the Gallery and some are the donations of the artist's descendants.

The reporters asked the President why he has chosen this Museum. “Question can be formulated differently. Why we do not visit these museums? We have great artists, two of them are presented in one house. Ara Sargsyan was a legendary artist, the founder-rector of our State Academy of Fine Arts, has been a member of the Academy of Art of the Soviet Union and a great teacher. Unfortunately, I see that this Museum isn’t in so good condition. I think we need to be more careful and present our great artists”, President Armen Sarkissian said.

He told reporters that he wants to organize an exhibition at the Presidential Palace within the frames of which 4 artists will be presented, such as Ara Sargsyan, Hakob Kojoyan, architect Rafayel Israyelyan and sculptor Ara Harutyunyan.

The Museum opened in 1973. Nearly 500 exhibits are displayed in the Museum.

“I would like to talk about the problems. As you see, the area is in poor condition, needs renovation. The conditions hinder to properly preserve the exhibits. There are not so many visitors. We host 2000 visitors annually, which is quite low”, Director of the Museum said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan