Gerard Guerguerian Works to Promote Educational and Cultural Life in Stepanakert

To change this situation, Guerguerian launched his “Roots” project, through which he wished to introduce the culture of European cafes, with its atmosphere of music and art. This would be the venue of small concerts, film shows and discussions, meetings and talks with various experts.

The activity of “Roots” coincided with the the April 2016 four-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, while his new initiative, the Paul Eluard Center of Francophonie, which is meant to be the ideological continuation of “Roots,” overlapped with the recent war. If previously the Francophonie Center saw its task chiefly in teaching French, now this is not enough.

Giving more details about the idea of the center, he notes: “You should first have the vision. Implementation comes next. The main idea is a mix of business and culture; they should complement each other, and evolve in tandem. It may be hard to keep such projects going only through funds and donations. The center is supposed to serve not only as a language and tourism center. It is supposed to recreate the ambience of a ‘boulangerie’ [French bakery] and  French cuisine with the best traditions of French and Armenian wineries in the KINI restaurant. Only by combining these two projects, business and culture together, can we succeed.”

Undoubtedly, the war hindered the timely realization of the project. When asked if he hadn’t changed his mind after the war, he smiles, and a little surprised, adds that the war, on the contrary, gave him a nudge to speed it up. He declares: “War is terrible, especially, in terms of human and territorial  losses, but it is not the ‘end’ in itself. This is a new reality, and if you want your projects to get ahead, you should stop getting obsessed with it. Today Shushi is not ours, but history has witnessed this more than once. We should think less about Shushi under control of the enemy, and think more about how we can turn the odds in our favor. And we will, definitely.”

Guerguerian thinks the secret of his success lies in two realities, exclaiming: “Any vision, any aspiration for the future, is doomed to failure, if you do not show enough will and determination to go all the way.” And, of course, he has more plans connected with Artsakh. He thinks that even if the Francophonie Center succeeds, it is not enough. New ideas and new projects are needed, and one is the idea to rebuild the drama theatre in Stepanakert.

“It is really important to understand why we need to rebuild it. In our post-war reality, the Azeri plans are crystal-clear. Their strategy involves terrorizing, discouraging, and squeezing us out at any cost. We have to stand up to it with an even stronger strategic plan. In this respect, the role of the theater can’t be underestimated. Not only do the locals need its reconstruction, we need to conquer the world with our culture. If culture is a weapon, then the theatre is the most mighty one. The restoration of the theater should be in line with the ideas of modernism,” he says, adding, “Artsakh needs modernism. The people don’t have to leave the country in search of it. Instead we need to bring these ideas here, and we can do it via theatre.”