Yerevan School Accused of Removing Student Artwork Featuring Artsakh Landmark as NGO Warns of ‘Erasing Memory’

A dispute over a student’s artwork at a Yerevan music school has fueled new concerns over the place of Artsakh’s cultural identity in Armenia, with a heritage organization accusing school officials of treating one of the region’s best-known symbols as an “anti-state” image.

The Artsakh Cultural Preservation Center, a nongovernmental organization, says the incident is part of a broader pattern that risks erasing Artsakh from Armenia’s cultural memory. In a statement, the group warned that while Armenian heritage in Artsakh continues to be destroyed, its symbols are also disappearing from public life inside Armenia.

According to the organization, the latest case occurred at the Anushavan Ter-Ghevondyan Music School in Yerevan. The NGO alleges that a student artwork depicting Stepanakert’s iconic “We Are Our Mountains” monument, commonly known as “Grandma and Grandpa,” was removed after the school’s acting principal described it as an “anti-state act.”

The organization also raised broader concerns about the Armenian government’s efforts to protect Artsakh’s cultural heritage. It argues that Yerevan has not fully used available international legal mechanisms to defend Armenian monuments in the region, despite having opportunities to bring the issue before UNESCO, U.N. bodies and other international institutions. According to the NGO, stronger legal and diplomatic action is needed to document the destruction, prevent further damage and pursue accountability.

The statement also criticizes recent public remarks by Armenia’s leadership that, in the NGO’s view, frame the protection of Armenian churches and cultural sites in Artsakh as an internal matter for Azerbaijan. The organization argues that such statements weaken Armenia’s position under international law and could make future legal efforts more difficult.

The NGO also addressed recent reports claiming that some cultural organizations had been encouraged to remove the word “Artsakh” from the titles of performances and artistic works. It said Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports officially denied issuing any written or verbal instructions to that effect and confirmed there is no ban on displaying Artsakh-related symbols in institutions under its authority.

Still, the organization maintains that restrictions are occurring in practice at the level of individual institutions, pointing to the Yerevan school incident as an example.

The statement comes as international monitors continue documenting the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh following Azerbaijan’s takeover of the region.

In April, reports confirmed that Azerbaijan had demolished the Holy Mother of God Cathedral of the Protection in Stepanakert. The cathedral’s destruction followed the earlier demolition of St. Hakob Church, another Armenian religious site in the city.

Speaking about the issue, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently said such questions should also be viewed through reciprocal examples. He argued that if the Armenian-controlled enclave of Artsvashen were ever returned to Armenia and a mosque remained there, Armenians should consider how their own society would respond.

Independent researchers have continued to document widespread damage to Armenian heritage sites.

Caucasus Heritage Watch, a research initiative at Cornell University that monitors nearly 500 Armenian cultural monuments in Artsakh through satellite imagery, has reported the destruction of churches, cemeteries and other historic sites since the 2020 war. Its latest assessment says landmarks including Shushi’s Kanach Zham (Green Chapel) Church, the Ghazanchetsots Cemetery, and the cemetery in the village of Mets Tagher have been completely destroyed. The group also reported that the village of Karintak has been almost entirely erased.

Caucasus Heritage Watch further notes that 98% of Armenian cultural heritage sites in Nakhchivan were destroyed between 1997 and 2011, warning that the loss of Armenian heritage in Artsakh follows a pattern that has already unfolded elsewhere in the region.

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