Leaving Armenia Is an Unhealed Trauma
 

Recently, the Forum of Armenian Arts & Culture took place in Yerevan, organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. The founder of Armenian Creators, Lusine Khumaryan, who has been living in the Netherlands for many years, was also invited to the forum. Her visit provided an opportunity to meet many of the creators in person and talk about the Armenian Creators platform she founded.

Lusine was born and raised in Yerevan in a family of a musician and a teacher. Her father, a musician, passed away at an early age, and the memory of him lives on not only in her heart, but also through her work and actions. “My dad was such a good person, and I believe that as long as you remember someone, they are alive. The Armenian Creators platform is a living memory and a living tribute to him. Every photo I post on the platform, every new story about an Armenian living somewhere in the world, is a reminder that my father is with me.”

After her father’s death, Lusine’s mother decided to move to the Netherlands. The family settled in Amsterdam, where Lusine finished school and later earned a degree in International Business and Languages.

“Everyone has life traumas. When I’m asked what the biggest trauma of my life is, I say it was leaving Armenia — being separated from my familiar environment, family, teachers, and friends. Everything simply vanished in one day.

People who take their children away from their homeland, whether justified or not, must understand that such a trauma cannot be healed. In an instant, you lose not only friends and a familiar way of life, but also your sense of belonging...,” says Lusine.

The Work of the EL Events Agency

Living in the Netherlands, Lusine often asked herself: “Who am I? Where is my place?”. Working in the corporate sphere, she felt a lack of something very important in life. The question of purpose weighed on her until one day she found herself in a museum in Lisbon.

Lusine didn’t understand what happened, but suddenly realized that her place was in the creative world: “At that time, I was already working in the family business, but I also began doing event decoration—first for my children’s birthdays, then for friends’ children, and gradually the circle expanded. Today, I have my own agency: EL Events, which is engaged not only in event decoration, but also in creating thematic content and concepts.”

Armenian Creators

The second “place” where Lusine Khumaryan brings her creative ideas to life is the Armenian Creators platform, which contains information about thousands of creative Armenians living in different parts of the world.

The project is almost three years old; during this period, Lusine has managed to present about 2,700 Armenians, and profiles of another 500 are already ready, waiting for their “star moment”.

“I often think: how would my father have wanted me to express my creative abilities?!” And since he had a heart of gold, I wanted to do something that would make him happy in heaven. I think he would have really liked the idea behind this platform. And this keeps me searching daily for new creators.

And this also inspires me to search every day for information about new heroes.

I find most of them myself, but I also collaborate with many Armenian organizations. People who know my creators contact me, as do those who maintain databases of Armenian artists. Lists of hundreds of names have come my way, with the message, ‘Keep an eye on them.’ Culture, art, and this platform have united thousands of people, and I’ve had the privilege to get to know many of them through this project.” Armenian Creators has become not only a platform where you can find a huge number of creative people, but also a place where we can talk about our forgotten communities — communities that are forgotten and deprived of attention.

Armenian Creators has grown into more than just a platform for discovering countless creative individuals—it has also become a space to shed light on our forgotten communities, the ones often overlooked and underrepresented.

As the project progressed, Manuk Suren contacted Lusine. His roots are from Istanbul, but he lives in Los Angeles and works at the Institute of Armenian Studies. 

He provided information about hundreds of Armenians living in Turkey and preserving their culture.

“While living in the Netherlands, I knew that we have a large Armenian community in Turkey, but I had no idea that there is such a thriving community of Armenian artists there. This is one of the most forgotten and vulnerable communities, and I’m glad that Armenian Creators has become a place where we can discover them for ourselves and learn about them.”

Lusine thinks back to when she was a child and went to church in Amsterdam, and hearing Armenians speak Turkish surprised her — it felt strange. Through her work on the project, she began to see things in a new light. These people lived there — many even with Turkish surnames — yet that didn’t make them any less Armenian. In the end, it’s not our differences that matter, but what unites us. They have the courage to live in Turkey, speak Armenian openly, and maintain their own schools.

Lusine says, “I remember when I started featuring people from Turkey. My friend told me, ‘These people were waiting for you, Lusine,’ and it really stayed with me.”

United, we cannot be defeated

Lusine has been living in The Netherlands for 25 years, and she visits Armenia 2–3 times a year. Her longing for her homeland and the need to be there sparked in her the desire to eventually move back.

She is already developing her personal plan for returning, for the full implementation of which she will need a certain level of financial stability.

And for now, often being here, she sees the main problem of Armenians in disunity and in the ability to unite only around pain. 

“In Armenia, people are not always ready for dialogue, and the longer this continues, the longer our problems will persist. It is never completely comfortable for everyone; you have to give up a part of yourself for your country, or risk giving your country to others. Wouldn’t it be easier for us to reach an agreement among ourselves than to live by others’ rules?! The Dutch built a strong country through dialogue. United, we can achieve the same.”

By Nare Bejanyan

Cover photo by Arlene Leilani