Fifty years after Philadelphia’s “Younger Meher” statue was first erected by Armenian People on america Bicentennial, the heroic determine will probably be on the heart of a brand new everlasting public artwork exhibition slated for a 2026 unveiling. The Armenian Heritage Stroll will probably be positioned in entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Artwork (PMA).
The information of the forthcoming commemorative area comes as specialists warn of a “cultural genocide” because the Azerbaijani regime destroys Armenian church buildings and different heritage websites in Artsakh (also called Nagorno-Karabakh). Over 100,000 Armenians have been forcibly displaced from their homeland final September, and a latest report from the Caucasus Heritage Watch discovered a 75% enhance in destroyed burial grounds, sacred locations, and different websites since fall 2023.
The Armenian Heritage Basis of Philadelphia, a gaggle created to supervise the undertaking, introduced the walkway in March. Final November, the town’s artwork fee issued a remaining approval on the general public undertaking set up in entrance of the PMA.
This month the group will start procuring supplies wanted to start building by spring 2025, in accordance with its web site.
The concept for the general public out of doors gallery started as an effort by Armenian neighborhood members to renovate the “Younger Meher” statue, created in 1975 and initially unveiled the next yr throughout a ceremony attended by over 2,000 individuals. Younger Meher, because the Armenian folktale goes, was imprisoned in a cave, refusing to go away till justice was dropped at Armenia. The epic hero represents Armenian energy within the face of plight. The sculpture’s artist, Khoren Der Harootian, was born within the village of Ashotavan (current day area of Elazığ) within the Ottoman Empire and fled to america in 1921 after 23 of his members of the family have been murdered within the Armenian Genocide. In 1929, he would transfer to Jamaica, the place he befriended sculptor Edna Manley, and have become one of many first artists to often exhibit fashionable artwork on the island. He lived in Jamaica, with some interruptions, till 1944 earlier than returning to the US, the place he lived till his demise in 1991. He had an extended connection to the Philadelphia space. His “Rebellious Slave” sculpture was exhibited on the Fairmount Park Artwork Affiliation’s Third Worldwide Exhibition of Sculpture on the Philadelphia Museum of Artwork in 1949, the next yr he would have a solo exhibition on the metropolis’s Artwork Alliance, and in 1954 his “Descent from the Cross,” acquired the George D. Widener Memorial gold medal at Pennsylvania Academy of the Superb Arts’s annual exhibition.
The monument itself commemorates the “invincible religion” of the individuals of Armenia, the primary nation to just accept Christianity in 301 CE, in accordance with a plaque.
Within the first part of building for the out of doors area, the determine of Younger Meher and its supporting reduction panels depicting numerous Armenian Christian imagery will probably be restored and repaired. This part may also create a winding walkway meant to sluggish foot visitors to encourage reflection, areas for future public artwork, and landscaping paying homage to Armenian geography. Part II, to be applied at a later date, will embody public artwork exhibitions alongside the stroll.
The Philadelphia exhibition is just not the primary Armenian heritage stroll to crop up in america.
Boston’s Armenian Heritage Park, which formally opened in 2012, encompasses a labyrinth celebrating the journey of immigrants to Boston, Armenian or not. The park can also be dwelling to an summary sculpture by fabrication group A&A Industries that memorializes these killed within the Armenian Genocide.
Just like the walkway in Boston, the brand new Philadelphia out of doors show will have a good time america as a second dwelling to Armenians.
The unique unveiling of “Younger Meher” in 1976 was replete with American flags. The revived mission assertion of the Armenian Heritage Stroll reaffirms that sentiment: “We People of Armenian descent categorical our gratitude to america of America for the sanctuary, freedom, and alternatives this nice nation has afforded us all.”
Whereas the PMA is just not financially concerned within the creation of the out of doors gallery, a spokesperson for the museum stated it will proceed to be in dialog with the Armenian Heritage Basis of Philadelphia because the undertaking involves fruition.
“We’re completely satisfied to let our guests know in regards to the stroll and encourage them to get pleasure from it,” a PMA spokesperson instructed Hyperallergic.
