Exhibit Captures Horror of Armenian Genocide

Lifelong friends Garen Yegparian and Ara Oshagan decided two years ago to use their artistic talents to show the world a portrait of a dark and largely ignored period of history: the 1915-23 genocide of Armenians carried out by the Turkish government.

The result is the Genocide Awareness Project, a photo exhibit featuring portraits of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, which opened Tuesday at Los Angeles City Hall and runs through April 30.

Yegparian, 34, and Oshagan 32, began with the idea to simply photograph as many survivors of the genocide as they could find. But the project evolved to include essays about each picture.

“While growing up, some kids heard fairy tales from their grandparents,” said Baydsar Thomasian, an aide to Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, whose 15th District includes a large Armenian population. “But as Armenians, we heard tales of the genocide.”

The exhibit includes several historical photos taken by Armin T. Wegner, a German who secretly captured the often gruesome scenes. Many show the horrors of a forced death march during World War I from Armenian-populated cities in eastern Turkey to the Syrian desert.

An October 1915 cable from the U.S. consul in Allepo, Syria, to the secretary of state in Washington accompanies one photo. “When they reached Allepo, 150 women and children were remaining from the whole caravan of 30,000 that left Harput,” the consul wrote.

Goldberg said the exhibit is important because genocide is not extinct.

“Just look at the ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Europe,” said Goldberg, referring to the recent war in Bosnia. “We need to not only tolerate our differences, but to celebrate them.”

Said Oshagan: “The genocide is unfinished business for Armenians.”