– Mr. Avanyan, after a long absence when did you return from the States?
– I returned on January 6, 1993. After living in the US for 23 years I had decided to return to Armenia. I was mostly interested in participating in the forging of the history pages of Armenia. The epoch of independence was characterized by the renaissance of the Armenian people. Although there was energetic crisis there were no stapled goods in the stores. That was a hard period but time wasn’t indifferent at all. People were united, telling each other stories in the candle light, helping each other overcome daily issues, etc. That was the period when people were full of hope.
– What has changed in the public life since the renaissance period? What have we lost?
– Unfortunately today I notice that over the years we have lost our architectural face of the 19th-20th centuries. And this is first of all connected with the fact that we don’t appreciate ourselves; we don’t love us. By building the new we are dismantling the old. I don’t mind any modernization of the city or building new buildings but it shouldn’t be done at the expense of destroying the old. There are streets, which can be restored the way they look and get a new life. But the impression is that by destroying Yerevan we are depriving the people from their motherland, which has already seen much loss. The greatest loss is in the destruction of the old. The destruction of the old buildings resembles destruction of the old pages of history. Today we hardly have 10-15 buildings that reflect the history of Armenia. We have to maintain and protect those. We should get rid of the mentality of destruction.
– Aren’t the authorities first of all responsible for the destruction of the architecture, who urge their taste and the buildings are destroyed by their direct participation?
– The authorities think of the people to the extent the people do. The government had a super goal to do something good for Yerevan. At that time they decided to build the Northern Avenue, at the expense of which the old buildings were dismantled. I think that over time will become a business center from a residential area. In the Northern Avenue each apartment will become a jeweler’s workshop, fashion house, etc. I cannot say that all the newly-built buildings of downtown are bad. There are two buildings, which I like very much. But as a result of building new buildings we have formed a habit of destroying the old buildings. Taking into account the fact that we Armenians are individuals and each of us is urging their taste by expressing an abstract idea. And as our taste is limited too as a result we have very dispersed and unconnected. And the reason of that is the closed soviet system. As a result of that such a taste was formed. In the past I was a gallery expert (I was dealing with German expositions). Therefore I have certain acquaintance with the psychology of artists. As a result the artists like to organize big expositions and the center of Yerevan has become the greatest gallery for architects and artists. Among the architects competition is formed in order to understand who is most represented. But the society is also responsible for the current processes. We are all responsible and guilty. Perhaps my perception may sound disputable but it was impermissible to build a gas station in the place of the statue of a worker in Yerevan. We shouldn’t so quickly and easily refuse from our history pages. We became very indifferent to this fact. Instead we should like this country as much as the mother loves the child.
– How can the society be not indifferent if the destiny of their country is directed by a few oligarchs with a so-called business mentality and where the people merely choke due to difficult social conditions?
– What do you think needs to be done? All we have to do is love our country, your government, your people. It seems that the society and government are segregated. And the consequence of that we are alienated from each other. This comes back from our history. When the foreigners were seizing our country they were appointed their governors. We were proud of our ancient history and culture. We were proud of our kings and past. It turns out that we were proud of the past and not the present. We cannot receive any results by blaming certain people. Moreover we should find culprits among us. When I first arrived here from the US I was surprised how people would greet each other without smile. They were always telling me that the Americans always smile fake. I prefer fake smile to honest grumpiness.
– What is the interrelation of time and cuisine? Your restaurant is one of the favorites for the Diaspora Armenia, foreigners and the government? How come?
– In 1993 the Armenian cuisine was very poorly presented in the Armenian restaurants. When I was opening I was feeling and seeing its need. Everything was uni-color and the food is good in variety. I wanted the people arriving from abroad to recognize our country with the colors and this cuisine. And so I decided to open Dolmama and be able to present the Armenian cuisine to the foreigners in a proper manner. Before leaving for the States I have seen how people were drinking vodka here, eat stewed lamb and barbecue. After returning to Armenia in 23 years I realized that everything remained the same. They were eating pork barbecue and drinking only vodka (the latter was the reflection of the Russian influence). And then you think what happened to our national mentality. In the neighboring Georgia they still maintain the tradition of drinking wine. So borscht and cutlet haven’t become their main meals. We are not traditional but conservative people. There are many good restaurants in Armenia not with Armenian cuisine but also French and Italian cuisines. People have started to listen to totally different music. The demands and taste of people change over time. Any idea that is good and is realized with love reaches success by all means. We should love and appreciate whatever we have and whatever we do. Indeed, part of businessmen from Diaspora complains that business doesn’t work out in Armenia. I think in Armenia you can reach success only if you are doing something very well. Because of incorrect and inaccurate work and calculations business cannot succeed. That’s when they start to look for culprits. Indeed, we live in a different period but I am always optimistic and believe that everything is going to turn out great. I only regret about the opportunities that we lost during the past years. I think Armenia is going to become a center consisted of several industries. We have approximately 7 million Diaspora Armenians, which means having 7 million customers. Secondly, Armenia may become a serious banking center. And the next year component is the development of light industry, which we were famous with back in the day. Days ago I was in Singapore, which was a minor state about 30 years ago. I took a taxi at the airport. The driver has started to speak about his country without even being asked to do so. He was saying that his country is the cleanest and safest country in the world and that the prime minister of his country is the wisest man in the world. And then I realized that the rest of the taxi drivers were doing so. Later I realized that their laudable prime minister has elaborated an anti-corruption program and sent to death imprisonment his closest friend for taking a bribe. They charge you 1000 USD for dropping a cigarette butt on the street, they execute for holding 20 grams of drugs, etc. Moreover, the judges have the highest salary there. Only one prime minister was able to change so much in the country. By the way, according to the residents of Singapore the prime minister makes the highest paid politician in the world. The citizens madly love their country. So all we have to do is love our country and not destroy it. We should maintain the old stuff and cherish the history. We should adopt a law that no more buildings can be destroyed in the city. We don’t have the right to be mistaken any more.