Artsakh art victim of targeted destruction amid international  community`s inaction - ministry 

ArmInfo.On World Art Day, April 15, when the world speaks of the value and unifying power of art, the Artsakh Ministry of Culture is compelled to remind everyone:  today, Artsakh art is the victim of targeted destruction and  appropriation.

The Artsakh Ministry of Culture's statement emphasizes that as a  result of the forced displacement of the Artsakh population, 12 art  groups have emerged outside their homeland.

"Some of them managed to continue their activities in Armenia,  preserving their traditions in the face of environmental damage.  Others ceased to exist, becoming yet another link in the chain of  losses. At least 10 galleries and art studios have come under  Azerbaijani control. Their collections have been looted,  appropriated, or are under immediate threat of destruction. This is  not just a matter of buildings or exhibits:  it is a systematic  destruction of the cultural memory of an entire people," the NKR  Ministry of Culture said in a statement.

At the same time, it emphasizes that what is happening bears all the  hallmarks of cultural genocide as a policy aimed at destroying  cultural identity, memory, and heritage. Not only material assets are  being destroyed, but also the environment in which culture can exist  and be passed on from generation to generation.

"We are forced to state: the authorities of the Republic of Armenia  are not raising these issues at the proper level, and the  international community remains silent, effectively becoming  complicit in what is happening.

World Art Day cannot be limited to formal statements when the art of  an entire nation is destroyed and appropriated with impunity. The art  of Artsakh is in exile today. But along with it, truth, memory, and  the right to return are also being exiled," the Artsakh Ministry of  Culture concluded.