Culture

Statue Of Grandfather And Grandmother – Symbol Of Artsakh

54 years ago, at the doorstep of Stepanakert and on one of its heights, a statue of “Grandfather and Grandmother” (“tatik-papik” in Armenian, also called “We Are Our Mountains”) was erected, symbolizing Artsakh and the Armenian heritage of the region.

In 1964, a world exhibition was held in the Italian city of Carrara. Along with the works of famous authors, the exhibition featured creations by Sarkis Baghdasaryan – Honored Sculptor, People’s Artist of Armenia, State Prize Laureate, and a native of Banadzor (a village in the Hadrut province of Artsakh). One of the presented works of his was the sculpture “We Are Our Mountains”.

Few people know that Baghdasaryan depicted his grandfather and grandmother from Artsakh on this sculpture.

The sculpture was christened as “We Are Our Mountains” by writer and historian Bagrat Ulubabyan.

The monument has no pedestal, giving the impression that the hill under it as if had cracked, giving birth to the sculpture, with its feet sunken into the Homeland’s soil.

Source: Armday.am, translation by Art-A-Tsolum.

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

The History of Armenian Coinage and Money: From Ancient Times to the Dram

From weighed silver and Achaemenid-era imports to the kings of Sophene, the coins of Tigranes…

2 days ago

Weapons of the Armenian Highland: From the First Swords to the Age of Firearms

Military history series · Armenian Highland, 4th millennium BCE – 18th century CE Introduction: why…

3 days ago

Shamiram 2026: A Bronze Age Horse Burial, an Urartian Megalithic Tower and Three Thousand Years of Continuous Life on the Aragats Foothills

How the 2026 Armenian-Italian field season at the Shamiram fortress and necropolis in Aragatsotn adds…

5 days ago

“If I Hadn’t Acted, We Would All Be Dead”: The Shaki Attack and the Mother Who Fought Back

On October 1, 2026, an armed Azerbaijani soldier entered a family home in Syunik, Armenia.…

2 weeks ago

Written in Wool, Carved in Stone: The Khachkar, the Carpet, and the Struggle to Name Armenian Weaving

A 19th-century Baluch rug beside a 13th-century khachkar from Hovhannavank: a shared design logic, and…

2 weeks ago

An Armenian Bride from Kharberd: A Photograph from the Danish National Archives

A portrait from the Armenian highlands Two women stand before a painted studio backdrop of…

3 weeks ago