Armenia Immortal Unveiled

On September 21, the official unveiling of the monument Armenia Immortal took place at the Armenian Embassy in Ottawa. Opening the ceremony, Ambassador Ara Papian welcomed the guests gathered in front of the Chancery (over 250 Armenian-Canadians from Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and elsewhere, as well as neighbors). He then read a congratulatory letter from the Armenian Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian (see below). Upon the unveiling, the monument was blessed by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church of the Canadian Diocese, and Bishop Khajag Hagopian, Catholicossal Vicar, the Armenian Prelacy of Canada.

    Dear Compatriots,

    It is with great pleasure that I welcome the installation of the monument Armenia Immortal in Ottawa, which signifies a new advancement in the process of bringing our two nations closer. I am certain that the monument will help promote Armenian culture in Canada by making the Canadians aware of history of the Armenian nation, its past, present and future.

    The monument is also a symbol of our gratitude to Canada, the truly multicultural country that became home for thousands of sons and daughters of the Armenian nation seeking shelter all over the world. The Armenian-Canadian community holds a special place in the Diaspora and plays an important role in connecting Armenia with Canada.

    I would like to thank Levon and Hayk Tokmajyan's, whose efforts made Armenian Immortal a reality. With deep sincerity, I congratulate all of you who contributed to the creation of the monument.
      
    Vartan Oskanian
    Minister of Foreign Affairs
    of the Republic of Armenia

ARMENIA IMMORTAL
Description of the Monument

The monument Armenia Immortal is a symbolic representation of the spirit of the Armenian nation carved in rock, a sculptural depiction of the path it has been traveling throughout ages. It is a stone embodiment of the past, the present and the future of the Armenian people.
The bust of a young man crowning the sculpture represents the Republic of Armenia’s newly established statehood. The youth’s pose is directed upward creating an impression of him trying to shake off the fetters that restrain him and embarking on the road towards maturity and success. This is a collective image representing the Armenian nation’s undying will to win its struggles, its dedication and its perseverance. The young man’s image can be interpreted as that of Vahagn, God of Victory in pre-Christian Armenia, or of David of Sasun or Mgher Junior - all famous characters of the Armenian folk epics.
The young man’s bust is firmly seated atop the base of the monument, on the perimeter of which a series of bas-reliefs symbolically depicting events and personalities that shaped the identity and the spirit of the Armenian people are carved.
The figure of the woman breast-feeding her famished child, which occupies the frontal side of the sculpture, symbolizes the most tragic point in Armenia’s history, the Genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The mother is barely alive, but she defies death. Her last wail seems to be a cry for justice denied for over a million and a half Armenians massacred in 1915-1923. Her strong arm seems to begin an upward swing, demanding rather than asking for justice. The bas-relief is oriented to the east, and the figure of the mother with the child comes to life every time the morning sun’s beams touch it.
Still on the east-oriented side of the monument, a tulip representing the city of Ottawa is portrayed. That symbol not only epitomizes the great capital city of Canada where the Armenian Embassy and the monument are located, but also celebrates the Armenian-Canadian connection through a flower that became the trademark of Malak Karsh, the great Canadian photographer of Armenian extraction. It was largely thanks to Mr. Karsh’s brilliantly artistic images of tulips, that the flower has become synonymous with Ottawa.
Armenia is the first Christian State in the world. As children of the first Christian nation, Armenians have carried their faith proudly and with great dedication through centuries of trials and tribulations.The depiction of a cross completes the frontal face of the monument. Faith has historically been the sword of our self-defense, and the sword of our self-defense has always been our faith. Hence, the cruciform sword carved right next to the cross. Underneath the cross and the sword, small statuettes depicting Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary and Gregory the Illuminator (Father and Patron Saint of the Armenian Church) are placed in three stone alcoves.
On the northern side of the monument, a figure of Noah can be seendescending Mt. Ararat. The dove in his outstretched hand represents peace and symbolizes a new beginning in life. The tree at Noah’s feet is the Tree of Life with rootsreaching down to the very bedrock of history.
A young boy playing the Armenian flute, sring, is depicted on the western side representing the creativity, vitality and diligence of the Armenian people. Nearby, the depictions of a pomegranate and a cluster of grapes carved side by side, are not only the traditional Christian-Armenian images, they stand for unity and connote the “one family, one entity” concept. The pomegranate is split in half, and its numerous pits are spilling out. They symbolize the Armenians spread all over the world. The wound on the pomegranate is yet to heal.
The eagle with his wings spread wide depicted at the back of the monument is the symbol of the  past glory of our people and its freedom-loving soul. Just above the eagle, the symbol of Canada, the maple leaf, is carved in the stone in appreciation of this country for giving shelter to thousands of Armenian refugees in the early 1920s.
The monument is created by a prominent Armenian sculptor, Levon Tokmajyan and his talented son, Hayk, at the initiative of the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Canada. The expenses associated with the building of the monument were covered thanks to generous donations by numerous individuals and organizations of the Armenian-Canadian community. The names of all donors have been recorded in two identical commemorative journals to be kept at the Armenian Embassy in Ottawa and in the Museum of the Armenian Genocide at Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan.
The height of the monument is 300 cm (without the base), the perimeter at the base is 500 cm. It is carved out of a monolith Armenian orange tufa, which was shipped from Armenia in October 2001. The monument weighs almost 6 tons. Armenia Immortal is the largest sculpture ever made of a single piece of tufa outside Armenia. A trilingual inscription cast in bronze is mounted on the base. It reads:

Armenia Immortal
Sculptors: Levon and Hayk Tokhmajians
Ottawa, 2002
In tribute to Armenia, as symbolized by Mt. Ararat, and to the Armenian
people, who were the first to embrace Christianity in 301, and the first nation to be crucified in 1915-1923, falling victim to the first genocide of the 20th century.
For the glory of a reborn free Armenia, whose sons and daughters, despite their ancestral suffering, continue to believe in justice.