When because of the abundance of the cafes and different centers one oftentimes finds it difficult to decide which one to choose in Yerevan, in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh, the situation differs slightly. Assuredly there are both cafes and restaurants in Stepanakert present, but until lately a place lacked where the youth could take its time. “The Roots” live center which was founded in June, 2017, corresponds to the aforementioned.
French-Armenian lawyer Gerard Guerguerian has visited Artsakh to do the preparation work on his 3rd book which is about the legal aspect of Artsakh issue: “While writing the book I realized that in Artsakh, particularly in Stepanakert, there is no live center in place. In the republic square, when one takes a sit in a cafe of one of the restaurants, one notices that people walk from one side to the other. There was nothing present except for a few restaurants. The idea is to open a place for the youth where they will take their time and it will be useful for them, as in Yerevan and Paris.”
“The Roots” live center holds cultural events, movie displays to which a discussion succeeds, and conferences 3-4 times a week. The center also has a section entitled “Vernissage”, where the handmade works of the local people are sold: “We start from the beginning: at the moment we are re-sellers. We ask the local handicraftsmen to represent their works made at home, but we also start to arrange a catalog step by step. If the catalog gives an expected result or is attractive, we will open a workshop to create workplaces.”
Gerard Guerguerian states that in “The Roots” the youth have also an opportunity to have a coffee and work or take their time at an affordable price: “If you want to spend your time and have a coffee, you can visit the live center, for example, for 3 hours, if you wish, the coffee price is affordable for the youth.”
He added that they have an intention to build bridges: “The Diaspora visits Armenia a lot and they spend their time as tourists and have little communication with the locals. We have an intention to alter this process, for example, if my wife knows how to make a French cake, she can make one and teach the locals. And respectively, the locals know how to make the local dishes, which we have forgotten how to make, we would like the Europeans and Diaspora to learn them instead of visiting churches or tourist sites.”
As “The Roots” manager Lina Avanesyan says, the opening of the center onwards, the youth in Stepanakert has become more active, forasmuch as there was not such a place present in the city. According to her, “The Roots” is the only place in Stepanakert, where French cuisine exists. Lina Avansyan emphasized that the center has an objective to preserve the roots: “The evidence of it is our “Vernissage” where almost everything is of an Armenian production – made by the people of Karabakh. The center is entitled “The Roots”, inasmuch as we have an objective to gather our roots and preserve our traditions.”
Ami CHICHAKYAN
