The Paradjanov Museum…what a cool place! To me, it is one of Yerevan’s most eclectic places of interest. It’s like walking through a kaleidoscope…colorful, dissonant, and fragmented, yet rhythmic, beautiful, and unique at the same time. The Museum honors the life and work of Soviet director and artist Sergei Paradjanov. Paradjanov was born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, to Armenian parents. During the Soviet Era, he pushed society’s boundaries through his meaningful but bizarre films and artwork. Some of his most famous films are The Color of Pomegranates, The Legend of Suram Fortress, Ashik Karib, and The Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. As a result of his social unconformity (bisexualism, social realism, etc.), he was imprisoned a few times, sent to Siberia, and was just repeatedly punished throughout the course of his lifetime. 

The Museum is located not far from the city center in a building that emulates Old Yerevan. It hosts a large collection of Paradjanov’s eccentric anthropological collages, drawings, paintings, among other things. There are also screenings of some of his work as well. I strongly recommend visiting this museum and learning about one of the greatest and most interesting directors of the 21st century!