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Today, February 28, marks the 143rd birth anniversary of prominent Soviet Armenian painter Martiros Saryan.

As a matter of tradition, intellectuals and employees of the Martiros Saryan House-Museum laid flowers at the monument to the great landscape artist in a park named after him in central Yerevan. Then they went to the Komitas Pantheon to lay flowers at Saryan's tomb.

Speaking to Panorama.am, Saryan's granddaughter, art critic and museum director Ruzan Saryan quoted Armenian artist Grigor Khanjyan as saying: "There were times we used to say, ‘let's go to Yerevan, Armenia to see Saryan’, then it was like, ‘let's go to see Saryan's Armenia’.”

"He left us a legacy of Sarian's Armenia, because the perception of our country has completely changed. Before Saryan, Armenia was portrayed in the arts as gray and colorless. Saryan really made a revolution, showing how beautiful our nature is, how colorful, rich and diverse it is, what a gifted and talented people live on the slopes of Aragats, struggling and creating," Ruzan Saryan said.

She stressed Armenians are lucky to have had Saryan, Hovhannes Tamanyan, Alexander Spendiaryan, Romanos Melikyan, Avetik Isahakyan, Yeghishe Charents and a whole galaxy of brilliant intellectuals.

"We inherited from them today’s Yerevan. They took a heroic step; they gave up a life of comfort – they were people who had already made major achievements – and came to Armenia to pay their debt to their country and people. It's a pity that our compatriots are now leaving Armenia. We should stick to our roots and culture and finally learn to appreciate ourselves," she added.

An exhibition will launch at Saryan Museum on Wednesday, showcasing posters from the most important exhibitions organized by the museum in the past 55 years as well as books published over the last ten years.

Ruzan Saryan stresses there is always something to tell about Martiros Saryan.

"It's a whole ocean with no visible shores. We still have so much to do. In seven years we will be celebrating Saryan's 150th birth anniversary. I hope that the anniversary will also be marked by UNESCO with beautiful exhibitions in famous European capitals. If we do not do this, no one will do it for us. We must learn to present our culture to the world,” the art critic stressed.

“We have seven years to publish plenty of materials, complete the publication of his letters and print albums of unknown or little-known paintings by Saryan. There is a big job ahead and we should do it together," she added.

Saryan also urged officials to help popularize the legacies of great artists.