Shushi Centre of Arts

Occupied and looted.

The Shushi Centre of Arts was founded in 2012, as a private initiative. The building was half-destroyed as Armenians took control of Shushi in 1992 and had to undergo extensive reconstruction and restoration works. Before the Azeri-Turkish occupation in 2020 its ground floor hosted a permanent exhibition of Karabakh carpets and the second floor was a venue for various exhibitions of fine art and sculpture. The building suffered from missile attacks and bombs and some of its collections were lost and possibly looted.

The Shushi Centre of Arts building after it was liberated in the first Karabakh war .	The Shushi Centre of Arts in the 2000s.

Shushi Carpet Museum 

Shushi Carpet Museum was founded by Vardan Astsatryan on September 2, 2011, on the symbolic day of the declaration of independence of the Artsakh Republic. Until the end of October 2020, the museum had about three hundred (300) carpets and flat weaves, which dated from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The majority of the collection presented traditional Karabakh carpet-weaving and Armenian carpet-weaving styles․ Permanent  exhibition included 120 of 300 carpets of the museum: “Vishapagorg”, “Khndzoresk”, “Astghagorg”, “Tsaghkagorg”, “Artsvagorg”, “Tsaghkac Gorg”, “Artsvagorg”, “ Patkeragorg”, etc.

In addition to the locally woven carpets, the museum's collection included a few rugs, carpets, and flat weaves of Turkoman, Afghan and Persian origins. The museum had also artefacts of other nature, including some of Russian origin.

During 2020 Turkish-Azeri aggression, the building of the museum was damaged by a rocket explosion. On November 1, 2020, the most valuable items of the collection (about 160 carpets and rugs) were evacuated to Yerevan (Armenia) to avoid further destruction. The remainder of the collection, consisting of 100–120 carpets as well as other cultural artifacts were left in Shushi. 

The evacuated collection has no permanent exhibition or storage facilities yet.

The Art Gallery 

Exhibits in the Art Gallery Hall on the second floor of the Centre of Arts changed regularly. Below are some samples of a 2013 exhibition of I. A. Tavadyan's works.  Paintings, ancient pottery and metal artefacts were lost when Shushi fell in 2020.

The Victorious.	My Corner of the Sunny World.	Stone Witnesses of the Past.	Heavenly Blessing.