Armenian Letter Art and Its Cultural Expressions
The ancient Armenian alphabet starts with an A, which stands for God, and would initially end with a Q for Jesus Christ. With its roots dating back to 405 AD, Armenian letters would also serve as numbers, riddles, cryptographies, and more.
Armenian letter art and its cultural expressions constitutes the centuries-old art of Armenian letters, Armenian scripts, the rich culture of decorating letters and its various uses. The element is based on the Armenian alphabet created by Mesrop Mashtots, following the ‘one-letter-for-one-sound’ principle.
The element is also distinguished by its wide range of ornamental scripts, generally classified by their shapes; knots, birds, animals, people, and mythical or imaginary creatures. Since their invention, Armenian letters have not only served their primary function to create written heritage, but also as numbers, cryptographs, riddles etc.
Armenian letter art has penetrated almost all layers of society, particularly folk art. The element is practiced across the Armenian territory and is integral to the cultural identity of Armenian people. Its bearers and practitioners include artists, carpet weavers, embroiderers, sculptors, linguists, calligraphists, jewelers and others.
Educational institutions at all levels are involved in transmitting the related knowledge and skills to future generations, and several youth centers accord great importance to teaching Armenian letter art. Since 2008, continuous support has been shown for the annual ‘Granshan’ international design competition, and the Armenian Apostolic Church is central to acquainting children and youngsters with the element.
