Museum of Folk Art in Dilijan

The Museum of Folk Art in Dilijan was opened in 1979 on immediate initiative of H.Sharambeyan. The museum building was one of the oldest and was built at the end of the XIXc. The building belonged to princes Mariam Tumanian and served as a summer house. Mariam Tumanian was born in 1870. She was daughter of a noble man from Artsakh Markos Dolukhanian who was one of the public persons of that time. After hamid extermination, she by her own means organized a rug weaving factory for refugees. Thanks to her efforts and by G. Sundukian’s assistance in 1920 in Tiflis, she founded Armenian dramatic company which had 200 members. In 1919-1920 she organized an orphanage and workshops there. From 1921 till her death in 1945 she lived in Tiflis.
During the Soviet period Samson Harutyunian and Mariam Tumanian presented their summer house in Dilijan to Armenia. H.Tumanian, Yeghishe Charents, Azniv Hrachya, phylologist Sergey Vardanyan , well known painters, musicians have lived in this summer house. The latest residence of the house was H.Sharambeyan, who reorganized it into a Museum of Folk Art.
The Museum 9 halls exhibited armenian folk art master’s works, ethnographic objects etc.