“The Invention of a Garden”: Matenadaran and the Gulbenkian Museum in Dialogue

Can a garden become an extension of a museum, part of its story, a place where nature and culture come together?

This was the central question of a public talk held at AHA Collective’s gallery, bringing together the experience of the Gulbenkian Garden in Lisbon and the vision for the future Matenadaran Garden.

Paula Côrte-Real, coordinator of the Gulbenkian Garden’s Educational Program, took the audience on an imaginary walk through the garden’s paths, where water becomes music, pathways tell stories of life, and the garden seems to begin but never end. A place where the museum and nature are inseparable.

The vision for the new Matenadaran Garden was presented by Marina Mkhitaryan, ATP’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and Impact, and Nairi Khatchadourian, founder of AHA Collective.

It is an ambitious project that will bring Armenia’s cultural and natural heritage together in one living space.

“The Matenadaran is an extremely sensitive and important place for Armenians everywhere. We have a great responsibility to thoughtfully and carefully reimagine this bare hillside, which served us during difficult years. Now it is time to give something back. We have the ambition to make it the number one destination in Yerevan,” Marina Mkhitaryan said.

Sona Baloyan, Matenadaran’s Head of International Relations, spoke about the cultural threads that will connect the museum’s manuscripts with its future garden.

A garden where the heritage and memories of the past will take root in nature and give life to a new story. Perhaps, in time, this story will become connected to that of the Gulbenkian Garden, with its decades of history.

After all, both gardens share the same idea: creating a connection between nature, culture, and people.