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Everything Will Come in Its Time

[December 29, 2004]

(See also: Good Can Overwhelm Evil, Records for Morua)

In 1990, Chiaureli says, "unfortunately civil war started in Georgia . Parajanov moved to Paris to the hospital and Armenians took all the stuff from here."

Khachatryan says Parajanov himself started to send his works to Armenia .

Shcherbatjuk confirms this: " It was he who started to sell his works to Armenia. He also bequeathed them to the museum in Yerevan. And he wasn't wrong. He was a prophetic person. If he didn't do that, everything would have been lost. The time was muddy, uneasy."

Suren Parajanov says his father wanted to move to Yerevan not only his works, but also all his furniture. He wanted to move to Yerevan , but the house wasn't ready yet. "And when after his death they (Armenians) started to transport all this stuff, I was a little bit insulted, because they had no right to do it without my permission. But now I think that it was right."

He says that the works in the museum are in good condition, the exhibition is always renovated, and the attendance is high. (The ticket price is affordable -- approximately $3).

Even presidents of countries visit it. "When the Yerevan museum started, in Tbilisi it wasn't possible to do the same," Suren Parajanov says.

Chiaureli says that the museum in Yerevan is wonderful, and that the director, Zaven Sargsyan, takes care of it. "On one hand I am glad there is such a museum in Yerevan , on the other hand it is so insulting that the museum is not in Tbilisi . In fact the museum belongs in Tbilisi ," she says.

Parajanov's museum in Yerevan

Sargsyan says that he started buying Parajanov's works in 1986, when he was the head of another museum, The Armenian Museum of National Art. During the Soviet period the museums had funds for purchasing new works from all around the country. "And when I went to Parajanov and said to him that I would like to buy his works, he was very surprised: no one was buying his works at that time."

One of Sargsyan's first purchases was a set of ceramic works for 40 Soviet roubles. "We bought all his works that he created from that time until his death. During the 13 years of our museum's existence we have doubled our exhibition," Sargsyan says.

Chkonia says that in Georgia they feel guilty about losing Parajanov's house and museum. She says she has initiated the idea to make a two-room Parajanov museum in Tbilisi . "The fund has already bought the two rooms, because there are lots of people here who have Parajanov's works. They don't need to make a gift or sell the works to the fund, but only to expose them."

She says she has announced this plan and received no feedback.

Chkheidze says: "I plead guilty both myself and for my colleagues. We are guilty of not having Parajanov's museum in Tbilisi. Why we didn't fight for it? That's why I was happy to see that monument which was opened recently. But we have to redeem our fault in commemoration of our Greatest Master."

Suren Parajanov says if there is a need for a museum in Georgia , they will find funds. "So far the monument has been built. There is no need to hurry up: everything will come with time. And time will show what Parajanov is worth. It is in the process. His movies don't wear out, not physically, not morally. He is becoming more and more popular in the world. And without advertising."

He Needed Only Material

Khachatryan says that when she asked him "when he became Parajanov," he answered: "after four shocks in my life." Parajanov told her only about two of them.

In Moscow he married a girl who worked in the VGIK (Cinema Institute) cafeteria. She was a Kyrgyz. Before getting married in her native town, Nigjar had been engaged to a Kyrgyz man, who according to national traditions paid for her. Parajanov gave her money to pay him off. On her way back to Moscow her body was found torn to shreds. Parajanov collected the parts of her body and read the message on it, that every girl who will violate national traditions will meet the same destiny.

Shcherbatjuk tells this story a little bit differently, but also says that it was Parajanov who told her the story. "Nigjar was a very beautiful Tatar woman. She and Parajanov were secretly married. But every secret becomes uncovered," Shcherbatjuk says, adding that the fiance killed Nigjar and put her body on the railway to imitate a suicide. It was Parajanov who had to go to the morgue and identify her body. "After that he had to interrupt his study for a year in order to be cured for shock in Tbilisi. He was recovering slowly and painfully in dark rooms," she says.

Khachatryan says the second shock Parajanov told her about was a disease when he was 40. He would not tell her what disease it was. She says he also didn't tell her about the other two shocks.

Shcherbatjuk says she is not going to guess. " If he didn't tell the other two, I also will not." Nevertheless, she says their divorce was a shock for him, and maybe more than for her. "But I don't know if he considered it as one of these crucial shocks," Shcherbatjuk says.

Shcherbatjuk knew for sure one more shock in his life. She says that before his health got worse in 1989, he had started making what was perhaps his dream film " The Confession" in the yard of his native house. During shooting, a neighbor child was too interested in what was going on. He came too close to a candle on the movie set, and his shirt was burned. Even though he wasn't injured significantly, Parajanov paid the boy's mother to take care of her child." (Parajanov) was shocked greatly. He said that it was a bad sign, a very bad, evil omen," Shcherbatjuk said.

The film remained unfinished. He became very sick and had to stop work after having shot only three scenes.

To the question of where are the roots of Parajanov's genius, Chiaureli answers: "It's from God. There had to be a reason. Some tried to pretend being Parajanov, even talented people. But no one managed to do something even close to what he had done. All them were imitators. He was gifted from God. He created beauty everywhere and from everything."

Yavuryan says: "Everything he touched turned into something sacred. The same even with junk, trash. And you could see how junk started to shine like a rainbow."

Chkonia says: "He didn't need an inspiration; he always had one. What he needed was only material."

I Pray For You

Yavuryan says, "The theme of death he touched in his novel "Rotterdam Seagull." In Rotterdam the seagulls smelled gouda chess, which he had hung out a window to keep fresh. They wanted to eat it and tried to tear apart the sack. They didn't manage, because the bag was a Soviet production and very strong. Parajanov writes: 'They flew away, being unable to tear to pieces Soviet sack.' Parajanov finishes the story: 'Someday, when you pass by that hotel and see seagulls dash against the window, that means either I pray for you or I have already passed away.'"

Arevhat Grigoryan

Photos by Zaven Sargsyan, Arevhat Grigoryan
Special thanks to Edik Baghdasaryan, John Smock, and Yana Fremer for their contribution to this work.

See also: “The Master of the Cinema Temple”