Soviet and American influences
Armenia, long confined in the Soviet vacuum, has entered the era of globalized consumption and has access to these once-banned Western products, which were the subject of a very lucrative black market, even more so than elsewhere in the USSR, because of its close ties with a large diaspora that had enabled it to obtain these coveted items, stamped with the infamous seal of the capitalist world, earlier. At that time, it was customary to bring products to Armenia rather than bring them back, if not mass-produced articles in local colours for lovers of Soviet kitsch and the inevitable bottle of that Gognak (Armenian-style cognac) that flattered Churchill's palace. After independence, American-style mall stores and shopping centres sprang up, offering Western products, or their Turkish, Russian or Chinese ersatz, whose prices often remain beyond the reach of the housewife's wallet and which are of very limited interest to the traveller in search of exoticism, except to be sacrificed in the second degree, khatchkars made of fake marble inlaid with fake stones, reproductions of Mount Ararat in all its aspects, and other objects of religious inspiration, also offered at the entrance to the main tourist sites, monasteries and churches.
Renaissance of the craft
But with the rise of tourism, traditional crafts are experiencing a renaissance under the impetus of Armenians in the diaspora, who have revived it in the countryside to design creations concerned with authenticity. Shops and creative workshops in Yerevan and Gyumri, where the art of Kutahya ceramics is still alive and well, offer items that reproduce both traditional and innovative designs. There are beautiful pieces to bring back - terracotta reproductions of statuettes from the Ourartou period, reproductions of illuminations decorating the famous Matenadaran manuscripts and objects exalting the alphabet which is the national pride, silver belts and jewellery decorated with obsidian and semi-precious stones, coffee pots and other objects and utensils made of embossed copper, bags and accessories made of fabrics and local sheep wool with traditional patterns and colours... - next to the famous Gognak - pardon brandy, the brand is registered in France! - which Armenia has been specializing in since the time of the Tsar and whose more than a hundred year old factory is one of the high places in Yerevan, where you can taste and buy this beverage bottled by many other competitors.
Wines and local products
Recently, Armenia has also been working to promote its wine, claiming a patent in the name of Patriarch Noah, who is said to have planted the first vines at the foot of the Ararat, where vineyards stretch as far as the eye can see. Strengthened by this myth, confirmed by the archaeological discovery of wine cellars several millennia old in the wine region of Vayotsdzor (South), Armenia intends to catch up with Georgia by developing wines made from its best grape varieties, no longer in the ancient karas, the local version of amphoras, but in bottles of which you can bring back the best, as you like, after tasting them at the wine shop or in the many wine bars of Yerevan. In addition to the brandies that Armenians make from all kinds of fruit, especially the much appreciated toutioghi blackberry and vodka, you can also bring back the flavours of Armenia with some other local flagship products, such as jams, apricot jam of course, vine leaves and the emblematic lavache bread, and why not, Karabagh caviar, which is in the process of being developed in the fish ponds of this territory. In the upper range, the goldsmith's trade and carpets. Stemming from a long Caucasian and Anatolian tradition, carpets and kilims from Armenia and Karabagh are almost as famous as those from Iran. But it will be necessary to put oneself in order with the administration, which is very suspicious even when it is not about antiques, the export of which is forbidden. There is no need to justify Soviet-era items - caps, belts and boots of the Red Army or the KGB, or badges struck with the hammer and sickle - which are found in large numbers in Vernissaj, the Yerevan flea market.
The carpet elevated to the rank of art
The carpet(kork) is one of the emblematic expressions of Armenian folk art. Carpet craftsmanship has been attested since the earliest times, betraying the influence of neighbouring cultures, of the steppes or of Iran. Archaeological excavations have revealed carpet fragments dating from the 2nd millennium BC. The oldest preserved Armenian carpet was made in 1202 in the village of Banants, province of Utik. Thus Marco Polo wrote in 1271: "In the province of Turcomania are three kinds of people: they are Turcomans, who worship Mohammed... They live like beasts in all things... the others are the Armenians... and the Greeks, who remain mixed in towns and villages, and live by trade and crafts. This is where the most beautiful carpets in the world and the most beautiful colors are made . The oldest examples (15th-16th centuries) are of the dragon type(vichapakork), with highly stylised floral and ornamental motifs and characterised by a geometric design, generally diamond-shaped. This was followed by more loosely patterned carpets, of the Koar type, and finally athird school, which appeared in the 18th century and was called Kasakh, and whose products came from the region west of Lake Sevan. East of the Sevan, the Karabagh carpet is also renowned. Whatever the style, the carpet is an essential element of Armenian decoration, the fruit of the work of the craftsman who has been able to express his genius in the magic of intertwined colors and shapes. It is found in places of worship, where it covers the altar or the floor of certain chapels, and it adorns the most modest interiors. If the carpet craft has only been transmitted through the know-how of rare master upholsterers, the local carpet manufacturers produce beautiful pieces that are as many gift ideas for the tourist. Beware, there is no question of trying to get a period carpet, and even for recent carpets you must ask the trader for all the certificates, in order to avoid trouble and surcharges at the customs.
