More than a century has passed since the Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turkey in 1915, but the Armenian community in the United States and throughout the world still has a long way to go to educate the public about this grave crime against humanity. Members of the MIT Armenian Society (MITAS) in collaboration with the Armenian Museum of America organized an Armenian Genocide commemoration exhibit, called 103 Years of Denial, to address this task within the walls of MIT. The keystone of the exhibit was Amper (Clouds in Armenian), an art project by Arevik Tserunyan, Artist in Residence at the Armenian Museum of America. Her work transcended the boundaries of traditional artistic media presenting sculptures, installations and video art to focus on the survival of the Armenian people and their subsequent renaissance. Held on the morning and afternoon of May 2nd, 2018, the exhibit was showcased in the famous Infinite Corridor at MIT under the gaze of hundreds of students and faculty. In addition, it featured explanatory posters designed by MITAS president Siranush Babakhanova highlighting facts, figures and maps about the colossal scale of massacres and deportations the Armenian population was subject to.
For the whole duration of the exhibit MITAS members and the artist answered questions from the public, shared personal stories and guided visitors to additional sources about the Genocide. Armenian food and desserts were provided as another way of introducing the Armenian culture to guests. Both the factual posters and the fictionalized artwork achieved another step on the way to educate the public about one of the darkest times in human history.