September 26, Gyumri - The Gallery of Mariam and Eranuhi Aslamazyan Sisters opened its Museum Shop (at 232 Abovyan Street, Gyumri) - together with USAID/Armenia’s My Armenia program and the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport.

In collaboration with government partners at the national and local levels, as well as hundreds of stakeholders in the tourism sector, My Armenia is boosting Armenia’s economic development through the promotion of cultural heritage-based tourism in the regions.  By training rural-based artists and artisans, tour operators, museums and other stakeholders on topics such as branding and marketing, business design and management, improving visitor experiences and more, My Armenia is helping draw tourists to the regions, improve rural livelihoods and increase museum revenues.

“Today’s inauguration of the Aslamazyan Sisters’ Gallery Shop is another example of My Armenia’s support to museums,” Andy Golda, Acting Director of USAID/Armenia’s Economic Growth Office said, “With this new shop, the Gallery not only offers significant potential for revenue generation and female empowerment, but it also offers an opportunity to engage the community of Gyumri and beyond.”

My Armenia works with nine museums in five marzes to increase their financial sustainability, cultivate their collections, and promote digital engagement in an effort to reach broader audiences and help museums remain open, active and relevant.

Many of the products for sale at the women-owned Gallery are created by female artists from across Armenia. "This museum shop expands on [owner] Mariam Aslamazyan’s personal mission to fix the role of [the] woman artist in patriarchal Soviet-Armenian society,” said the Museum Director Mikayel Vardparonyan, “The shop builds on themes of feminism and gender equality and offers a second chance to stress the main point of the [Gallery’s] permanent exhibition.”

Through the Gallery’s new-found partnership with local artists and artisans, whose work will be on sale in the shop, the Aslamazyan sisters are paving the way for other rural museums to establish unique platforms for handmade retail for visitors.