The US embassy in Yerevan celebrated the completion of a project honoring shared US-Armenian, transatlantic values, unveiling a 100-meter-long metal at the Embassy’s Gilmore Field. US Ambassador Lynne Tracy presided over the event, which was attended by young Armenian alumni of European and US exchange programs as well as representatives of several diplomatic missions and Armenian MFA.

As the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall approaches, this project reflects the great symbolism inherent in that seminal historical event and harkens back to the ‘four freedoms’ as articulated by President  Franklin Roosevelt: freedom from fear, freedom of speech, freedom from want, and freedom of faith.

In her opening remarks, Lynne Tracy, noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was physical and ideological barrier that separated West from East for 28 years.

According to her, this work gives us hope for the future reminding that barriers  can be overcome.

“The artistic concept of the mural reflects our shared values of peace, cooperation, and respect for human rights, and it underpins the United States’ longstanding and ongoing commitment to supporting the development of democratic processed and institutions in Armenia,” Ambassador Tracy said. “This work gives us hope for the future, reminding us that barriers - literal and metaphorical - can be overcome and, if we put in the work, we can move toward cooperation and peace.”

According to the co-initiator Tatev Avetisyan, the wall with depicted graffitis also referred to Armenian-American cooperation.

She noted that artists of the wall, Ara Petrosyan and Garegin Engibaryan, have combined several styles: minimalism, expressionism and at graffiti.