ONE SAVES 500 DRAMS BY NOT GOING TO MUSEUM

People's Art Museum of Armenia has been renovated for the first time ever after its establishment two years ago by the support of Linsi Foundation. ''It will be wrong to blame the state for improper conditions of museums in Armenia but we must not hide that the state has its role in the functioning of the museums and in their preservation,» Ada Manukyan, deputy director of the People's Art Museum, said.

The museum management raised another concerning issue which they say is no less important. The museum has shortage of visitors. The museum deputy director says: ''It is a pity that our society does not have time and even willingness to visit museums today. If not the foreigners, museums would stay without visitors.'' Concurrently, Manukyan beleives the modern computer technologies hinder the young people to come in touch with the spiritual art. She also beleives that the problem does not limit to that – our co-citizens are not interested in our cultural values. However, she sees the answer at a different place. ''I beleive that it would be wrong to say that our nation does not love or value culture, simply, they must pay for visiting museums and may be that is one of the reasons. We had a lot of visitors when the museums were free, didn't we'' Ms. Manukyan raises her concern.

One must also say that the entrance fee at the People's Art Museum of Armenia is 500 Armenian drams (about $1.4).