The Armenian Genocide Looted Art (AGLA) Research Project (AGLARP) is a multidisciplinary, collaborative research project housed within the Armenian Genocide Research Program of The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA. AGLARP partners include the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, Christina Maranci, the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University, Michael Bazyler of Chapman University's Fowler School of Law, Marc Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and Professor Lauren Fielder, The Institute of Transnational Law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

The AGLARP was created to deal with the aftermath of the United States' (U.S.) recognition of the Armenian Genocide through two congressional resolutions passed by both houses of the U.S. Congress in 2019, and by President Biden's announcement in 2021. The first event to take place in support of this initiative was a conference held at UCLA on March 25, 2023, titled, “What’s Next?: Armenian Genocide Restitution in the Post- Recognition Era.” This conference explored questions such as: what are the possibilities of creating an Armenian Genocide reparation movement post-recognition? What opportunities does the American legal system offer for reparation? Can the Holocaust restitution movement serve as a model for the Armenian Genocide?

The March conference featured Keynote Speaker Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, who discussed his critical efforts during the Clinton administration as Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State on Holocaust-Era Issues, as well as those of several successive U.S. administrations, in achieving some measure of justice for the post-Holocaust restitution movement. Ambassador Eizenstat gave conference participants an important directive: we must help create the right legal and political climate for the Armenian Genocide restitution movement to grow and find solutions that recognize the historical suffering of the Armenian people. 

Based on the debates and discussions that took place during this conference, as well as the suggestions of Ambassador Eizenstat, it was concluded that President Biden’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide in 2021 created a legal framework to pursue Armenian Genocide Looted Art (AGLA) and religious objects. This led the AGRP to spearhead the creation of the AGLARP.

Throughout Summer 2023, the AGLARP recruited various art history and law students to engage in open-source provenance research regarding possible looted cultural heritage wherever they may be located throughout the world today. The research team was led and advised by Art History Professor Heghnar Watenpaugh of University of California, Davis, Michael Bazyler, and Armenian Genocide Research Program (AGRP) Director  Taner Akçam. The purpose of the project was to allow the research team to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural losses of the Armenian Genocide, as well as identify areas of further research into aspects of the provenance and history of AGLA. 

These developments fostered a second conference hosted by UCLA that was held on February 10, 2024. Titled “Armenian Genocide Looted Art and Restitution,” this conference explored the role of cultural heritage and importance of provenance research for cultural objects. Ambassador Eizenstat was also again featured as Keynote Speaker. “Publicity is the most important way to put an ethical and moral spotlight on the need to find a just and fair solution,” Ambassador Eizenstat said in his speech. “Historical facts can be covered up and suppressed for a very long time, but in the end, they have a way of bubbling up.”

The February conference also consisted of a documentary screening about the March conference, discussions of the AGLARP’s research findings, and a roundtable on how this conversation applies to past and current events, as well as what lies next for the AGLARP. Since February 2024, the AGLARP has been building upon its Summer 2023 AGLA provenance research findings. 

Goals Ahead

The goals of the AGLARP are to foster research on Armenian art, cultural heritage, and other cultural objects that were looted, destroyed, or transferred in conjunction with the Armenian genocide by using several disciplinary methods; and to engage in critical thinking and action on the many dimensions of justice, dialogue, restitution, and repair regarding the losses of Armenian culture arising from the Armenian genocide.

Moving forward, the AGLARP aims to:

• Foster additional provenance research into suspicious cultural heritage objects discovered during the Summer 2023 research project and trace their origins via channels such as eBay and auctions;
• Initiate the passing of the UCLA Principles on Armenian Genocide Looted Art, like the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art of 1998);
• Encourage the Armenian community to work towards developing something similar to the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act of 2016;
• Establish the Office of Special Envoy for Justice for Armenians, a key entity for reparation and restitution, like the Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues in the State Department;
• Work closely with museums, organizations, and institutions to learn from their experiences in repatriating cultural looted artifacts;
• Develop collaborative working relationships with the universities involved in this project (UCLA, Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin School of Law, Claremont McKenna College) and create a joint curriculum with cross-listed interdisciplinary courses. 
• Join the global movement for repatriations driven by legal and ethical considerations;
• Increase awareness and communicate the history and experience of the Armenian genocide behind the cultural heritage objects;
• Organize events, such as conferences and exhibitions, with Armenian community organizations and coordinate existing efforts in both the U.S. and abroad as part of a greater movement. 
• Mobilize the Armenian diaspora through various public relations, cultural events, digital media, and publications.

Ultimately, the AGLARP wants to help create the right legal and political climate to catalyze the Armenian Genocide Restitution movement, as was done for Holocaust victims through the “Some Measure of Justice” movement, and find solutions that recognize the historical suffering of the Armenian people. These efforts will be overseen by a Coordinating Committee consisting of experts from various disciplines including art history, law, and genocide studies.