The AGBU Mardiros Sarian Academy in Aleppo, Syria stands as a distinguished and unique institution. For over 70 years, it has provided world-class training in the arts to students of all ages, regardless of their ability to pay. The Academy was established in 1955 by Robert Jebejian who headed the AGBU at the time and architect Zareh Kaplanyan, who had recently come to Aleppo from France. Funded by the AGBU, it pioneered an open-studio system new to the region. From the start, it welcomed everyone to study art in a community setting, whether they attended classes daily or only a few evenings a week after work. Unlike elite institutions in wealthy European countries such as France or England, the Academy from its inception served a community that often faced financial hardship and physical insecurity. At the time of its founding, Aleppo’s 60,000-strong Armenian community included many families who had survived the 1915–1923 Genocide and were still rebuilding. Syria itself was also in turmoil. After the long struggle for independence from France (1923–1946), the country endured a series of military coups (1946–1970), the Assad dictatorships and wars with Israel and Lebanon (1970–2011), and finally a devastating decade-long Civil War that lasted until 2024. Against this backdrop of near-constant upheaval, the Academy’s founders sought not only to provide students with first-rate artistic training but also to broaden their horizons and give them a sense of normalcy amidst the surrounding chaos.
The AGBU Mardiros Sarian Academy has been largely successful in achieving its mission, as evidenced for example by its long list of renowned graduates. Vrej Kassouny, for example, studied at the Academy before completing his education in Armenia. He went on to become one of the Middle East’s leading cartoonists and later modernized workshops and classes, ReAnimania has taught an entire generation of young Armenians the necessary skills to thrive in this industry on a global level. And in the person of Kassouny a Syrian-born graduate, the field of animation in Armenia, founding the acclaimed ReAnimania International Animation Film & Comics Art Festival in Yerevan. Through film screenings as well as free lectures, wthe Academy’s influence has come full circle—returning talent and inspiration to Armenia itself.
Over the years, the AGBU has continually invested in the Academy’s success. In 1993, for example, on the recommendation of Suren Khachatryan, Director of the National Gallery in Yerevan, the Academy recruited Hrazdan Tokmajyan as director. A graduate of Yerevan’s Panos Terlemezian College of Fine Arts and the Khachatur Abovian Pedagogical Institute, Tokmajyan was an experienced teacher from Gyumri who had taught in Ijevan before moving to Aleppo. Over the next 23 years, he joined the ranks of beloved teachers such as Manina Syoufi, Hakob Jamkochyan, and Vartkes Parsumyan, all fondly remembered by their students. During his tenure, Tokmajyan modernized the curriculum and introduced innovations such as plein-air workshops in Kessab and lessons in drawing from plaster molds, while keeping the Academy open to all. “We had two groups—one for children under twelve, and one for adults, with no upper age limit. Anyone who wanted could come,” he explains. “I taught painting and drawing. I tried—as much as the conditions of a free academy would allow—to bring it closer to what students at the Terlemezian College studied in Yerevan. My goal was to structure assignments in a way that would gradually build a professional level of training.”
The Academy flourished, and with support from the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, a new modern building was constructed to meet growing needs. Student exchanges with Yerevan were established, and the Academy participated in all major local art events. Tokmajyan recalls: “We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Academy with an exhibition showcasing works by alumni from across the years. We also organized a joint exhibition of Armenian and Arab artists, featuring nearly all of Aleppo’s leading painters.” In February 2015, to mark the Academy’s 60th anniversary, a three-day exhibition titled Aleppo: Troublesome Days was held at Yerevan’s National Center of Aesthetics. Organized by the AGBU, Armenia’s Ministry of the Diaspora, and the Syrian Armenian Relief Coordination Center, it featured works by Academy students and received significant media attention.
In response to the traumas of the Syrian Civil War, the Academy hired an art therapist to help students process their experiences.
The past decade has posed unprecedented challenges. In response to the traumas of the Syrian Civil War, the Academy hired an art therapist to help students process their experiences. While it does not issue diplomas, the Academy provides each student with a leaving certificate, and on several occasions its recommendations have helped graduates gain admission to prestigious art institutions in Europe and North America. Now retired, Tokmajyan reflects with pride on these achievements.
Today, the Academy continues to operate with the full support of the AGBU Aleppo Board. Images of a devastated Aleppo recall another fabled city scarred by war—Beirut. Yet from the ashes, Aleppo is beginning to rebuild. While urgent humanitarian aid remains the priority, the AGBU is equally committed to ensuring that the Mardiros Sarian Academy thrives. The AGBU continues to fund the institution, determined to nurture in today’s students the same passion for art it has inspired for generations. In the years to come, more graduates will surely emerge to credit the Academy with setting them on the path to lifelong success.
Watch the AGBU Webtalk Martiros Sarian: Armenia's Soul in Color by clicking here.
Renowned alumni of the AGBU Mardiros Sarian Academy of Aleppo
Kevork Mourad
Born in Qamishli, Syria, Mourad attended the Mardiros Sarian Academy in Aleppo before earning a Master of Fine Arts at the Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts. Now based in New York, he is an internationally recognized artist whose star continues to rise. In 2025 alone, he simultaneously mounted two solo international exhibitions: When Time Was Like a River at Perrotin Gallery’s Shanghai location, and Imaginary Homeland at Galerie Tanit in Mar Mikhael, Lebanon. Known for his distinctive graphic style that blends calligraphy with layered, non-linear painting, Mourad often works on a monumental scale and incorporates live drawing and animation into performances with musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Kim Kashkashian, and Kinan Azmeh. His collaborative piece Home Within, co-produced with Azmeh, has toured worldwide. A prolific creator in 2023 alone Mourad created Triptych with the Kronos Quartet and SFMOMA, Invisible Cities with Ragamala Dance, and Paper Pianos with Alarm Will Sound at EMPAC, NY. His works are in the permanent collections worldwide, including the Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), the Spurlock Museum (Illinois), the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), and the Pergamon Museum (Berlin).
Vrej Kassouny
Born in Aleppo in 1971, Kassouny studied at the Academy from 1992-1996 before earning his degree at the Terlemezian College in Armenia in 1999. A gifted artist with a passion for cartoons and animation, he soon became chief political cartoonist for Opinion newspaper in Kuwait and worked with the British One, Two, Three publishing house in Lebanon before building a successful career in animated film and commercials. Most impressively, Kassouny is credited with almost single-handedly establishing Armenia’s presence in contemporary animation. In 2008, he founded the ReAnimania International Animation Film & Comics Art Festival in Yerevan, which screens global works while hosting workshops and classes for young Armenian filmmakers. Kassouny and ReAnimania have helped place Armenia firmly on the global artistic map.
Mher Tarakjian
Growing up in Aleppo in the 1990s, Tarakjian attended both the AGBU Lazar Najarian-Calouste Gulbenkian School and the AGBU Mardiros Sarian Academy. After completing the AGBU Global Leadership Program in 2011, he earned his architecture degree and worked with the prestigious Bjarke Ingels Group, contributing to major projects including the renovation of the historic Waldorf Astoria Film Studios in Queens. In March 2018, he co-founded the Armenian Creatives, an innovative bilingual linguistic and artistic platform that is playing a pivotal role in the rebirth of Western Armenian in the Armenian diaspora. Tarakjian has credited the Academy with instilling a lifelong love of learning, which inspired him to pursue a Master of Design Studies at Harvard GSD in 2023, focusing on ecological approaches to architecture. That same year, based on the originality of his thinking, he was named a coveted Huys Scholar.
Vasken Kalayjian
Born in Aleppo in 1956, Kalayjian fondly recalls attending the Mardiros Sarian Academy between the ages of 8 and 14. He credits it with shaping his identity and giving him the confidence to believe he could make a meaningful impact on the world: “The Academy taught me how to envision the future—and to believe in my capacity to shape it.” After emigrating to the U.S. as a teenager, he studied at Pratt Institute under Bruce Colvin and Rudolph Baranik. Alongside his career as a painter, Kalayjian became a successful entrepreneur, founding several companies including the international branding consultancy GK Brand, Tribe Global Network, and Learning Architects. Today, after a successful career in New York, he lives in Armenia with his wife Jacqueline, where he devotes himself entirely to painting, grounding his practice in Zen Buddhism and the teachings of philosopher G. I. Gurdjieff.
