Folk Art Museum, Folk art museum in Kentron District, Armenia

The Folk Art Museum is a museum in Kentron District that houses over 12,000 exhibits of traditional Armenian crafts and artistic production. The collection spans wood engravings, ceramics, embroidery, miniatures, carpets, and paintings across different historical periods and regional styles.

The museum opened in 1978 on the basis of exhibits from the Folk Art House, founded in 1937 through the efforts of ethnographer and folklorist Habetnak Babayan. Its creation was driven by Hovhannes Sharambeyan, a People's Artist of the Armenian SSR, and it was named after him. In 2020 the Wood Art Museum was merged into it and now operates as a wood art exhibition hall on Paronyan Street in Yerevan.

The museum displays works by self-taught artists in sections dedicated to paintings and applied and decorative arts. These collections represent artistic practices that continue to shape how Armenians understand their creative heritage today.

The museum occupies a building designed by architect Varazdat Arevshatyan in 1941, with interior sections shaped from sketches by Grigor Khanjyan. A branch operates in Dilijan, and since 2020 the Wood Art Museum has been attached as a wood-art exhibition hall on Paronyan Street in Yerevan. Allow time for both the main collection and the branch displays.

The collection traces the evolution of Armenian folk art through different regional styles, with some works created by artists who never received formal training. This emphasis on self-taught creators reveals how artistic skills in Armenia were often transmitted through family and community networks.