The official opening ceremony of the 8th Summit of the European Political Community (#EPCArmenia) was held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex in Yerevan.

The ceremony kicked off with a cultural program: not only was the Armenian cultural heritage presented, but also our contemporary art, creative artistic thought and innovative technologies.

The cultural pictorial-pallete exhibition has once again reaffirmed that Armenia has been and continues to be a cultural crossroads for centuries, bridging the dialogue between different peoples and cultures for mutual recognition and enrichment. The performance was built around the concept of water as life, memory, peace, purity, purification, and unity.

Cultural organizations operating under the ESCS Ministry of the Republic of Armenia: artists of the dance troupe of the National Centre of Folk Music and Dance, artists of the Al. Spendiaryan National Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre, the “Hover” State Chamber Choir, the orchestra of the Yerevan Tchaikovsky Specialized Secondary Music School, students of the “Young Music Space” music school, students of the “Swag Dance” dance studio, and renowned musician-performer Tigran Hamasyan, participated in the small staged performance.

The cultural performance was based on the immortal works of Mesrop Mashtots, Avet Terterian, Komitas, Armen Tigranian, Aram Khachaturian, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Armenian cultural heritage was represented by the tradition of ancient Armenian civilization and the dragon stones, the Alphabet Book, which was also presented as a symbol of statehood, and the worship of the goddess Anahit as an expression of Hellenistic culture in Armenia, the Urbatagirq, as the first printed book in Armenia, published in Venice, linguistic culture, with the unique manuscripts preserved in the Matenadaran, the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, and with the collection of the National Gallery of Armenia, featuring works by Hovhannes Aivazovsky, Martiros Saryan, Yervand Kochar, Minas Avetisyan, Hovhannes Kojoyan, Vardges Surenyants, Garzu (Garnik Zulumyan), and recently acquired works by Arshile Gorky.

Contemporary Armenian art was presented to the guests through paintings by the young and renowned artists Rafael Megal and Tigran Tsitoghdzyan.

The video of the cultural performance was created using a combination of innovative technologies. The stage design for the group photo of the summit participants was prepared by the students of the "Chakhruk" Cultural Centre of the Kharberd Specialized Orphanage, which also served as the basis for the creation of the official summit stamps. The cultural imagery was implemented by Factor Production.