Distant Memories of Goris

In the forests of the Armenian Highlands, lies a small town stripped of Soviet modernity

with no more than metal corpses left of industrial buildings. For the past 30 years, the town has been reclaimed by a tide of greenery and with it, wildlife has returned. Now the howls of jackals echo through the streets.

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The Sense of Survival

Maria Gunko

Sep 25, 2024

Many have heard of the concept of the "sixth sense" but does it truly exist?

Through stories of survival tied to an inexplicable sense of danger, Maria Gunko delves into how intuition may serve as a powerful, unacknowledged survival mechanism.

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Distant Memories of Goris

Maria Gunko

Aug 29, 2024

While wandering through spaces without a predetermined route or destination, allowing herself to be guided

by the contours and atmospheres of the environment, Maria Gunko reflects on the sensory and emotional imprints of the Armenian town of Goris.

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Homeing or It’s All About the Bench

Maria Gunko

Jul 22, 2024

“Homeing” is a fluid process of habituating and domesticating the ever-changing world, where movement—whether migration,

modern nomadism, or displacement—is the rule rather than the exception. Maria Gunko writes about her relationship with Home in this next installment of .

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Let There be Light

Maria Gunko

Jun 25, 2024

Being no stranger to post-Soviet 1990s hunger, poverty, and instability in central Russia, Maria Gunko

learns about the Armenian experience of the “cold and dark years” at a 2016 exhibit at Yerevan’s History Museum, and is astonished by how little is known about these events outside of Armenian society. In her latest piece, Gunko explores the happiness that comes when the electricity comes.

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Ban Chka

Maria Gunko

May 23, 2024

In her next piece for “Outside In” Maria Gunko recounts her exploration of the Armenian

language. Learning it for a foreigner can be tough, she says, but not as tough as it may seem at first glance. Every cloud has a silver lining.

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The Shifter Under the Monastery

Maria Gunko

Apr 23, 2024

The surroundings of the Kobayr Monastery are a contrast between the eternal and the fleeting,

the essence and the image, serenity and mundane chaos. Maria Gunko’s story is a patchwork of two places and one character who seemingly dwells between them, making a life from what’s available.

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A Short Colorful Lyrical Digression

Maria Gunko

Mar 28, 2024

In commemoration of renowned Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents, Maria Gunko delves into his colorful universe

to see how it captures the essence of Armenia's landscapes and geography, drawing parallels with her perceptions.

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When Patriarchy and Imperialism Collide: Some Questions of Positionality

Maria Gunko

Mar 8, 2024

In trying to understand her assumptions of her position as a researcher, and the spaces

she could access, Maria Gunko uncovered that it was not her ethnicity that informed how she was perceived on the field site, but rather the explosive mixture of her gender and ethnicity.

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Outside In

Haunts and Howls

The Sense of Survival

Distant Memories of Goris

Homeing or It’s All About the Bench

Let There be Light

Ban Chka

The Shifter Under the Monastery

A Short Colorful Lyrical Digression

When Patriarchy and Imperialism Collide: Some Questions of Positionality

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