Lace Up
SALT’s September issue is all about movement: running, cycling, walking, wandering and remembering. From Armenia’s growing running culture and the Tour of Armenia to the human body serving as spectacle, we explore how the city is experienced in motion. We also look back at Yerevan’s memories and uncover a coffee shop hidden behind a secret door.
In 1968, Yerevan celebrated its 2,750th anniversary with a spectacular citywide celebration. Through memories of those who witnessed it and the history behind it, Serena Soulourian explores how Erebuni became a powerful symbol of Armenian identity within the Soviet Union.
In a city overflowing with coffee shops, Secret stands out by hiding in plain sight. This tiny cafe, tucked away in a courtyard off Saryan Street, turns ordering coffee into a playful ritual of mystery, anonymity and discovery, only to find itself going viral in an age when keeping a secret is nearly impossible.
The Tour of Armenia has put the country on the international cycling map and sparked new interest in the sport. But turning that momentum into a genuine cycling culture will require more than races and enthusiasm: Yerevan needs the infrastructure to make cycling a safe, practical part of everyday life.
Yerevan has a new kind of billboard: people. As human advertisements take to the city’s streets, Isaac Stephenson looks beyond the novelty to ask what their presence says about advertising, public space, visual pollution and the increasingly creative ways brands compete for our attention.
Once uncommon in Armenia, running has grown into a vibrant culture of clubs, races and communities. From Yerevan to Gyumri, Vanadzor and Dilijan, runners are reshaping attitudes toward fitness, friendship and outdoor life, turning a once-unfamiliar pastime into a growing part of everyday life.
EVN Report’s mission is to empower Armenia, inspire the diaspora and inform the world through sound, credible and fact-based reporting and commentary. Our goal is to increase public trust in the media. EVN Report is the media arm of EVN News Foundation registered in the Republic of Armenia in 2017.
