Arts & Culture

Although it was initially created to teach mathematical concepts 50 years ago, today, people have turned the Rubik’s Cube into a competitive sport called speedcubing. Armenia is now part of that world and holds several records.

Hayasdan (Armenia) is a graphic essay that explores the relationship between contemporary Yerevan and its past. The work, by Harut Tumaghyan and Armen of Armenia (Ohanyan), is divided into three parts, each delving into the city’s socio-political and cultural context from an urban perspective.

Yerevan’s Christian heritage has usually been overshadowed because of its proximity to the Holy See of Ejmiatsin. The first accounts about churches in Yerevan are from records dating back to the Third Church Council of Dvin in 607 AD.

The 2007 discovery of a 6,000-year-old winery in a cave in the Vayots Dzor region was an invitation for Armenians to rediscover their ancient wine-making traditions. Armenia’s once-forgotten wine culture began to reemerge and take on new forms.

With the recent discovery of Turkey's first female professional studio photographer Mariam Shahinian, a group of women are inspired to work together to try to decipher this page of her story left in the shadows.

Today, there are ongoing excavations of archaeological sites throughout Armenia, including the excavation at the site of the ancient Armenian capital of Dvin. Despite the country’s huge archeological potential, specialists in the field often face numerous barriers.

There’s a new generation of artists, innovators and entrepreneurs that are writing a new story. One that goes beyond the classical interpretation of art, and dares to explore and combine different mediums at the intersection of art and entrepreneurship.

Writers and thinkers from Armenia and the diaspora are now linked, writes Tigran Yegavian, and argues that this rapprochement is indispensable for the liberation of Armenian thought.

A peephole view into the kaleidoscopic distortions of other people’s lives where human interaction is set in ways foreign to you and distant from you yet in your city where the “hero” is your friend. A true, but not a real story from the ninth floor, in building 9a, in the Ninth District, the door without the peephole.

In this “True But Not Real Story” the Verdyans are unperturbed that the house they are buying is known to be possessed by ghosts and evil spirits.

In this tiny self-declared and unrecognized Republic where her ancestors once lived, Anahit tries to reassess her existence while she wages a battle for the seat.

Despite the many challenges, old and new artists in Armenia’s underground music scene continue paving the way for the future of local regional music. And you can also find out what fruit they associate their music with.

Born in Diyarbekir but destined to work, create and mingle among the artistic and intellectual circles of London and Europe, Zabelle Boyajian, an artist, writer, translator and British-Armenian intellectual remains a mystery to many.

The majority of the music we hear in contemporary Armenian films and TV-series are simply plucked from the Internet with little regard for copyright issues, professionalism or the suitability of the tracks.

In this new essay for the “True But Not Real” creative writing series, writer and journalist Lusine Hovhannisyan explores the love Armenians have for their homes especially in the context of the recent war in Artsakh: “We love our houses with the skill of a person who has lost their home.”

Chomalag, which means epidemic in one of the dialects of the Gegharkunik region of Armenia delves into the suspended lives of people in times of an epidemic.

Vanadzor’s Hovhannes Abelyan Theater, built in the early 20th century, is just a few meters away from the Fine Arts Museum. Both buildings hold the memories and feelings of Armenia’s third largest city.

When emphasizing the preservation of historic structures and their integration into unban life, we should keep in mind that heritage should not be perceived as only architectural heritage and we should not think that it is only the physical heritage that is endangered.

"Not a True Story But a Real Story" series is a reflection on individual transformations of collective identity and the concept of home. Armen of Armenia (Ohanyan) ponders why “housecat-like Armenians” didn’t just sit tight within their four walls when they could have become “heroes” by simply staying home.

This is neither a true story nor a real story. But it could be either if fate ever stepped in to deliver a surprising lesson on toxic masculinity.

When a State of Emergency was declared on March 16 in Armenia, cultural institutions mobilized their resources and opened their treasuries digitally showcasing the gems of Armenian culture.

For Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and for Syrian-Armenians in Yerevan, crafting served as a way of earning a living and as a process of rebuilding and reimagining a social world through the temporal markers that help them nurture a sense of “home.”

A story weaving together the fragments of a woman’s life who organized the chaos of reality into a sensible and livable realm offhandedly called “home” but no one recognized it until she was gone.

Christopher Atamian reviews two documentaries by two diasporan filmmakers about Armenia’s Velvet Revolution and writes that both deliver a somewhat hagiographic portrayal of Pashinyan and his supporters.

The translation of prose or poetry is not a news headline or a tweet, it is a piece of literature that demands time, contrasting thoughts, artful concentration and the ability to publish, writes Aram Pachyan.

Mariam and Eranuhi Aslamazyan are two of the most well-known female painters of Soviet Armenia. They broke stereotypes in the art world and left behind a rich legacy and heritage.

Armenia produces a lot of garbage. Innovative artists throughout the country are taking that waste and turning it into art.

The forced detachment of April 24, 2020, brought an essential degree of cerebral contemplation that allowed us to meditate upon our loss, but also see the many ways that we've managed to (and continue to) overcome it.

The late Samvel Karapetyan's work goes beyond Armenian heritage: It is a luminous testimony that highlights the violence of certain states to annihilate an indigenous culture with impunity.

How a young boy went from selling his hand-stitched leather goods out of a suitcase to building one of Italy’s most exclusive brands.

Curator and art historian Vigen Galstyan pays tribute to one of Armenia’s most accomplished artists, photographer Herman Avakian, who passed away suddenly on Sunday. With his uncompromising devotion to the truth and artistry, Avakian helped shape the fabric of Armenian society.

Christopher Atamian reviews “The Structure is Rotten, Comrade,” a new graphic novel by Viken Berberian and Yann Kebbi.

The resort town of Dilijan in Armenia is known for its lush mountainous landscapes. It is also home to the Composers’ Union Resort, a place that hosted world famous composers in the 1960s and became a cultural hub in the former Soviet Union.

Mariam Mughdusyan had a dream and a goal - to bring about social change through the power of art and music and give children what she was once deprived of and help them to overcome poverty.

Jazz and Armenia have a complicated history. From its early beginnings under Soviet rule to contemporary interpretations of jazz, the genre is part of the fabric of Armenian cultural life.

In the context of autocratic, oligarchic or committedly neo-liberal regimes which continually propagate a coercive and incarcerating model of urban planning, the multiplication of such spaces as the 2800th Anniversary Park of Yerevan is organic, writes Vigen Galstyan.

Nora, a 94 year old refugee from Baku, Azerbaijan no longer wants to show her face to the world. Her forced exile following the pogroms against the Armenians 29 years ago has left her paranoid and yet as strange as it may sound, somehow hopeful.

This year, more than 60 percent of submissions to the Golden Apricot Film Festival (GAIFF) feature women directors, while the global average of female directors is a dismal 7 percent. GAIFF has organically found itself in a situation many European film festivals and international organizations dream of being in, writes Karen Avetisyan.

A family dispute left Emma Sahakyan homeless. After failing to find justice, she has staged a protest in front of the President’s office on Baghramyan Avenue for the past seven years.

Artistic Director of the Hover State Chamber Choir and first woman Rector of the Yerevan State Conservatory, Sona Hovhannisyan is a trailblazer who lives, exists and creates between sweeping times of change and transformation.

Western Armenian writer and editor Mari Beylerian perished during the 1915 Armenian Genocide. While there is scarce information about her life, she left behind the legacy of Ardemis, a monthly magazine published in Egypt and devoted to women’s rights.

An artistic collaboration spanning continents and generations is attempting to turn stories into colorful murals throughout rural communities in Armenia.

Armenian culture and tradition, once subsumed into Byzantine or medieval studies, now has its own separate but important place in the history of art and civilization along with others such as Venice, Rome, and Greece thanks to a groundbreaking exhibition entitled Armenia! at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Translated into several languages, Mariam Petrosyan’s epic novel “The Gray House” has enchanted readers across the world. In this first book review, Lilit Margaryan speaks with the elusive Petrosyan about her life and the life of a novel that took 18 years to write.

Despite its obvious ruin, Stepanakert’s grand dramatic theater captures the beauty of a past era and now there are efforts to restore the structure’s life and soul in the same spirit of how it was built.

In this first piece for EVN Report, Lizzy Vartanian Collier looks at Armenia’s contemporary art scene through the work and challenges of three curators.

A tucked away city within a city, the district of Kond in Yerevan has a rich history and a promising future only if authorities undertake a large-scale restoration. What are the stories of Kond and what does the future hold for one of the oldest quarters in the country’s capital?

Born in Gyumri in the late 19th century, Sergey Merkurov is considered the greatest Soviet master of death masks. He was highly sought after to take the death masks of various Soviet luminaries and leaders, as well as prominent cultural figures of the era.

In the second part of photographer Davit Nersisyan's larger body of work about the visually impaired in Armenia, Nersisyan explores the most intimate physical spaces of the visually impaired - their own rooms - by asking the person who inhabits the space but does not see it to map it.

In her piece on (not)editing Micheline Aharonian Marcom’s new novel “The Brick House,” author and editor Tatiana Ryckman says that Marcom's fiction changed her reading and writing life forever.

Visual artist Ruben Malayan’s poster art that he created during the Velvet Revolution in Armenia is a fusion of his passion for calligraphy and the momentous events sweeping across the country.

The fire that severely damaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris highlighted how indispensable art is for humanity and exposed the fragility of all cultural legacy. It also indicated the profoundly unbalanced ways through which the global community has come to evaluate the intellectual production of different cultures and nations.

For decades, production of historical texts in Armenia was in the tight grip of Soviet state ideology. Post-independence, some topics previously repressed or omitted found their way back into Armenian history textbooks, however “memory gaps” remain.

Director Jivan Avetisyan of Tevanik and The Last Inhabitant talks about surviving the Spitak earthquake, the Karabakh War and the memories and experiences that have become the guiding force of his life and his films.

Women have been breaking stereotypes and crashing through glass ceilings, yet equity, diversity and inclusivity have not yet been fully realized. Armenian women in the film industry are beginning to change the narrative.

Mariam Tumanyan was a member of Tbilisi’s Armenian elite at the end of the 19th and turn of the 20th centuries. Her patronage of Armenian intellectuals and then her care of orphans from the Armenian Genocide have largely been forgotten. Here are some excerpts from her memoirs.

What is the art of anti-corruption? A year-long campaign sought to raise awareness on the effects of corruption on Armenian society. The “Art of (anti) Corruption” organized by Impact Hub Yerevan and supported by the EU Delegation to Armenia is a poster art exhibition and EVN Report is featuring a selection of the works on display.

While contemporary Armenian writers are searching for a new language of expression, Arevik Ashkharoyan, a literary agent, has taken on the task of bringing their voices to a global audience. In this first essay for EVN Report, Ashkharoyan writes about the challenges of representing a book that many believe is about the army but in fact is a metaphor for a repressed society.

From referencing the issue of sex-selective abortions to drinking toasts in honor of women, the grammatically genderless Armenian language, still fails to provide a space for its speakers to develop sensitivity towards the intricacies of gender as social conventions and cultural constructs. Rafik Santrosyan, PhD in Linguistics, explains how.

Choir in the Dark is the first chapter of photographer Davit Nersisyan’s ongoing, larger body of work about the visually impaired in Armenia. A visual exploration of the persistence of a choir where most members are visually impaired.

Grand Hotel Yerevan was not only the first large-scale public building constructed in Yerevan, it also played a significant role in the cultural renaissance of the capital city. Arpine Haroyan weaves together the fascinating history of the landmark hotel through the voices of its illustrious residents.

The four tragedies of Maro Alazan based on her unpublished memories- Genocide, Soviet prison, exile and return from exile. The untold story of an incredible woman and her resilience in life and love.

Followers of the Baha'i faith will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of their founder Baha'u'llah this year. There is a small community of Baha'is in Armenia whose history dates back to 1889. Today there are about 200 followers of the Baha'i faith in the country.

An extensive collection of vintage Soviet glassware has found a home in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city. Boasting over 1600 pieces, the collection was carefully curated by collector Artush Mkrtchyan. Arpine Haroyan unfolds the history of the collection to its post-WWII origins.

In this photo essay, Roubina Margossian discovers a gem near the neighborhood where she grew up in Beirut. The Kohar Library, established by the Khatchadourian brothers, who founded the Kohar Symphony based out of Gyumri, houses thousands of books related to Armenian music and so much more.

Martin Yeritsyan is Armenia's oldest violin maker. He learned his craft from his father, Shahen, whose journey from an orphanage in Greece to becoming one of Armenia's greatest luthiers was paved with heartache and loss.

Jag Bambir, one of Armenia’s most beloved musicians, is an early pioneer of the rock and roll movement in the former Soviet Union. In this piece, Raffi Meneshian reviews a recent concert Jag gave in Gyumri in April where he presented his latest creation – Treaton.

What is New Music and why is it not thriving in Armenia? According to composer and musician Artur Avanesov, New Music is a vibrant conglomerate of ideas and solutions, a vast network of communications, pretty much like a modern metropolis; it pushes boundaries and is a search for new sounds and forms.

Join Patrick Azadian as he wanders through the streets of Yerevan on a cold winter morning.

Atoussa S. explores the history of women writing and their absence in the literary canon. In this essay for EVN Report, she seeks answers to the questions: What circumstances make women writing/literature possible? What do women own in their writing? What is the meaning of this ownership?

Patrick Azadian writes of unexpected human encounters and missed opportunities in this first work of fiction for EVN Report. The Old Man on Avenida de Mayo takes place in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

How the Trump administration's travel ban left Iranian-Armenian scholar Loosineh Markarian feeling as though she had to apologize for her existence and her right to occupy public space.