Tag: arts and culture

Taline Oundjian traces the intellectual and political journey of Pınar Selek, a Turkish feminist and anti-militarist persecuted by the state, whose work on structural violence, memory, and the Armenian genocide offers powerful insights into resistance, identity and forgotten histories.

Lory Bedikian’s book of poetry “Jagadakeer: Apology to the Body” is a poignant exploration of immigrant trauma, familial bonds, identity and mortality. It announces and denounces our fears and some of our most innermost pain with prescient beauty and rare honesty, writes Christopher Atamian in this review.

While delving into the collective emotional response triggered each September by recent traumatic events in Armenia, Ella Kanegarian-Berberian explores the potential for healing through representation. Using the biopic “The Other Side of the Medal”—which tells the story of weightlifting champion Nazik Avdalyan—it reflects on the importance of overcoming grief and loss.

Lucy Yeghiazaryan, an Armenian jazz vocalist based in New York City, explores the connections between Armenian melodies and American jazz standards in her album, “Beside the Golden Door”, creating a powerful fusion bridging cultural divides while navigating her own identity.

Aida Zilelian’s "All the Ways We Lied" follows the complex lives of the Manoukian sisters in Queens, New York. Tackling themes of trauma, identity, and resilience, Zilelian presents a raw, authentic portrayal of a middle-class immigrant family grappling with their past and present. A review by Christopher Atamian.

A 36-hour bus ride from Yerevan to Istanbul, passing through Georgia due to the closed Turkey-Armenia border, explores the lives, struggles and surprising bonds among the women struggling to make a living known as “bazaarchis”. It also reveals hidden stories of women “beaten down by their destiny.”

Many know Vava Sarkis as a muse and model for French Fauvists Henri Matisse and Raul Dufy. But few know that Vava was a successful artist in her own right, revered by many art connoisseurs around the world.

The cultural high point of the year is definitely peaking in the next couple of weeks with the opening of the 21st Golden Apricot International Film Festival with its usual roster of must-see films and... uhum... controversial guests. Finding the gems, or maybe the guilty pleasures in this whirlwind of activities can be a challenge, so hopefully this guide can be of some help.

Yerevan's social calendar is ramping up with a torrent of events that will immerse you in all sorts of art if you, well... let it. To help you navigate the vibrant art scene, we're putting together a short bi-weekly digest of the best that the capital has on offer for the art-going public and visitors.

How can we tell an important story that has been forgotten? Arsinee Khanjian’s answer to this question has been to take the impact of the story, and make it inevitable. That is what the 2015 performance called Auction of Souls, which was again on stage at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin this year, did.