Thirty years ago, a devastating earthquake ripped through northern Armenia, killing over 25 thousand people, destroying buildings, decimating entire villages and in its ominous wake, leaving a people traumatized. Today, 30 years on, Gyumri, one of the hardest hit cities, is rising.
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.
Last week, Gyumri was in the national spotlight because of strikes and student demonstrations. At the heart of the matter was the Shirak State University, the rector and the merging of politics and education.
In this moving piece, Paul Chaderjian writes about belonging and identity, of hovering in a ‘Go Between’ space, suspended between two worlds and how unexpected encounters make connecting to the concept of home a reality.
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.
