The Language of Exile
“Shad tezh-var eh,” her voice betrays how hard it is to carry the now.
She speaks in village Armenian,
the cobbled tongue of those expelled to foreign lands.
Her words hang, weighty, like ripe pomegranates,
bittersweet with memories of home.
Capturing the City: A Local Artist’s Passion for Cafes and Sketching People
In the post-Covid era, many people’s habits, especially work routines, have transformed, with remote work becoming increasingly common. With the emergence of this trend, one of the most popular work destinations now is coffee shops, providing an ideal mix of comfort and productivity. This shift has led to a resurgence in the use of cafes […]
30 July 2024 | Hena Aposhian
Nine months after being forcibly displaced, Artsakhtsis are working towards a sustainable future
For more than 5 years before the Artsakh Social Developments and Projects Fund (ASDPF) was created, its founders worked in Artsakh with families to create food secure communities. In 2022, they founded the ASDPF, a natural next step in the development of their work with these communities. The ASDPF’s projects center around building greenhouses and […]
28 June 2024 | Béatrice Denise Chahine
Haygagan Bar Part 5: Practice, Affect, and Embodiment: Feeling the Homeland
This piece is part of a research series that will be released in five parts, over a period of 5 weeks. You can find parts one, two, three, and four here. Photo from Lernazang Ensemble. This article was originally written as a thesis for the MA Program in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, and has been adapted […]
28 June 2024 | Abbie Tarpinian Porto
Haygagan Bar Part 4: Community as Homeland
This piece is part of a research series that will be released in five parts, over a period of 5 weeks. You can find parts one, two, and three here. Photo from Lernazang Ensemble. This article was originally written as a thesis for the MA Program in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, and has been adapted for […]
28 June 2024 | Abbie Tarpinian Porto
Haygagan Bar Part 3: Preservation, Narrative, and Developing Identities
“The battle is not done, and there is no more retreat,” the program describes the next dance, “Battlefield.” Loud zurna and drums play as the men come onto the stage in brown taraz shirts and black pants, and Yerevan’s statue of David of Sassoun, the Armenian hero of legend, shows on the screen in the background. They perform the ancient martial dance yarkhushta49 with intensity and rhythm. The dancers jump, clap, and hit their shoulders together with incredible energy. The audience claps and cheers along. With their vocalizations and forceful movements, the dancers create a powerful energy…
Photo from Lernazang Ensemble.
25 June 2024 | Abbie Tarpinian Porto
Haygagan Bar Part 2: Understanding the Armenian Homeland
The screen raises, and the curtains open for Sardarabad’s last performance of the night, a dance titled “Vaspurakan” after the region of historic Armenia centered around Lake Van. A lively song plays, with brass, strings, drums, and of course, zurna. About 20 men and women dance onto the stage wearing bright taraz44 costumes in a warm yellow-orange color with red aprons, vests, and hats with deep blue detailing. They hold hands and dance in a line, stepping, hopping, and shouting “hey!” to the music…
Photo from Lernazang Ensemble.
18 June 2024 | Abbie Tarpinian Porto