Connecting Homeland and Diaspora through Learning, Culture, and Friendship
Narek Shamamyan is the founder of the first queer-friendly Armenian language school. A+ Academy is based in Yerevan and connects diasporans around the world with teachers in Armenia, building transnational community through learning.
The Next Chapter
When I was accepted into my graduate program, the first person I called was my mom. She had told me I was crazy when I got an email from the school inviting me to apply to the program and immediately dismissed it as spam. I thought, why would this program be reaching out to me? […]
26 April 2022 | Gareen Simone
The Story of Liana Makes: A Modern Twist on a Traditional Armenian Pastry
I first learned about Liana Makes when a beautifully curated photo of some plated nazouks appeared on my Instagram feed. Truthfully, I hadn’t known about nazouk before seeing this photo. I soon learned, as the picture suggested, that they are a small, flaky dessert pastry nicely paired with soorj. I saw the photo on a […]
11 April 2022 | Marie Papazian
A Journey into Ripsime’s Inner Kingdom
Born into a family of academics, the British-Armenian artist, Ripsime never imagined that she would one day pursue a career in the music industry. Throughout the first six years of her life, Ripsime moved back and forth between Latvia, her mother’s hometown of Stepanakert, and the US, until her parents finally settled in London. Both […]
29 March 2022 | Hena Aposhian
Art After the War: A Conversation with Lena Halteh
I first interviewed Lena Halteh during the 2020 Artsakh War, when we were both focused on selling our creative work to fundraise for immediate aid on the ground, and creating urgent content to raise awareness, and advocate for people in Artsakh. Looking back at our conversation, I can feel the distress we shared, as well […]
14 March 2022 | Araxie Cass
Sorry, Bro: The queer Armenian Rom-Com we didn’t know we needed
Literature and time walk hand in hand. We’ve seen cultures grow and thrive through writings, and most of the time, we forget that without authors “ahead of their time” many would not have had the courage to do what their favorite book characters did in similar situations. However, a reader has to find a certain […]
07 February 2022 | Paula Kjdrian
Bala Bimbambum in the Land of Bugistan
Growing up in Yerevan, Babken Sakanyan felt constrained, unable to explore their gender and artistic identities. When they moved to Berlin, they started to explore drag and other art forms. Eventually they were inspired by their drag character, Bala Bimbambum to create a world with no limits where they could explore all elements of Armenianness, queerness, art, drag, imagination, and expression.
19 January 2022 | Azad Archives