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

By Kristin Anahit Cass This article is done as a collaboration with Entanik, a global organization dedicated to uplifting and showcasing people in queer Armenian, SWANA, and allied communities.  In vibrant red threads on hanging sheets, clothes, and even pads, Zepure explores the shame and public rules that regulate a woman’s body. Zepure is a queer, […]

23 November 2021 | Azad Archives

borders are 1. invisible margins 2. like a necklace with a clasp too tight 3. traffic lights pulsating the color of blood 4. ruled the cause of death 5. quicksand that eat the enemy whole 6. uncertain who the enemy is 7. hours of absence turned years of absence turned decades of 8. absence 9. […]

05 October 2021 | Azad Archives

by Maryam Dilakian Mama, can you please tell meSome stories about Armenia?My daughter asksNo doubt perplexedAs alwaysBy all she knows of JamaicaHaving traveled to the islandThriceSwum in her watersClimbed her hillsHeard her songsHer father’s tongueTasted the goat and mangoFish and hard doughOxtail and sugar caneSince birth(Albeit on the island of Manhattan)And how little she still […]

02 September 2021 | Azad Archives

The relationship between Armenian parents and their LGBTQ+ children often ends with a strained relationship or complete loss of family.  Armenian parents and families fear what they don’t know, or what the community deems “unnatural.” Instead, they’d rather hide the truth from themselves and friends by denying the “queer” part of their child.  I gather […]

30 July 2021 | Azad Archives

By: Alexandria Kazandjian To openly say I am a queer Armenian is a privilege I never thought I would have. I have gone from feeling outcast from my community for not speaking Armenian to coming out directly to the Armenian community as a nonbinary lesbian. Understanding identity, whether it be related to ethnicity, gender, or […]

07 July 2021 | Azad Archives