Moments Captured in Time: Photography from Armenia and the Diaspora

Expressing yourself is probably one of the most important things you can do in your life. Photography is magic. Since it started about 200 years ago it still hasn’t left us. Mediums like film and music owe a lot of their method to photography. For me personally, I love capturing moments, things that move, things that need to stand still to be more appreciated. To me photography is all about the details.

Through the Lens: Culture & Purpose in Today’s Armenian Reality

There are hundreds of young, talented Armenians exploring the bounds of art and identity through countless means including music and film. They interpret culture through their own individual lens. Haytoug sat down with some of these creative individuals to explore their thoughts on culture and identity.

Culture: The Indestructible Bridge

The horrendous crimes of genocide committed by the Ottoman Government against the Armenians in 1915 will forever be a bitter truth in Armenian history, but it does not identify us as a people. We have much to celebrate in our few thousand years of existence and, most importantly, we must feel proud to have survived through what I hope was the worst of it. However, our existence today does not mean that our fight for survival is unnecessary; on the contrary, every day we are fighting for the survival of our language, our faith, our homeland, and especially the survival of our future.

When Genocide Turns into Suicide

When I was first asked to write a guest column for Haytoug that addressed the issue of a “white genocide” and the perceived evils of assimilation, I was tempted to write this entire piece in Kra’par (Classical Armenian). After all, it is my humble opinion that if you do not know how to read Kra’par, then you’re not a “real Armenian.” Then I thought to write it in Armenian but I couldn’t decide what language to water our mother tongue down with – Turkish? Arabic? Russian? Farsi perhaps? But then I thought, “The one language that we all can or should understand is English .” – plus, I don’t know how to use an Armenian keyboard or anything that resembles one. So using the King’s English, let’s address the issue of Armenian assimilation and the “jermag chart.” (I hope I’m not the only one who sees the irony in that.)

Canons Against Self Slaughter

For as bright and innovative as the Ittahadists, Nazis and Hutus were in the murder, slaying, raping of peoples, races, religions etc, etc. They really could have turned our very own omniscient and all-knowing deity for harbingers of holocaust. In the passage above we see «Ուր էիր աստուած» himself getting a little more proactive and asking King Saul to head out in the desert and make Paul Pot look passive. This sacrosanct yarn is an example of a greater problem when it comes to nationalist topics, a complacent tendency to leave the “sacred” unquestioned.

Մաշտոցեան Քաղաքականութիւն

Ամարաս վանքը եղած է Արցախի եւ ինչու չէ՛ հայկական ամենէն պատմական եւ Քրիստոնէական կեդրոններէն մէկը։ Ամարաս կը գտնուի Մարտունի քաղաքէն մօտաւորապէս 10քմ հարաւ-արեւելք, Խազազի եւ Լուսաւորիչի սարերու միջեւ, Սօս գիւղին մօտ։

Vahe Berberian: The Art and the Artist

It was my usual Thursday afternoon. I was at work about to go home when I received a text message from my sister inviting me to attend Vahe Berberian’s one-man show titled ‘Sաgաyn’. At this point I knew very little about Berberian; just the occasional YouTube clip promoting one of his plays or a friend mentioning his name in passing. In spite of this, I decided to attend the show and see what all the excitement was about. At the show, I was blown away with his hilarious monologue. His fresh and unique perspective on society, life, and the Armenian community captivated the sold-out audience and filled the venue with laughter.

From Baku to MLS: Yura Movsisyan

Only 21, Yura Movsisyan has already played on two MLS professional soccer teams, competed with the best players in Europe, and is being sponsored by Adidas. But he did not reach his goal of becoming a professional soccer player by just wishing for it.

Armenians Rock Out in Argentina: The Music and Message of Los Armenios

They’re Armenian, They’re Argentinean; They’re Los Armenios. They’re the Armenian music sensation coming out of South America.

This exciting new band is made up of Mariela Moumdjian, Pablo Kaloustian, Jacqui Boghossian, Gabriel Giogourtzian, and Juan Abadjian, all of whom met as youth in the Armenian community of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The ‘Risin Son’ of Hip Hop

The Armenian-American community of Southern California can be proud to count one of its very own as a “Rising Son” in that segment of the Hip-Hop community still striving for substance and talent when on the microphone.

We are referring to R-Mean (Armin Hariri), a seasoned Los Angeles rapper who is perhaps best known in the Armenian community for his track, ‘Open Wounds’, which deals with the pain and injustice of the Armenian Genocide.

R-Mean recently released a brand new album and we caught up with him for this exclusive interview.

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