Global Pride 2020 - Armenia

Since the cancellation of Pride events due to coronavirus pandemic, Pride organisations worldwide united to organise Global Pride 2020 - the 24-hour livestream Pride event which you can follow today here.

Global Pride will also feature the following 3 videos by Pink Armenia:

Homophobia is illogical




Happiness



Mother-Child >  I will accept you no matter what



Also featured will be a presentation of New Generation NGO from Armenia. Azerbaijan will be presented by Minority Azerbaijan group, and Georgia - by Tbilisi Pride.

Using this occasion, below are selected works from “Queerantine” online exhibit recently organised by Pink Armenia to mark IDAHOT 2020.

*by Sona Turabyan Sonet

*by Lisbeth Salanderyan

*by Mariam Terzian

(IN)2VALUABLE photo exhibit and contest by PINK Armenia tackles intolerance and discrimination

On 21 December 2014, (IN)2VALUABLE exhibition took place in “Nerkay Arts Management and Creativity Center” organised by PINK Armenia. The exhibition - based on submissions for the photo contest of the same name - aimed at drawing attention to the problems of discrimination and intolerance in our society, with the entries reflecting concepts of tolerance and anti-discrimination.

All photo entries were initially posted on Facebook, and the following three entries have been awarded in different categories:

• The most liked photo on Facebook: “All Different, All Equal” by Harutyun Krikyan 

• Jury selection: “My Sport” by Artur Karoyan 

• INVALUABLE photo: “Love” by Ani Tadevosyan

The last two entries were selected by a jury, including both PINK Armenia board members and a professional photographer.

I am glad that along with the three entries above, my favourite entry, submitted by Peghq -“We Are All Humans” (see below), have also been selected to be used for promotional materials of PINK Armenia, such as postcards and informational materials. Congrats !!

RED HOT exhibit, London: portraits of hot guys with important message

Beautiful RED HOT exhibit in London by photographer and filmmaker Thomas Knights.

Not only this exhibit is full with portraits of hot guys, but it also conveys an important message of no discrimination and no prejudice: “Many of the guys have suffered prejudice or discrimination as a direct result of their red hair. Next to each portrait is a personal quote, adding a layer of heart, humour and triumph to their beautiful image.”

Nazik Armenakyan’s “The stamp of loneliness” - book launch and multimedia exhibit on life of Armenia trans people

Great report from Yerevan - by CivilNet (AM) - of unique book launch and multimedia exhibit by Nazik Armenakyan reflecting life of Armenian trans people - “The stamp of loneliness”.

Over years, Nazik has been working on LGBT art/photography/multimedia project (see also previous posts on this blog), focusing mainly on transgender and transvestite sex workers.

What makes Nazik’s works outstanding is that she avoids sensationalism, focusing on people, on their stories, an insight she gained access to by the trust of very individuals she portraits.

Many thanks to Nazik for her work, especially considering Armenian realities and circumstances. It’s very telling re the latter that the launch was not public and by private invitations only.

 

mOTHER Armenia (photo exhibit)

I like the way they put it: mOTHER Armenia. Great to see incredibly talented and free-minded group of Armenian women photographers and photojournalists presenting their works in Yerevan's centre for contemporary arts - NPAK.

Including in the exhibit are the works by my favourite Nazik Armenakyan, from her "Transgenders in Armenia" photo-project, documenting the lives of transgender or transvestite sex workers.

Transgenders are a big part of my project about LGBT people in Armenia. Photographing transgender sex workers was a shock at first— unreal or, more accurately, surreal. I was shaken: they weren’t just a found object in photographic terms. It was a phenomenon that contradicted and negated all my previously held notions of man and woman.

[Read the full interview with Nazik Armenakyan here: http://www.fotoevidence.com/nazik-armenakian]

Also presented is Anush Babjanyan with her "special women" / 'inlandish' project.

“I am a woman who is not accepted by the society,” out of all the women I photographed, none would say this or anything similar. Yet every time any of them walks along the street people look with amazement. And I would look at them just as everyone else. There was strange interest and respect I felt towards them, so I decided to get to know them closer, talk to them, and take their photo. (photo story)

Below is a video report from the exhibit by RFE/RL Armenia service (AM):

Soviet prisoners: criminal tattoo as "secret code language"

I posted about Russian Criminal Tattoo encyclopaedia and related small exhibit of photographs "Bodies As Text" in London.

The photo above I spotted recently in Saatchi gallery (London) as part of broader exhibit of Russian (ex-Soviet) art.

More about the author Sergei Vasiliev here: "Taken between 1989 and 1993, Sergei Vasiliev’s photographs of Soviet prisoners document the secret code language of criminals in the USSR, evidence of a gritty spirit of picaresque resistance within a violently repressive culture."

Homoerotic photo-exhibit of Turkish wrestlers “Ottoman Fight Club” in London

I missed this exhibit in London but below are selected pics (& quotes) of Jamie McLeod’s mainly black and white portraits of Turkish wrestlers “Ottoman Fight Club”. (via Dalston Superstore and Jamie McLeod)

This exhibit was Time Out London “critics’ choice” for gay-themed events last week.

***
“I was interested in portraits and capturing the character and not documenting the actual sport.” comments McLeod.

“These images are not mere homoerotic fantasy pictures in the vein of Bruce Weber but an in-depth study of Turkish ethnicity and male sexuality through the body. “I’m interested in the sensuality of the male physique and the mystery of the face, and the hidden surprise behind the eyes” McLeod says. “I’m also fascinated by civilization and heritage. In Turkey you will find the classic Arabic-type face, Ottoman, Asiatic, Kurdish, Gypsy, Greek, Roman, Jewish and Georgian-type faces – all of which encompass the country’s rich and diverse cultural and heritage. Turkey is the stepping-stone between Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East so there is a strong mix of all these people.”

[Unzipped: Gay Armenia - I wonder if the artist is actually able to discern between all these “face types” and if he has any perception of “Armenian-type face” :)]

“It is not possible to discern what era these photographs were taken, as there is no reference to the modern day world, the photographs look and feel as if they could have been taken anytime over the last 100 years. McLeod is also enchanted by how brutal and beautiful they are –with their cast of non-classical semi-nudes captured like the warriors and heroes that McLeod believes them to be.

[...] The way Turkish men and boys interact with each other, massaging and caressing and laying together resting after the games and before fights. Male tenderness between each other is common in the Middle East and, quite often, it is only an expression of brotherly love – but it is something men in the west are scared to express without being labelled homosexual, McLeod believes.

“When Westerners see my photos they normally ask me if this is a gay festival and I laugh and say, sadly, no. It’s amazing to think just because men can express open affection towards each other through the way we would normally express it in heterosexuality, we conclude they are homosexual of which most of them are not. However the issue of sexuality in Turkey and the Middle East remains complicated.”

Ida Kar - Armenian "bohemian photographer"- fashionista

She is described by The Guardian as “bohemian photographer who made history”. Works of Armenian photographer Ida Kar are currently on a high profile display at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Don't miss it if you can (until 19 June 2011).

Look at the glasses she wears on this picture I spotted at the exhibit. Very trendy by current standards too. Ida Kar, the fashionista, I'd say :)

Related on Unzipped:

YES! Armenian “bohemian photographer who made history” Ida Kar restrospective at the National Portrait Gallery in London

P.S. Ida Kar - Armenian "bohemian photographer" at National Portrait Gallery in London

Photostory by Svetlana Antonyan ('Ocean') on A1+: artist, gay, society...

Parajanov: imprisonment and prison art, British Film Institute, London

Pictures from an intimate exhibit at the British Film Institute, part of Parajanovian Festival in London, March 2010 (from my archives). They detail his imprisonment and prison art.

Riot, nudity... a very Armenian day in London gallery by artist Karen Grigoryan

It was a very strange, weird day in London. For the first time in decades, students riot erupted, clashes with police, surreal scenes you are more likely to see in Paris or Athens, but not in a more restrained London.

What this had to do with the exhibition of Armenian artist Karen Grigoryan in London, you may wonder? Well, there were some direct and indirect connections.

The opening of the exhibition coincided with the students riot, and the artist JUST managed to make it to his own exhibition, getting stuck in a travel chaos. Armenian fate :)

The exhibition - that contained some ‘risky’ images - was accompanied by Karen’s music, pomegranate wine and abundance of Armenian dry fruits and sweets.

It was an intimate affair, with a touch of class.

All exhibits were up for sale with the proceeds to go to the charity supported by the artist to buy Christmas presents for children in Gavar orphanage (Armenia).

P.S. Thanks to Karen for his present: CD album Emotions, a compilation of selected songs by songwriter-artist. I am listening to it while writing this post.

Garik Martirosyan in drag

This unconventional image of popular Russia-based Armenian showman (Comedy Club) Garik Martirosyan was unveiled at the exhibition in Moscow by Russian artist Ekaterina Rozhdestvenskaya.

*picture - via MIGnews

Interview with Melissa Boyajian: "In Between: (re)Negotiating Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality"

Via Queering Yerevan, interview with Melissa Boyajian, Armenian artist from Boston who featured In Between: (re)Negotiating Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality at the Allegheny College Art Galleries.

Melissa Boyajian

Odalisque for Said, 2006

Image courtesy of the artist

(for full interview, follow the links above):

VG: Why did you use a beard in this image and not a mustache?

MB: I don't know if I am being too simple saying that I was working with the idea of the 'bearded lady.' The beard did not signify anything religious or anything from Bear culture. The bearded lady, however, aside from being a subject of laughter, ridicule or "schizonphrenic" subject with "gender confusion" problems, is also an individual pushing the boundaries of gender and normality that is appreciated in the queer community. Such as circus entertainer, writer and bearded lady Jennifer Miller.
[...]
VG: Do you see gender as binary?

MB: I see gender as performative and fluid, no binary at all.

[...] I have a group of gay friends in Armenia anyway. So I have different identities for different cultures. I go to Armenia every few years. My work also deals with this -- with the sexism and homophobia in Armenian culture.

Faces of LGBT activists from Armenia - Zaruhi Shushanyan

Zaruhi Shushanyan from Armenia (We For Civil Equality NGO) was chosen as the face of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO) for the exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the organisation. She was among the representatives of 15 countries on display, including Georgia and Turkey.

Here is what Zaruhi has to say (via IGLYO website):  

“I believe that there are people who were born to change the world. I am the one who attempts to help activists in their mission.

I urge people in my country to care about others who "differ" from them.”

Well done, Zaruhi. I am proud of you.

This is the second instance when a female activist from Armenia is chosen for the international LGBT rights, anti-discrimination initiatives. (First example - Lilit Poghosyan)

About the exhibition: “In July 2009, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO) celebrated its 25th anniversary with an international LGBTQ activist conference in Amsterdam, bringing together more than 80 activists from all regions of the world. The exhibition “Faces of IGLYO” consists of portraits some of these activists. It reflects the manifold backgrounds, experiences and people within the international LGBTQ community.”

“Very often, their personal efforts and sacrifices go unnoticed in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. This exhibition is also meant to act as a space for acknowledgement and recognition of the tremendously important contribution of each of these individual activists towards achieving equality for all LGBTQ people in all regions of the world.

On the occasion of IGLYO’s 25th birthday, Alex Muller has created portraits of 15 activists from all over the world. She is a self-taught photographer from Germany and considers photography a powerful tool of social activism. Her work mainly focuses on local and international activism around LGBT rights and health.”

“The struggles we face are unique in each country. However, what we share are our convictions, our knowledge and our passion.”

*picture - by IGLYO/ Alex Müller (via iglyo.com)

Exhibition in Yerevan aims at breaking masculinity stereotypes

...my congratulations to PINK Armenia. This is only the beginning. More to follow, have no doubts about it. Below are few pictures from the exhibit Masculinity: Breaking Stereotypes, thanks to Lara Aharonian. The exhibition will be displayed online too. More info - as and when... Big thanks to artists, activists, media representatives, and Norwegian government for supporting the exhibition.

Tert. am and PanARMENIAN.Net posted an info about the exhibit.  

Aysor.am publishes an interview with Mamikon Hovsepyan of PINK Armenia, as well as provides an info on the exhibit itself and its three winners.