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Day: June 24, 2024
Anoush Tatevossian, Rob Paravonian, Aida Zilelian, Alan Semerdjian, Lisa Yapp, Justin McElwee, Anoush Froundjian and Tamar Vezirian (l-r)
On June 8, 2024, the Tumanyan Storytelling initiative’s co-founder Anoush Tatevossian and NYC-based author Aida Zilelian, co-hosted “An Evening of Armenian Storytellers” at the Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice in Manhattan.
This was the first event of its kind in New York, showcasing the art of oral first-person storytelling. With an audience of approximately 70 attendees, the standing-room-only event offered an intimate and joyful opportunity to hear from six talented artists who shared their personal stories of the Armenian-American diasporan experience.
Anoush Tatevossian opened the event by sharing the story of the founding of the Tumanyan International Storytelling Festival (www.tumanyanstoryfest.com) in the aftermath of the 2020 war in Armenia. It is a new cultural initiative dedicated to re-connecting contemporary audiences with the rich tradition of storytelling and serves as a platform for both preserving culture and enabling the creation of new Armenian narratives. Co-organizer Aida Zilelian shared a reflection on reconnecting with distant cousins who she came to find were connected to her Armenian family roots through shared traditions.
Anoush Froundjian told a story of marrying a non-Armenian and the process of having him baptized as an adult so they could be married in the Armenian church.
Rob Paravonian tells a story about discovering old photos from his father’s trip to Soviet Armenia
Rob Paravonian reflected upon his recent discovery of photo slides from his father’s visit to Soviet Armenia. He told a story of how his uncle was a missionary Christian who visited Soviet Armenia and one of the few linkages he has to the country and culture.
Tamar Vezirian, who was born in Lebanon and whose family came to the U.S. during the civil war, told a story of breaking away from her Armenian upbringing by coming to New York as a young adult, only to befriend and move in with an elderly Armenian woman who reminded her exactly of her own family dynamics.
Lisa Yapp told a both comedic and touching story of being Armenian in the melting pot that is the United States and how melancholic it can be to try and maintain “tradition for one” over generations, as she is the last of her family members left with a linkage to her Armenian heritage.
Storyteller Lisa Yapp describes her efforts at keeping Armenian family traditions alive in America
Justin McElwee, the non-Armenian husband of Anoush Froundjian, rounded out the night with his own reflections and comedic story of meeting Anoush’s large Armenian family.
Finally, singer-songwriter and poet Alan Semerjian played two original songs on guitar, culminating in bringing the audience together to sing along in a moment of harmony and unity.
Feedback from attendees and participants was overwhelmingly positive, and discussions are already underway about hosting a second edition later this year due to popular demand. Tumanyan Storytelling is grateful for the support of the Atamian-Hovsepian Curatorial Practice, and AGBU Arts and NAASR for their sponsorship.
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Guest Contributor
Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.
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Categories
Curfew in Stepanakert
Cloud over Stepanakert, May 2023 (Wikimedia Commons)
Once more, tanks,
leaning their black old bulks
against the hopeless face
of posterity
which, already, hasn’t spoken to us
for these many years…
Tanks painted in fading shades,
faces shaved in springtime, the unfolding street horizon is now shod
with the conscripts’ rising tobacco smoke
I lay down next to the murmur
of the fountain’s mountain water,
three shadows wrapped in greatcoats
merge and lie down beside me,
their motorcars polished
hard as totalitarian lands,
and gun-barrels chilling as the eyes of fish.
As the day fades fast, this anguish
suggests a photoplay in black-and-white,
where the curfew herds people homeward
like so many dolls, hollow, ragged, leaving behind — as a microscopic sign of hope — the phosphorus of tyranny nailed to the sparks made by marching boots.
Today is the third day of curfew
and all must prim and be proper, hair combed,
all must clip short the nails of revolt,
everyone must dream in sameness of color
and similarity of trend,
all must respect the letter of the state,
which is far away, beyond misty steppes,
dispatching to us only its red light, as a sign of love
from its one-eyed, cyclopic tower —
plus the summons of November,
that shed their clothes in the icy clime
and become all fang and thorn
and swift bayonet, if met with scorn.
Traces of nails and dagger on walls adjacent to jails,
while the blood of the tortured is dried quickly
with the steamy breath of political prayer
and howls rising from Turkey.
Here, where bodies fell,
a strange bird appeared, pecking at its own pace
at something or other that we couldn’t quite place,
as the trees outside at the sight of me
scatter up the street in a big hurry, as in the fierce cold foliage flutters,
shivering, as if it’s my turn as an offering.
By Artem Harutiunian
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
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Tatul Sonentz-Papazian
Tatul Sonentz-Papazian is the former editor of the Armenian Review and director of the ARF and First Republic of Armenia Archives, based in Watertown, Mass. He has been a contributor to the Armenian Weekly for over 50 years. He currently directs the Publications Department of the Armenian Relief Society.
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SAN DIEGO, Calif.—California attorney Aynur Baghirzade — who came to prominence earlier this year for publicly calling Armenia a “carcinoma” that needed to be “deleted” — has filed a lawsuit seeking half a billion dollars in damages from the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and others that she claimed have misrepresented views and damaged her professional reputation. Her 58-page filing was submitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on June 21.
Baghirzade’s filing is available here.
According to her filing, Baghirzade received her green card in 2016 as “a professional with advanced degree and outstanding ability (EB-2 with National Interest Waiver), and moved to the United States on a permanent basis in 2021, after pandemic.” She has been active on X (formerly Twitter), drawing attention for repeated racist calls for the eradication of Armenians from the Caucasus region. The ANCA has flagged her most egregious posts for the California State Bar Association, requesting a review of her standing as a licensed lawyer.
Baghirzade’s website reports she earned a law degree from Baku State University and graduated with honors and L.L.M. degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
The full listing of defendants is as follows: Alphabet Inc., Aram Hamparian, Armen Sahakyan, Armenian National Committee of America, Armenian National Committee of American Western Region, Attorney Search Network, Coco Su, Estrella Sanchez, Google, Inc., Jake Baloian, Jeremy Stoppelman, Legal Match, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association Smartlaw Lawyer Referral Services, Martindale-Nolo, Orange County Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service & Information Service, Seth Chavez, Teresa Vuki, Trudy Levindofske and Yelp, Inc.
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