From this side

Unlike the snow-covered, gloomy provincial town where the murders of Orhan Pamuk’s imagination took place, the Kars that welcomed my friend and me on our short trip to Western Armenia was warm, lively, and hospitable; enough to set my soul at ease, after a tumultuous arrival in the country. 

Every night, a beautiful Armenian maiden named Tamar would wave a light from Akhtamar Island’s shore in the direction of her lover, who would then swim to her from the mainland to reunite in silence. But Tamar was a princess and the boy, a commoner. When her father found out about their secret meetings, his anger got the best of him. As Tamar was lighting her lover’s way, her father approached her and blew out the light. Without a glow to guide him across Lake Van, the boy drowned in the darkness of the night, wailing, “Akh, Tamar!” (“Oh, Tamar!”). 

Many lists float around the Interweb for everything from the "Top 10 Reasons to Recycle" to the "11 Best Pizza Toppings, Ranked." Though environmental conservation and delicious pizza are no doubt important, there also exist a range of topics that have not yet been explored, uncovered, or synthesized on the web. To date, no such user-friendly resource exists for visiting the western half of our historic homeland, which we commonly refer to as Western Armenia, but is located today within the confines of the Republic of Turkey. A land that, for over two millennia, teemed with Armenian culture has been all but relegated to our dreams, with few Armenians ever having visited the towns and villages of their ancestors in the past century. We hope to change that with this guide...and with your help!

They say that music is the universal language, harmonizing humanity through the cadence of melody and the pulse of rhythm. Passed down through the centuries by storytellers, our folk songs have endured wars, migrations, genocide, and a host of other catastrophes, becoming the ultimate survivors of history. The new documentary, "Վերապրած երգեր | Survival Songs" tells the story of some of these songs through their children—our elders—and the importance of keeping them alive for following generations.

Inspired by his recent participation in Hamazkayin ArtLinks 2019, Los Angeles-based comedy writer and magician Missak Artinian (AKA Magic Missak, AKA the Armenian Channing Tatum) shares his story "Between bowls"—his pursuit of identity, self-discovery, and the perfect bowl of soup...

Grammy Award-winning Turkish-Armenian avant-garde folk artist, Arto Tunçboyaciyan, has been reinventing the modern Armenian folk genre for the past few decades. Though not a cover, the song "Here's To You Ararat," released with his group, the Armenian Navy Band, tells of Arto’s love for Mount Ararat, once in Armenia, now in Turkey.

"Ani" is a name I grew up around. It is the name of my sister and aunt. It was the name of a city I had heard so many things about, and had dreamed of visiting