Nostos: War, Identity, and Peace
NOSTOS: WAR, IDENTITY AND PEACE
Dedicated to the Women of Artsakh
One week before the war (27.09.2020-09.11.2020)
Researcher's Thoughts and Hopes
December 2020
Preface
At the end of April 2013, I left for Shushi for the opening of my photographic exhibit "My heart is in the highlands''. The town surprised me. It was shrouded in fog. The angels of Ghazanchetsots Cathedral were thoughtful and silent. Nobody and nothing were seen. The time stopped. After the exhibition I ''left my heart'' in Shushi and returned to Yerevan.
Who knew that in seven years, Shushi would be foggy again, this time in eternity. Alas, alas, alas ....
The birth of the project idea
During the last three years working in the field of safeguarding cultural heritage at crossfires in the Netherlands and Cyprus, a need has arisen to expand the research horizons and engage in a peace-building mission. After registering "Action for Peace" NGO in Armenia, I left for Artsakh with the first project ''Nostos: War, Identity and Peace. Dedicated to the Women of Artsakh'' on the 21st of August 2020. My work in Artsakh for a month was productive, however the situation got gloomy when a week after my return to Yerevan the war started in Nagorno-Karabakh. In these new circumstances the results have been of historic significance.
I interviewed 42 women, from the minister to the women living in a peripheria, visited different regions and cities of Artsakh. The set of interviews was completed by the portraits of the project heroes and the photos of the historical places of Artsakh. In order to have a comprehensive work, I interviewed four prominent male representatives of Artsakh about the women's role in Artsakh social life.
The key provisions that form the core of our identity are not subject to change, they can be further developed, deepened, expressing our inner world's folds. different After the end of the war the people of Artsakh return home, return their homeland.
Historically "nostos" (Ancient Greek: νόστος) means ''return home''.
Angel of Peace
From Desert Generations to Independence Generations
Pre-war Artsakh, the 9th of September 2020. I gave a lecture "Angel of Peace" for students at Artsakh State University.
A prayer of the mother of the soldier protecting the borders of Artsakh is an angel of peace,
A smile of Artsakh child is an angel of peace,
A blue sky of Artsakh is an angel of peace,
Armenian soul that remembers the heroes of Artsakh is an angel of peace,
Artsakh is the angel of peace and unity of all Armenians.
War, Identity and Peace through the thoughts and words of the heroes of the project
FYI. The names of the project heroes have been coded for the security reasons.
The Artsakh wars were a struggle for the nation's self-determination and preservation of identity. What is identity for an Armenian? Speaking Armenian, living in the homeland, praying in Armenian Church, finding eternal peace in the Armenian Highlands.....but let's see what the people of Artsakh think.
#007_2020 '' Looking back on the past, the war (1991-1994 MM) remained in my perceptions of a fragmented childhood, a broken youth, at least with a vision of pride and light towards the future. I think our generation lived through all the hardships of the war, but on the other hand, this war, no matter how hard it was for us, it was a period of spirit, will, unity, an inexplicable and unspeakable love, the integration period in our history. As much as I remember those days with pain and anxiety, there are so many bright, so proud moments that to some extent today the war is remembered with a sadness of past pain, but with a great charge of pride and unspeakable strength of will!''
An Armenian woman fought together with an Armenian man. # 005_2020:
''We had a lot of losses during the Artsakh war (1991-1994 - MM), but our women did not hesitate to take up arms together with the men and fight for homeland independence!'' Yes, during those difficult years ''soul, Armenian soul, a power of soul saved us!'' (# 005_2020).
However, it should be noted that ''Armenian is a peace-loving person by nature, Armenian does not want a war, he just takes up arms to protect the lives of his children, his home, his homeland, so that he is not massacred again. If Armenians are faced with a choice: pen or weapon, shovel or weapon, construction or weapon, of course the weapon is in the last place. But we are not given a choice. We are forced to take up arms to defend our homeland!'' (# 009_2020)
The young Armenians who were born after the first Artsakh war perceive independent Artsakh as a reality. These interviews occupy a special place in the database of interviews. The genetic memory, the memories of the parents created a solid basis for patriotism, that the young generation participated in the volunteer work during the four-day war in 2016. However, it should be noted that intergenerational trauma also left its mark on the hearts of young people.
# 030_2020: "My mother was seventeen years old when the first Artsakh war started. I was seventeen when the April war (2016-MM) started!''
Yes, history repeats itself.
# 033_2020: '' When we did not have electricity, we were sitting in the darkness, lighting a candle and asking:''Dad, tell us how itwas to flee Sumgait! Those moments are vividly remembered.'' Such impressive memories seem to be a prayer, a prayer for peace.
Our young Armenians are well aware that "all this happens at the cost of the blood of our soldiers" (# 040_2020). '' Our mothers lost their sons and daughters. Let's not have losses anymore! (# 027_2020).
As a war sharpens our feelings, so it deepens patriotism and faith. It is an inexplicable consolation that during the first Artsakh war the Armenians were baptized in Gandzasar monastery. "
I was christened and went to the war with the cross" (# 044_2020).
And today we pray for our martyred heroes - "the blood traces in tulips, the souls in the sky" (# 032_2020).
Yes, the war unites the nation.
# 008_2020. '' Lord Merciful, Lord Merciful, Lord Merciful,
Give peace to the world,
Love to the Armenian nation, Unite the Armenian people
And unite everyone, everyone, everyone!''
One of the components of the united nation is the religious-national identity. There are no wings without roots. Yes, wings. Armenian eagles can not fly without these wings. During the Soviet era identity was considered in the light of language, but independent Armenia made it possible to establish identity through the spirit of faith. It inspires and gives a hope that the young Armenian woman from Artsakh says with a smile, prayer and love. "Our church is our identity. Finally one of my dreams came true, I was christened''. (# 028_2020)
A soul is comforted because ''without God's light and blessings it is impossible to win'' (#028_2020)
Identity and faith shape patriotism. # 022_2020: "There is no book heroism here, patriotism is a way of life!"
An Armenian woman seeds patriotism in the hearts of her children by love, an ability to preserve the hearth. The Armenian women not only kept the war rear, but also fought on the frontlines. Home keeps our identity, home is a part of the homeland, a smoke of home is our heartbeat. ''...The swallow-tailed fences of Tigranakert fortress, the 0,5-ton stones dated to the Hellenistic period, this is ours, and it is clear who we are, what techniques was used by our ancestors to defend this land, how they loved it that such defensive walls were built to protect the homeland. Therefore, it is my duty to continue that defense! (# 002_2020).
The protection of this sacred land:''It is impossible to flatten us, because we live in a country with strong civilizational values. As we dig the field, it turns out that there is a civilization underneath . The mausoleum is an early Christian, ancient pottery, thus we live in a wonderful country! (# 022_2020).
The people of Artsakh dream about peace, the land where peace and war step together. "Artsakh is the citadel of the Armenians" (# 035_2020)
Peace is a must for the blossoming of this country. "Home is a biography of my nation, my family" (# 044_2020).
May this biography always be portrayed in a peaceful way.