Trainings, Queer Talks and Discussions on Transgender Issues

In February, PINK Armenia conducted trainings on Social Justice with 32 attendees, and hosted several events for LGBTQ people. During the newly initiated Queer Talk series, participants form their own agenda for discussions. “Queer identity” and the first Armenian LGBT novel by Armen Ohanyan-Mommyland:Flag, about three friends: Nar, a transvestite who has been beaten and kicked out of his home for wearing women’s clothing; Sam and Ando, gay men whose romance ends with Sam’s death in the army, were discussed in February. During a discussion on transgender issues, trans people, together with their fellow LGBQ friends, discussed the challenges and discrimination they face both from the wider society and the LGBQ community. Overall, 58 LGBTQ people took part in events organized in February.

The Biggest LGBTQ Gathering in Armenia Featuring a Drag Show

Taking into consideration requests from many LGBTQ community members, PINK organized a safe space for LGBTQ people to come together, express themselves openly and enjoy an exciting Drag Show. The event was attended by about 250 LGBTQ people and allies, which made it the biggest gathering in Armenia so far. The event was also significant because of the considerable number of transgender people in attendance.  Rejoicing, however, is almost always interrupted with the next instances of injustice and violence when it comes to LGBTQ people in Armenia, as soon following the celebration an attack took place on LGBT activists in Yerevan.

Aregnazan or Magical World

Magical World is a video adaptation of an epic fairytale originally written by Armenian writer Ghazaros Aghayan. Melissa Boyajian and Arpi Adamyan reinterpret the story through futuristic visuals combining high definition video and animation.

The project will be debuted this August in Yerevan at “In and Between the (Re)public,” the 2013 happening of the QY Collective. In supporting this film you will give us the opportunity to rent professional equipment needed for the production of the film as well as to pay and feed the cast and crew during our shoots. Depending on what amount of money you donate, you will receive a gift of either a button, a screen-printed original t-shirt, poster, HD DVD of the film, or a combination of these items.

Arpi Adamyan (b. 1985) is a multi-media graphic, photomontage, and video artist residing in Yerevan. She received her MFA in Graphic Arts from the Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts in 2008. Her work engages in the creation of queer and feminist spaces, alternative realms and parallel realities that exist in and between narrative, culture, and history.

Melissa Boyajian (b. 1980) is a multimedia artist working in photography, video, installation and performance art from Boston, MA, USA, currently living in Yerevan, Armenia. She received her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2009 and her BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell in 2003. Her work encompasses issues of post-colonial identity, cultural erasure, gender queerness, the control of knowledge as power and interpersonal power dynamics.

Read about this project and interview with Apri and Melissa in IANYAN Magazine: "Magical World: 19th Century Armenian Fairy Tale Gets Animated."

Join this project, only few days left. You can donate to the project at www.indiegogo.com/projects/magical-world