From November 12-16, at the Yeghishe Charents House-Museum, the group exhibition Pariahs: Performing Europe’s Historical Memory took place. The project was a community-driven, participatory collaboration aimed at exploring the historical memory of each community involved. It included a two-year research phase focused on uncovering and exploring these memories.
The exhibition reflected the memories of individuals who emigrated from Cilicia (Aintab, Marash, Urfa, etc.) in 1915, enduring the hardships of displacement while preserving distinctive forms of Cilician embroidery and lacework. Initially settling in places like Aleppo, they maintained, reproduced, and revitalized these crafts, ultimately passing them down to the next generation upon their return to Armenia.
The works presented in the exhibition were a study and validation of research materials and community memories. At times gentle, at other times fragile, and at times static and bold, the pieces were displayed alongside archival materials, serving as a stimulus for the ripples of endurance. Through innovative and enlightening transformations and solutions, the bleak experiences of exile sharpened the past towards the future, finding the thread that bound the still-surviving sprouts.
The curator of the exhibition was Lilit Stepanyan.
The exhibition was part of the interdisciplinary project Pariahs: Performing Europe’s Historical Memory, launched in 2023. Through community engagement and artistic practices, it unveiled untold and collective memories of marginalized individuals who, often unintentionally, shaped communities and gradually contributed to the formation of historical memory.
The project is co-financed by the EU’s Creative Europe program. More information about the project and the exhibition could be found on www.todayart.org and www.pariahs.eu.
Photos by @Anton Khlabov.
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