The USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies announced the publication of “Collective Voices,” a zine featuring original writing and art about Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). An experimental magazine, or “zine,” is a print media format that affords creativity in both content and presentation, unbound from traditional publishing structures.
The project originated at “Artsakh Uprooted: Aftermaths of Displacement,” the Institute’s multidisciplinary symposium in November 2024. In the spirit of that groundbreakingprogram, “Collective Voices” harnesses cultural production to amplify Armenian stories and experiences.
The 56-page publicationwas led by Institute Managing Director Maral Tavitian and edited by Raffi Joe Wartanian, Poet Laureate for the City of Glendale and Lecturer in the Writing Programs at UCLA. Nooneh Khoodaverdyan completed the graphic design and layout.
The zine derives its name from “community poetics,” a term Wartanian uses to describe the process of assembling written reflections from participants. At “Artsakh Uprooted,” the Institute invited him to organize a table where attendees submitted their responses to the event. Those contributions were compiled into two poems––in English and Armenian––that reflect the communal voice of those who gathered for the program.
In addition to poetry, the zine consists of essays, photography, and artwork that honor the cultural heritage and memory of Artsakh. As with the symposium that inspired its creation, “Collective Voices” centers the experiences of the people of Artsakh. In “Eyes, That Look for the Mountains,” Stepanakert-born journalist Lika Zakaryan describes with searing prose the experience of living as a refugee among people with whom she shares an ethnic identity, but not a home.
“Each house is different, yet they all share one thing in common—they are not ours,” Zakaryan writes. “They are houses, but never homes. Perhaps we will never find a place again where we feel truly at home.”
In “No Mail Left to Stamp,” Institute’s Chitjian Researcher Archivist Gegham Mughnetsyan preserves for posterity a collection of stamps issued by Artsakh Post, the former republic’s postal service.
Images from photographer Alexis Pazoumian’s “Exodus” series document the forced displacement of the people of Artsakh, each portrait showcasing the fragments of home that refugees brought with them to Armenia.
In her introduction, Tavitian writes that “Collective Voices” advances the Institute’s larger vision to bring Armenian stories to the forefront of global discourse––to “ensure that even as homelands are made invisible on political maps, people and their experiences remain visible.”
The project was supported by the Divisional Dean for the Social Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. “Collective Voices” will be available for public access via the Institute’s reference library.
In its use of creative multimedia formats for education and public engagement, the Institute expands the scope and reach of Armenian Studies, touching diverse audiences.
On Wednesday, April 30 at 6 p.m., celebrate the launch of “Collective Voices” at the Institute. The program will include a conversation with the project team and readings of selected pieces from the publication. The event is free and open to the public––RSVP to attend.
The USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies is a hub of research and learning at USC that studies the contemporary Armenian diaspora and Republic of Armenia.
