Cultural Erasure in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh

“The Caucasian Albanian Palimpsest and Cultural Erasure in Nagorno-Karabakh“

A Panel Discussion Presented by the Zoravik Collective

Organized and Moderated by Dr. Laure Astourian
December 2, 2020

Video Documentation

See Also:
Lillian Avedian, “Web Panel Documents Cultural Erasure in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Armenian Weekly

From the Description:

As Dr. Christina Maranci’s November 2020 article in the Wall Street Journal states, in the aftermath of the recent Nagorno-Karabakh war, “cultural heritage [is] in the crosshairs once more.” Active destruction of Armenian churches in captured territories is already underway (most recently, the bell tower and dome of Kanach Zham church in Shushi). Moreover, it is part of a well-documented pattern of cultural genocide by Azerbaijan, including in the region of Nakhichevan, as reported in Hyperallergic and The Guardian.

In its physical and narrative erasure of the ancient, indigenous Armenian presence in the region, one of the tools used by the Azerbaijani state is the Caucasian Albanian theory, which is instrumentalized in various ways (affirmation of Azerbaijani history, physical erasure of Armenian traces in the region, re-labeling of Armenian churches as “Caucasian Albanian”).

This panel explores the actual Caucasian Albanian history around Nagorno-Karabakh and highlights the ways in which it is manipulated by the Azerbaijani state in its well-documented cultural erasure of the Armenian presence in the region.

Speakers:
Yelena Ambartsumian, Esq., Founder, OrigenArt.com
Dr. Vahé Tachjian, Chief Editor, Houshamadyan
Dr. Mashinka Firunts Hakopian, Senior Researcher, Berggruen Institute
Moderator:
Dr. Laure Astourian, Assistant Professor of French, Bentley University

Images: Presentation Slides.