Literary Activism
This week our Programme Manager, Dr. Nik Matheou, sat down in conversation with Dr. Özlem Belçim Galip, a Kurdish academic with experience studying Armenian and Kurdish identities, social movements and representations. Led into the field through her Armenian tattoo, Özlem has published multiple books and continues to observe and document the range of relationships between politics and identity. Comparing Kurdish and Armenian relationships in the present day has opened space for greater understanding of how they came to be this way, with the difficulties of the past often previously used as divisive techniques but now increasingly overcome in both communities. The Armenian Institute is a London based charity dedicated to making Armenian culture and history a lived experience through innovative programmes, educational resources, workshops, lectures, exhibits and performances. This year we present Zanazan: an umbrella title covering our upcoming media output, from online publications (link to website) to podcast series. Zanazan Sounds is a project that aims to explore shared histories, learn about contemporary Armenian worlds and create new ones. Zanazan (meaning “variety” in Armenian) is also the title of our latest online publication where photo essays, articles and poetry from around the world can be found. We aim to publish twice a month, taking a different angle each week as we explore our three podcasting strands: Discover, Treasures From The Library and Uncover. You can follow our social media accounts for updates in between episodes. To get involved with AI you can find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you’d like to reach out, or to discuss anything you’ve heard in this series, feel free to email us anytime at [email protected] Our music is a unique composition of Paraglider by Danya Vodovoz and Shadow by Buddha’s Lounge.