Onnik Krikorian | Journalist, Photojournalist

BBC Azeri Publishes Sayat Nova Project Photo Story

admin — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:02:49 +0000

BBC Azeri has published my short photo story on The Sayat Nova Project. The photo story in Azerbaijani is here while English captions are available on my Tumblr.

The Sayat Nova Project: Masoumeh Jamalinia, Iranian Setar Player

admin — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:49:03 +0000

Masoumeh Jamalinia, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

When an email from Masoumeh Jamalinia, a young Iranian living in Tbilisi, appeared on a mailing list informing subscribers of a Novruz event it seemed only natural to follow up asking for more details. As it happened, the celebration of the holiday often referred to as the Persian New Year, was likely to be a pop concert, but the correspondence with Masoumeh also revealed that she played a traditional instrument, the setar.

Setar (Persian: سه‌تار‎, from seh, meaning “three” and tār, meaning “string”) is a Persian musical instrument. It is a member of the lute family, which is played with index finger of the right hand. Two and a half centuries ago, a fourth string was added to setar. it has 25 – 27 moveable frets which are usually made of animal intestines or silk. It originated in Persia before the spread of Islam.

The Sayat Nova Project’s Ben Wheeler plays Masoumeh Jamalinia’s setar as Stefan Williamson Fa looks on, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

Naturally, this was also of interest to The Sayat Nova Project and we soon arranged a meeting with her so that they could record her playing, and I could photograph everything for a feature story on the ethno-musicology project. And where else to meet? Of course, the rather ornate and relaxing Gulansharo Persian Tea House in Tbilisi’s old town.

Masoumeh Jamalinia, Persian Tea House, Tbilisi, Georgia from Onnik Krikorian on Vimeo.

Incidentally, talking of the Sayat Nova Project, Ben Wheeler has uploaded an introduction to the project in the form of a outline, Mountains of Music: Musical Dialects & Hybridisms in the South Caucasus , which will eventually turn into a major academic paper, I suspect. I’ve also posted some video of Masoumeh taken with a compact above, but unfortunately not the greatest quality.

Masoumeh Jamalinia, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

The Sayat Nova Project: The Ubiquitous Zurna

admin — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 08:37:20 +0000

Ethnic Azeri Engagement Party, Tazakendi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

The ubiquitous zurna, perhaps my favorite instrument to be heard almost everywhere in the South Caucasus, especially among Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Kurds in the region. Typified by its high pitch sound, the instrument is perhaps the only one loud enough to allow me photograph musicians playing it at the same time as the Sayat Nova Project record it. This from Wikipedia:

The zurna (also called surnay, birbynė, lettish horn, surla, sornai, dili tuiduk, zournas, zurma), is a multinational outdoor wind instrument, usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Anatolian folk music. The name is derived from Turkish zurna, itself derived from Persian سرنای surnāy,[1][2] composed of سور sūr “banquet, feast” and نای nāy “reed, pipe”. [...]

[...] Zurnas are also used in the folk music of the countries in the region, especially Turkey, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kurdistan, Greece, Assyria, Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and the other Caucasian countries, and has now spread throughout China, and Eastern Europe. [...]

Anyway, following last weekend’s visit with the Sayat Nova Project to record Ashig Garib, the day ended in the nearby village of Tazakendi, also ethnic Azeri, and zurna players at an engagement party. Some photographs from yours truly. Sound from The Sayat Nova Project above.

Ethnic Azeri Engagement Party, Tazakendi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

The Sayat Nova Project: Ashig Garib, Ethnic Azeri Musician

admin — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:06:15 +0000

Ashik Garib, Algeti, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

The Caucasus being as small as it is, with each component country even smaller, I had photographed Ashig Garib, a 75-year-old ethnic Azeri Ashig, at last year’s Novruz celebration in Marneuli, Georgia. However, it was obviously something else to get to visit the saz virtuoso in his native village of Algeti, just a short bus ride from the mainly ethnic Azeri town, with The Sayat Nova Project. They introduce readers to Ashig Garib and the art of the ashigs on their blog:

Simply discussing the correct spelling of this term gives you some idea of its trans-Caucasian nature and this figure’s importance to the different peoples of the region. It has six spelling, not including the English: Azerbaijani: Aşıq, Turkish: Aşık, Persian: عاشیق‎, Armenian: Աշուղ (ashugh), Georgian: აშუღი (ashughi). In western terms the position this title denotes is the equivalent of a bard or a troubadour: someone who incorporates playing, singing, and poetry. In Tbilisi’s old city there is a monument to Sayat Nova, the Bard of the Caucasus, which in Georgian reads: თბილისის დიდი აშუღი (directly translated: Tbilisi’s big Ashig).

In Azerbaijan, the classical repertoire of Ashiqs “includes 200 songs, 150 literary-musical compositions, nearly 2,000 poems and numerous stories.” Ashigs play the Azeri saz, an instrument distinct from the Turkish saz due to its larger body, its playing style (held horizontal against the chest), and brighter tone.

[...]

Garib was born and raised in Algeti. He is 75 years old and has been playing since he was in his late teens. Not only is he a venerated performer (he carries in his wallet a photograph of a certificate from the Georgian government, signed by Misha himself, in which he was declared a national “cultural landmark”); he had also succeeded in pretty much single-handedly replacing the region’s only music school, acting as mentor and teacher to all of the region’s many ashigs–some of whom we were soon to meet. Garib, as far as we could tell, spoke no Georgian and very minimal Russian which was so accented it was incomprehensible to us.

There’s more from the Sayat Nova Project on their Facebook page, and I’ll be uploading more photographs of my travels and discoveries with them on my own.

Ashik Garib, Algeti, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

The Sayat Nova Project: Sergo Kamalov, Ethnic Armenian Musician

admin — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:52:42 +0000

Sergo Kamalov, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

New for 2013 is an ongoing project documenting the wonderfully entitled Sayat Nova Project. Named after the 18th Century ethnic Armenian troubadour who wrote poems and music in Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian, and Persian, the project aims to document the ethno-musical traditions of the South Caucasus:

We are particularly lucky to be currently working and studying in Tbilisi. In addition to figuring as the geographic center of the Caucasus, Tbilisi is renowned for its status as the most culturally diverse city in the region. Historically, it has been home to large populations of Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Jews, Turks, and Persians—as well as Georgians. We live in Tbilisi, and the proximity to these different groups has already presented us with opportunities to record and interview Georgians, Kurds, Azeri Ashiks, Chechen refugees, and Kist people (Chechen’s who immigrated to Georgia after the fall of Imam Shamil in the 1870s).

With the Sayat Nova Project, We’re hoping to create a resource for anyone who’s interested in the music of the Caucasus and to include the input of academics and enthusiasts from every country in the region. [...]

My personal aim in documenting the project fits in with theirs, and not least because the diversity of culture in the region makes it all the more interesting and even more vibrant. I also plan to write a feature story on The Sayat Nova project and the musical traditions it uncovers. Their last trip which I accompanied them on was to an ethnic Azeri village to record a 75-year-old ethnic Azeri Ashig.

The first, however, was to the home of Sergo Kamalov, an 85-year-old Armenian traditional musician who also somewhat fittingly led the Sayat Nova Ensemble in his native Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia. This from their Facebook page:

Sergo is a living musical encyclopedia of of the South Caucasus playing kamanche, tar, clarinet, duduk and doli as well as singing in Georgian, Azerbaijani and his native Armenian. Another Sayat Nova of the 20th-21st Century! [...]

Video and sound samples of the project’s journey so far can be found here, while I’ll be posting some of the images so far on my Facebook page which can also be liked in the widget in the upper right of this page. Coming next, some photos of Ashig Garib in the ethnic Azeri village of Algeti, Georgia, as well as an ethnic Azeri engagement party in the nearby village of Tazakendi.

Sergo Kamalov, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2013

Aerial Views of Azerbaijan

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:06:02 +0000

Azerbaijan © Onnik Krikorian 2013

As I mentioned in my post of aerial photographs of Iran, shooting images from a two-layered glass window on a passenger airliner is not the best of situations, but some photographs of Azerbaijan taken from the air en route from Tbilisi, Georgia, to Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, before heading on to Doha, Qatar, and then Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to present my online work on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict at an intergovernmental seminar held under the remit of Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) and Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF). My talk was at the invitation of the U.S. State Department.

Although I had the possibility of visiting the country last year for five days, but had to cancel because of the Safarov extradition just two weeks earlier, such opportunities are rare given the ferocity of relations with Armenia. Basically, this is the closest I can get to Azerbaijan.

Ironically, despite being British-born and bred, with my maternal Uncle having even served as the British Army Colonel in command of the UNPROFOR logistics operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993, the severity of the ethnic hatred imposed upon citizens by political rhetoric means that my [Armenian] surname prevents me from being granted a visa through any normal means. Still, at least there are transit flights that mean I can at least fly to Azerbaijan en route to somewhere else even if I can’t get off the plane when it sits on the tarmac for an hour.

Larger images are available on my Facebook page to the right, but just a pity that cloud obscured the Caspian as we approached Baku. Next time perhaps…

Azerbaijan © Onnik Krikorian 2013

Aerial Views of Iran

admin — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:33:40 +0000

Iran © Onnik Krikorian 2013

I’ve just returned from four days in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, where I was invited by the U.S. State Department to present my work using online and social media — specifically my Armenia-Azerbaijan project — at a two day seminar on Communications and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) organized by the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) and Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF).

Although I’ve seen Iran from the ground behind the Armenian border, I wasn’t expecting such amazing views of the country from the air on the Baku-Dohar leg of my trip. Not exactly ideal to take photos from the side window of a passenger airliner, but breathtaking enough to post. Larger versions of the photos can be found on my Facebook page which you can find using the widget to the right.

I’ll be posting more photos of my trip to Abu Dhabi, and also some from a one day layover in Doha, Qatar, soon. Until then, previews will be available on my Facebook.

Iran © Onnik Krikorian 2013

The Children of Kharberd

admin — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:18:26 +0000

One focus of my work in Armenia has been poverty (see Armenia: Poverty, Transition, & Democracy http://www.oneworld.am/book/book.html), and in particular children deprived of parental care. This has involved years of working on documenting through photography and feature stories Children’s Homes, often inaccurately described as ‘orphanages,’ and Soviet-era boarding schools. This work has already been used by international organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and UNICEF, but I’m now starting to put together some of that work on Vimeo, with this being the first.

Thanks to my friends in Armenian folk-rock band The Bambir for permission to use one of their songs to accompany it. The video in HD format is available on Vimeo, but here’s the low resolution version:

Out of approximately 1,000 children residing in government-run institutions in the Republic of Armenia, nearly 400 are physically or mentally handicapped. Established in 1953, the Specialized Children's Home in Nor Kharberd on the outskirts of Yerevan, the Armenian capital, is the main institution that caters for their needs.

Photos by Onnik Krikorian (https://www.facebook.com/onewmphoto). Music by The Bambir (https://www.facebook.com/thebambir)

Pondering Photojournalism in the South Caucasus

admin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:47:46 +0000

Recently, Jahangir Yusuf, an Azerbaijani photographer based in Baku, updated his Facebook status. Running it through Google Translate before obtaining a more accurate human translation, it was certainly poignant enough.

Fotoğrafiya bahalı sənətdi. Hələdə bu dövrdə çox bahalıdı. Hər hansı bir avadanlığı almaq üçün gərək çoxlu pul xərcləyəsən. Peşəkar fotoğrafçılar fotoları çəkir, daha sonra onlardan sərgi edir və ya kitab nəşr etdirirlər. Daha sonra kitabın qiymətinə baxırsan od bahası. Bəs bu fotolar kimlər üçündür?! Toplumdakı marjinal qrupları təmsil eden insanların fotosunu çəkib daha sonra sərgi salonlarında əllərində bir qədəh şərabla ağıllı – ağıllı söhbət edən fotoğrafçıları anlamıram. Nə deyəsən axı buna ..

Roughly translated it reads:

Photography is an expensive art, especially nowadays. You should spend a lot of money to buy equipment and then, when professional photographers take their photos, hold exhibitions or publish their books. But the price of these books is incredibly expensive so who are these photos for? I cannot comprehend photographers who take photos of vulnerable people and then, in an exhibition venue with a glass of wine in their hands, talk very smartly.

And he’s got a point and it’s certainly something to think on. Probably Jahangir, as well as myself, ask ourselves whether intruding into the lives of our subjects is going to change something for them every time we put a camera to our eye and frame them in the viewfinder.

Thankfully, however, despite the general lack of support for photojournalism in the South Caucasus as well as image theft and copyright infringement by the local media in the region, there is the potential for photojournalists to change the situation.

In Armenia, for example, my images of homeless in Yerevan along with a series of articles published by Hetq Online and a video documentary collaboration with Yerkir Media saw the municipality finally admit that homeless people even existed in the capital.

With our material documenting their plight and the dozens that die each winter on the streets, they had no choice but to open a homeless shelter. With photographers such as myself and Jahangir now using social media to reach a wider audience, perhaps there will be more such stories.

Meanwhile, many of us do this work with little to no support at all.

Tsopi and Khodjourni

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:09:41 +0000

Returned from my second visit to Tsopi this week and just a few images from a wedding in the majority ethnic Azeri-inhabited village with an ethnic Armenian minority. Also went on to nearby Khodjourni, a majority ethnic Armenian-populated village with an ethnic Azeri minority. More images to come in a full gallery sometime this week.