An augmented reality (AR) monument has been installed on Artsakh Ave. in Glendale, CA to raise awareness about Artsakh, informs Ardy Ardashes Kassakhian, City Clerk at Glendale.
This cutting edge project was the result of the collaboration of four artists who made the artwork possible: Kamee Abrahamian, Nancy Baker Cahill,
Mashinka Firunts Hakopian and Nelli Sargsyan.
The public can view the piece by visiting Artsakh Ave. and downloading the 4thWall application from the App Store.
The monument is dedicated to the Indigenous Armenian struggle for self-determination in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for the recognition of Artsakh’s independence amid the seizure of Armenians’ ancestral lands.
On October 23rd, the nonpartisan agency Genocide Watch classified the situation in Artsakh as a stage 9 state of emergency amid Azerbaijan’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in the region. The monument aims to bring visibility to this crisis, and to affirm the survival and endurance of Artsakh and its peoples’ ongoing efforts toward self-governance.
The monument features visuals by Abrahamian drawn from their “Recognize Artsakh Now” poster campaign, inspired by Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov’s “Color of Pomegranates.” It also features a soundscape by Sargsyan, and links to a video essay created by Abrahamian and Hakopian based on the latter’s text in the Los Angeles Review of Books.
