Visual Stories from Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine.
The impact of war transcends borders, with women often at the forefront. This project examines wars and conflicts that have deeply affected the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, emphasizing the universal need for peace and justice.
The visual stories in this anthology are based on interviews with war witnesses, refugees, and displaced women. They explore the female experience during and after conflict, written by women writers. They examine the effects and consequences that war has on women. The project pays tribute to all women on the front lines, whether as witnesses or direct and indirect participants in armed conflicts.
Despite succesful residencies at Debet (Armenia), Erlangen (Germany) and Haarlem (Netherlands) the working process was full of immense mental, economic, and practical challenges brought by the wars in the region: Borders that could not be crossed, meetings that never took place, online calls that failed due to mental exhaustion or power outages… and much more. But still, the stories are here:
From Armenia: One Meme Away From War, by Ani Asatryan and Astghik Harutyunyan.
From Georgia: The River of People, by Ekaterine Togonidze and Luka Lashkhi.
From Ukraine: Last Night On Earth by Vira Kuryko and Sofia Pokorchak.
All stories were edited by Mikheil Tsikhelashvili form Georgia. He is a writer, translator and comic-book editor with a background in Fine Arts and Cultural Management. He authored three novels, translated more than 10 books and edited a number of comics
This project demonstrates that art is a powerful tool to spotlight the shared human cost of war. By amplifying the voices and experiences of women, it seeks to honor their courage and highlight their vital role in advocating for a dignified and peaceful future.
Visual Stories from Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine is an EU Creative Europe supported project which aims at developing the comic and graphic novel genre in project participant countries. The consortium partners implementing the project are:
ARI Literature Foundation (ARI) — is a non-governmental organization which aims to contribute to the development of the Armenian book market, promotion of writing and reading in Armenia as well as representation of Armenian literature and culture globally. Major goal of ARI Literature Foundation is to build multicultural dialogues to enhance the role of literature in the regional context, making Armenia an active partner in shaping literary platforms for cooperation․ ARI Literature Foundation has an extensive experience and excellent record of success stories in implementing international and local projects in cooperation with US Embassy in Armenia, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Portugal), Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Goethe Institute, EU Delegation in Armenia, including EU funded projects.
Literature Initiative Georgia (LIG) — is an NGO with goals to enhance intercultural dialogue and development of literary and cultural relations, develop the literary process in Georgia, implement initiatives and projects to strengthen the freedom of speech and expression, organize discussion platforms for representatives of the literary and artistic fields. LIG has worked with such partners as Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Goethe Institute and others.
Komora Publishing House (Ukraine) was established in 2013. The motto of the publishing house is «Only what remains», which reflects Komora’s policy and business strategy: publishing high-quality printed books, meant for personal libraries and several generations of readers. After ten years of work, the catalog of Komora includes over 90 books. Komora specializes in Ukrainian and world fiction and non-fiction, both classical and contemporary, trying to introduce Ukrainian audiences to attention-worthy (and also not widely promoted) names, events and trends, thus contributing to the growth of national reading standards. Komora actively works on projects, essential for a modern intellectual.
Drawing the Times
