Press Release: The Rifles Our Ancestors Didn’t Have

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: She Loves Collective

LOS ANGELES– She Loves Collective, an alliance of female artists who share a strong belief in the power of creating social change through art, launched a performance art piece entitled, The Rifles Our Ancestors Didn’t Have (TROADH) This performance aims to raise awareness of the unprovoked aggression and destruction currently waged by Azerbaijan and its closest ally, Turkey, against the Armenian enclave of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We hope to engage the global community, which has remained mostly silent about these blatant attacks, particularly the United States” explained Adrineh Baghdassarian, co-founder of She Loves Collective. Fellow co-founder, Nelly

Achkhen Sarkissian, elaborates- “This performance comments on the strength and resilience of the Armenian people who survived a genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. We will express the unbreakable will power of the Armenians; we currently find ourselves fighting against the heirs to the very same empire which attempted to wiped us off the face of the earth at the beginning of the 20th century.”

On Sunday, fifteen performers aligned the front of The Broad Museum, a space representing contemporary art, standing in silence waiting for the sun to rise. At 6:15AM collective member, Sandra Vartanian, led with a meditation to connect mind, bodies and soul, “embody our soldiers on the frontlines, we are with them,

we stand with them.” Following the meditation, the performance began with their first set of ten minutes of stillness encompassing the solidarity that Armenians across the world are currently feeling, as they come together to raise awareness and have Artsakh recognized.

Channeling the undying spiritual and physical strength of the Armenian soldiers onthe frontline’s performers were donned in modern white cloaks with the image of alarge-scale jet-black rifle, symbolizing self-defense and self-determination. White, universally known to emphasize hope and peace, and rifles to showcase the strength of an army does not only lie in its weapons, but rather the solidarity of its people.Performers wore individually customized accessories: jewelry created byfellow collective members Taline Olmessekian and Anaeis Ohanian, to resemble

gladiators and warriors, bullets as necklaces, written words on the cloaks- “peace”,“love”, and “our home”, showcasing the artivism specific to this performance.

In a silent protest, these “soldiers” slowly pass contrasting backdrops recognized as downtown Los Angeles, buildings that stand strong and undisturbed- unlike the homes, churches, and more that now lay in shambles after weeks of bombing in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh. As they arrived at Grand Park, traditionalArmenian and Artsakh rugs laid waiting for them. Taking another ten-minute stand in silence on the rugs. The patterns on these rugs are representative of the “patterns” of generational trauma passed down for over one hundred years- muchlike rugs were passed down from family to family, one of many Armeniantraditions. As they prepare to march towards their final stop, Los Angeles City Hall, each performer kneeled to gather their rug (“home”) into their hands embodying their ancestors who were ripped from their homes and could only take with them what they could carry. As they marched onwards, approaching the steps of City Hall, they laid out the rugs once more and stood a final time in solidarity.

Following the silent protest TROADHtransitioned into a multi-media performance on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall. Seated on traditionally woven Armenian and Artsakh rugs, the performers began to recreate rifles in various forms- some embroidered rifles to signifying the threading of the past, present, and unknown future, others created images of rifles using mobile phone applications, writing the word rifle repetitively, and chanting the title of the piece- at moments screaming “didn’t have”! Each of these fragments represented the creating and production of rifles in various non-violent ways. “Every drone, every bomb, every death happening in Armenia explodes within the hearts, minds and bodies of the Armenia Diaspora,” commented Ani Nina Oganyan, producer and project manager. “The aggression and violence we are seeing from the Turks has reaffirmed our commitment to fighting for love over hate, peace over violence, our land, people, culture and traditions. How are the deliberate acts towards ethnically cleansing Christian Armenians from the ancestral homelands be referred to as a war? The world needs wake up and understand that by not recognize past atrocities, history is bound to repeat itself, I mean here we are 105 years later.”

The Rifles Our Ancestors Didn’t Have is the first installation of an ongoing project/performance. Though the collectives only wish currently is peace and an end to the fighting, as artists- especially Armenian female artists, they feel it istheir duty to comment on the aggressions through art. The second installment of TROADH will take place Sunday, October 25^th along the LA River. As this is a

work in progress more information will be released about this performance as itnears.

The collective is always looking for new members to join and become part of their larger goals of empowering women through art. To stay informed visit SheLovesCollective.com, and follow @shelovescollective on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

About She Loves Collective

Founded in 2017, She Loves Collective is an alliance of female artists who share a strongbelief in the power of creating social change through art and pushing artists beyond their comfort zones. The collective work to encourage its artists to collaboratetogether and support one another’s individual work. The collectiveorganizesevents, exhibitions, and workshops that empower and showcase new, as well as established artists, making their voices heard and their work visible, while always testing the boundaries of medium, expression, and creativity. Eventsinclude SHE LOVES, a sold-out three-day art exhibit featuring 44 female artists in one space, followed by ongoing project FINDING HER, promoting social change by connecting female artists worldwide to collect crucial information about these artists and give them a presence on the internet. Members of the collective are a confluence of artists and creatives from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, each with their own stories to tell.

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