LA River

Before the sun began to fade on October 25 th , 2020- exactly two weeks after the first installment of The Rifles Our Ancestors Didn’t Have- 15 collective members lined the Atwater bridge above Los Angeles River. Accompanied by members of Lernazange Ensemble who provided sounds of duduk and duhol (traditional Armenian instruments), two photographers, a videographer, and a vlogger- the second protest began. The mile long protest along the water bank was streamed via Twitch and displayed in real time for an audience by large scale projection under a freeway underpass at the protests end location in Frogtown, Elysian Valley. The freeway underpass was decorated with red and white roses, the audience sat awaiting the arrival of the protesters as the thundering echo from the cars above popped like crossfire.

Photo Credit: © Jake Photography

Once the performers arrive at the underpass they first burned Khoung (Armenian for incense) and tossed flowers into the river, symbolic of a healing ritual. Then as they take their seats, set up to represent a stage, the video projection changed to images of bombs and documented videos of villages in Artsakh as they had been turned to rubble. Each performer begins a task of recreating rifles- by embroidery, calligraphy, stamping, on a large cloth Rouzanna Berberian splashes paint- black in the shape of rifle, and bright red for blood. As the flowers continue to float downstream, and the creating of rifles comes to an end, the women rise and begin to leave their makeshift stage, the projection leaves the audience with a long list of hashtags- the last #WeAreTheRiflesOurAncestorsDidntHave.

“It’s a universal thing. Whether you lose it in a war or you lose your home in a fire or you lose your ancestral land. Where does home begin and where does home end?” she adds. “How is a person willing to burn his own home down if he cannot go down to his home ever again?” – Adrineh Baghdassarian She Loves Collective’s Founder

“The focus point is always to have a strong L.A. backdrop. It’s not just important to say that we’re Armenians from L.A., but that we are engaging with our fellow Angelenos and Angelenas.” – Nelly Achken Sarkissian She Loves Collective’s Co-Founder

Photo Credit: @ Jake Photography

“We — the descendants of the survivors, we — the diaspora, we — the artists, musicians, healthcare workers, lawyers, businesswomen, inventors. Our bodies, our minds, our craft, our love, our language, our food, our traditions are a connection to a land that so many of us have never even seen before.” – Ani Nina Oganyan She Loves Collective’s Producer/Project Manager

Photo Credit: © Jake Photography

: Photo Credit: © Jake Photography

: Photo Credit: © Jake Photography

: Photo Credit: © Jake Photography

: Photo Credit: © Jake Photography