An Armenian Artist Giving Voice to Marginalized People.
Magazine, Entertainment, Review By Karine Armen
Kristin Anahit Cass and her daughter, Araxie Cass, presented a book at The Armenian Art Center in Glendale on Friday, August 2, 2024. Anahit’s debut book, Reparations of the Heart: Toward a SWANA Futurity, was edited by her daughter, writer and editor Araxie Cass.
The monograph includes both portraits and text, has a soft cover, consists of 100 pages, and is 8.5 x 11 inches. The front and back cover is one image and has no text. The book title and author’s name are on the title page. We think of originality and breaking the rules for aesthetic purposes. Another original idea is that the book does not have a table of contents but is divided into three parts: Ancestors, The Republic of My Imagination, and A Planet of Our Own.
With a fast glance through the pages of the color portraits, we can appreciate the artist’s craftsmanship and virtuosity. However, upon reading the text or extended captions explaining each photograph, we can understand the depth of the messages and the theme of the book. Kristin Anahit Cass is well aware of the current social and political issues and wants to give a voice to the people, especially women, whose voices have been silenced during the last centuries. The first image in the book is a black-and-white photo of her grandparents in Kharberd, Turkey. It is the foundation of the following digital color collages.
Anahit writes in the caption, “I chose to portray the past in black and white and the present in color.” She continues, “So you see the people in the photographs as embodiments of their ancestors, with their bodies in black and white, and their choices of clothing, accessories, and objects in color.”
In the following pages, the models are dressed in ethnic clothing, and the backgrounds were composed later. In the first color image, Anahit photographed her adult son sitting on a carpet and matching the costumes of his ancestors in the old photo. On the adjacent page, she writes about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and the continued violence of assassinations and annexation by the authoritarian governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan, threatening the safety of Armenia.
Photo by Karine Armen
from left: Anahit Cass with her daughter Araxie Cass
Kristin Anahit Cass is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer. She is a founder of the LGBTQ platform Entanik (Family). She has a degree from the University of Chicago, and her work has been shown at both solo and group exhibitions. She was born in the U.S. She is an American, yet she considers herself an Armenian. Anahit has visited Armenia many times. By touching the soil and drinking the water, she felt connected to her ancestors. She uses SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) instead of Middle East, which is a term created by colonialism and imperialism. She traveled to other parts of the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region, photographing the places she visited and meeting people as she traveled.
Anahit has photographed many different people from the SWANA diaspora. Her subjects include Assyrians, Yazidis, Palestinians, bi-racial Armenians, Yemenis, Iranians, Egyptians, and others. The process of photographing them was interactive. Each person contributed their own story. The portraits include family photos or heirloom items that people brought to her studio. Anahit added the backgrounds later based on her conversations with the people in the portraits. The observer can notice the careful selection of objects to enhance the story. She is knowledgeable about color and composition. The photograph on page 6 is called From My Grandmother’s Hands. She photographed the subject as her grandmother holding her embroidery. In the caption on the following page, Anahit writes, “As diasporans, when we’re fortunate to have this connection to our ancestors, it becomes a part of our identity.” The background includes peacock murals on the walls in a traditional Yazidi home in Armenia. Many Yazidis took refuge in Armenia after the massacres by the Ottoman Empire.
Reparations of the Heart includes two essays describing Anahit’s work. The first one is by Dr. Tamar Marie Boyadjian, Cass’s Work and the Role of Women in Armenian Futurism, which discusses Armenian Futurism and Anahit’s work as an advocate for the movement. The second one is by author Nancy Agbabian, Anahit Cass: Imagining Liberation. She writes how Anahit’s work presents life, joy, and hope that exists beyond language. The book also includes two poems by Celeste Nazeli Snowber.
In the second part of the book, The Republic of My Imagination, there is an image of Araxie Cass and another woman holding a portrait of Anahit’s grandmother. The caption says, “We choose to be our authentic selves, without orientalizing stereotypes, because there is nothing more powerful than living your authentic truth.” The last part of the book, A Planet of Our Own, includes a story by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian called Astghik and another by Araxie Cass called Rematriation. The conclusion is an essay on Queer Futurism. The images of this section look futuristic with mastering craftsmanship.
Nada And Araxie
Kristin Anahit Cass and her daughter, Araxie, have collaborated with a clear vision of their theme and message. They identify with the struggles of other SWANA groups and Indigenous people. During the book presentation, Anahit said, “Whether you are Palestinian, Assyrian, or Armenian, we are all connected. We share culture in the SWANA region and experiences of living in diaspora.” She added, “We also have our unique individual cultures.” Araxie mentioned that, as a member of the Armenian and Jewish diasporas, her ancestral cultures are central to her life. She emphasized that growing up in the U.S. and listening to the Armenian Genocide stories shaped who she is now. “It is important to me to carry on that story and to keep that culture alive no matter how much the larger American culture tries to erase it.” This book represents the voices of SWANA people through stories and artistic images.
https://kristincass.com/
https://araxiecass.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpoot
#ReparationsOfTheHeart #KristinAnahitCass #AraxieCass #SWANAHeritage #DiasporaStories #ArmenianArt #HealingThroughArt #MarginalizedVoices #ArmenianFuturism #ArtForJustice #QueerFuturism #WomenInArt #DiasporaArt #StorytellingThroughPhotography #CulturalIdentity
