The wall is built. Neither its length nor its height offers a solution to the residents of Kirants. Moreover, the wall reminds them of the harsh realities of the 90s when there was struggle and pain along with a vision to fortify the borders of the village.
Today, the Azerbaijani flag is flying on a hilltop of the village. The residents can see and hear the Azerbaijani border guards with the naked eye. There is a new reality on this side of the wall-border where people live.
Will the wall bring peace?
The visual project ‘People and Borders: Kirants’ presents the documenting of the border demarcation and delineation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan that started in the village of Kirants, Tavush region in April 2024 and brings forward the problems that the residents of Kirants face living in the new border zone after the demarcation process.
People experience significant psychological distress. Proximity of Azerbaijani armed forces creates an atmosphere of fear and insecurity making them constantly feel unsafe.
As a result of the border demarcation, the villagers have lost their property, land lots, pastures, involuntarily ending up in a new border area, right in front of the newly built wall that divides the border.
Photos, videos and interviews: Nazik Armenakyan, Piruza Khalapyan
Historical research and interviews: Ara Zargaryan
Text editing and translation: Armine Bachachyan
Web design: Yana Ghahramanyan
The project was implemented within the “Independent Media Content Creation” program with the financial support of Media Initiatives Center.