Scars of Silence

In May of 2012, Armenian-American father and daughter Nubar and Abby Alexanian embarked on a journey to commemorate the Armenian Genocide (1915–1923) as a powerful act of reparative rebellion. They traveled to their ancestral home in eastern Turkey—a place where their family was systematically killed and displaced by Ottoman Turks. Their intention was to create, not only a right of return, but a site of return as a step toward healing and connection to their obscured familial past.

What is revealed is the legacy of the Genocide on a contemporary Armenian family that continues to permiate today. The work brings to the surface the profound consequences of Turkish denial—psychological and political—that have contributed to the subconscious suppression of loss for two generations. Scars of Silence offers a timely and provocative personal account of what it means to be Armenian today, and how identity can be so profoundly changed by claiming a moral place in the world.