Inchbes es

How are you: “Inchbes es”
Very well, thank you: “Shat lav”
What's up: “Inch ka chga”

"Inchbes es" is a 3-channel video. I have created two cinemagraphs (seamless looping photographic animations) and one standard video that are intended to represent my identity as an Armenian-American.

On the left, there is a cinemagraph of a pomegranate being pounded to expel the seeds. The pomegranate is included in many Armenian recipes and is the quintessential Middle Eastern fruit. The repetitious pounding and the splattering of the blood red seeds raise ideas about the violence that I know happened to my family and countless others during the Armenian Massacres. On the right, the cinemagraph of the coffee being poured could either be Turkish or Armenian coffee (they are virtually identical). This never-ending pour is intended to reference the never-ending flood of questions that I have about the massacres.

Of all the Armenian phrases I learned growing up (and after two years of Armenian school), there is only one phrase that I can remember, “Inchbes es”, which means, “How are you?”.
I am always concerned with whether I am pronouncing it correctly or if I sound like the least ethnic Armenian on the planet.

The legacy that the Armenian Genocide has left for the current generation of Armenian-Americans is one where our food, culture and history of survival are at the core of our identity.