The Silent Presence, 2023
A project and exhibition organized to mark the International Day of the Disappeared, in collaboration with the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) in Armenia.
The captions accompanying the photographs were written by the families themselves.
Follow the link to read all the captions.
On 30 August, together with the Armenian Red Cross Society, we organized a photo exhibition, “The Silent Presence. Stories of Waiting and Yearning”, to mark the International Day of the Disappeared
The idea of an exhibition came from the families of those missing since the conflict escalation in autumn 2020, who live in Armavir, Armenia. For many of them, each day of the three years that have gone by has been filled with the same anguish and struggle as the first moment they have learned about the disappearance.
Through the images made by Areg Balayan, the families communicate to us the most intimate way of facing the burden of waiting.
Each object and each place are filled with a special meaning that they are transmitting to get recognition about their experience. Each depicted corner shows the endless waiting of families, and the light running in all the photos like a red thread becomes the embodiment of persistent hope.
