THE HYE-PHEN

made with love ֍ ⟩⟩ for a better digital / queer / armenian future  ❀╱╲╱╲❀

Johnny Goes to War

Johnny Goes to War

Cover Image: Osheen Harruthoonyan, Black Mirror, 2020″ from Black Garden series My name is Johnny and I live in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Actually, my real name is Hovhaness—which means Jonathan in Armenian. Ever since I was a small boy, I’ve worn jeans...
You can’t Marry Badiyya!

You can’t Marry Badiyya!

Cover Image: Ara Oshagan, “Nor Sis, Bourj Hammoud, 2016”, from “displaced” series I remember Chtaurah* as if it were yesterday. In my mind Chtaura is a sepia toned film that plays back a lost time and place from my childhood on a spool, over...
A Diaspora Collage

A Diaspora Collage

I first saw The Color of Pomegranates at my university cinema with a friend. It is a famous Armenian film, from 1969, about the Medieval poet Sayat Nova. It was a movie about a poet with no dialogue, more like a ninety minute performance art piece. I left the theater...