Armenians through the eyes of Irish photojournalist

ISTANBUL

Istanbul’s Depo art gallery will open an exhibition by Irish photojournalist Helen Sheehan on Jan. 14.
In May 2014 Sheehan showed her projected photographic sound pieces inside the restored Armenian church of St. Giragos in Diyarbakir as part of a week-long photography festival hosted by Anadolu Kültür / Diyarbakır Arts Center.

Sheehan’s interest in Armenia and its diaspora was triggered by working as a teacher in the Mechitarist Seminary school on the Armenian Island of St. Lazzaro in Venice in the 1990s. However, this interest was re-awakened again in 2009 when she decided to narrate stories of Armenians in diaspora, both in Paris and London, where she was able to forge relationships with descendants of the exiles. By sheer coincidence most of the families could trace their ancestors back to the eastern Anatolian province of Diyarbakır.

Sheehan tries to connect with their lost landscape and also attempts to engage with the people now living in these places and how they have transformed them into their own spaces.

“Sheehan attempts to engage with the people now living in these places and how they have transformed them into their own spaces,” Depo said.

The exhibition titled “Armenian Family Stories and Lost Landscapes,” will continue through Feb. 8.