Hyebred Offers Creative Outlet for Poets, Artists Exploring Heritage

To describe the necessity of creative outlets like Hyebred, Sisserian outlined a scenario all Armenians are familiar with, “we all look for Armenian names in a film’s credits and get excited when we see one (it’s usually only one).” In a quote explaining her view on how art is valued within the Armenian community, she delivers a solution to her earlier complaint about the lack of Armenian representation in artistic fields, “I wish we realized that art belongs to the “here and now” and that we have talented Armenians who want their work to be visible. In Armenia, people love to go to the theatre because it is entertaining but the quality of work doesn’t allow them to be critical of their way of life, to think deeper, to debate. Censorship and lack of finances are mainly responsible for this. Alternative art scenes are almost non-existent and this is why we need the support of our community and also create work within ourselves to have more than one “ian” in the credits.”

Sisserian proposed Hyebred is one answer to the acknowledged lack of “ians” in movie credits, an issue representative of a larger lack of appreciation and platforms for modern and inventive Armenian art. And they are already making headway, Sisserian noted: “My 14 year old student, who studies writing at TUMO from a remote village in Armenia, was published in our last issue. I would love the magazine to be accessible to as many people as possible to make these kinds of voices heard.”

The Hyebred team sees a bright future ahead, with each issue receiving more submissions than the last. Sisserian divulged that she “would love for Hyebred to go beyond the young generation and team up with literary magazines that are read by the diaspora and where noted authors are published like Pakin, for example. It’s important that the generations before us know that we are carrying on the work.”

Danho added that he would “love to work with the Hye-Phen Magazine and also collaborate with the International Armenian Literary Alliance.”

When asked what role within the broad and historied sphere of Armenian art Hyebred occupied, Danho supplied more than a simple answer, he provided an address: “44 Bebutov Street, Tiflis, Vernatun. This was the literary/art group that Hovhannes Tumanyan started in his home, gathering artists and writers to meet and discuss and commiserate years before the Genocide. If HyeBred has to occupy a role in the storied history of Armenian art, it would be as one of the members of this group, coming and going as time and circumstances allow — one among so many, each with rich perspectives to ply and play with.”

The ambitions of the Hyebred team are evident, but being the voice of an ethnic group that is defined by their ambitiousness and tenacity to provide for their families, is difficult, with art not often being a field that Armenian youth are encouraged to enter.