Karabkah
卡拉巴赫
2024
Handmade photo zine 手造攝影小誌
Karabakh (Nagorno Karabakh) means black mountain. Back in 2015, I spent a month in the then de- facto country controlled by Armenia in South Caucasus.
The month-long stay was inspired by a 3-day trip to Karabakh from Yerevan, Armenia in 2014. Taken aback by the bombed out buildings which I had never seen in my life, I decided to go back next year and make it part of my art residency program in which I spent 3 months in Yerevan, Armenia as well.
I don’t think—at least in the short term—I had another opportunity to make it to Karabakh again because the region is now fully controlled by Azerbaijian after the 44-day Second Nagorno Karabakh War—between Azerbaijian and Armenia— in 2020 and is closed for foreigners.
I spent most of my time in Shushi when I was in Karabakh a decade ago, staying with a local family which, like all other people, fled to Yerevan late last year because of Azerbaijian’s blockage of the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Karabakh with Armenia, which led to months of scarce supply of fuel and other essential items in the region.
Armenia and Azerbaijian face a centuries-long conflict over Karabakh, which both sides claim territorial right (It’s internationally recognized as a region in the latter, but history of region is complicated).
Real peace never existed after the end of First War of Nagorno Karabakh in 1994, as only a ceasefire agreement was in place. Despite that, day-to-day life is mostly calm except the occasional exchange of fire on the frontline.
A peace agreement hasn’t been signed between Azerbaijian and Armenia after the Second War, though it was a deal in the making in the past few years.
Against the backdrop of geopolitical tumult in other parts of the world, the two countries have now a fleeting opportunity to buck this trend...But nobody knows if they would make it in the short term.
卡拉巴赫的意思是黑色的山,全名為納戈爾諾·卡拉巴赫 (簡稱納卡),是一個位於南高加索地區的地方。於2015年,我在納卡待了一個月。
2014年夏天時, 我從亞美尼亞的埃里溫市往納卡逗留三天,看見從未見過被炸毀的樓房,一直沒修好也沒拆掉。感到震撼之餘, 決定明年再到亞美尼亞埃里溫藝術駐留時要再來一趟。
我認為(至少在短期內)再沒有機會前往納卡了,因為在2020年於當地,阿塞拜疆與亞美尼亞間的弟二次納卡之戰(持續了44天)後,該地區現已完全由阿塞拜疆控制,並且不對外國人開放。
在2015年,我大部分時間都在該地區的Shushi度過,住進當地一個家庭裡。這個家庭和其他在納卡的亞美尼亞人一樣,去年年底前逃難到了埃里溫,因為阿塞拜疆封鎖了唯一連接納卡和亞美尼亞的公路,導致燃料及基本貨品供應嚴重短缺。
亞美尼亞和阿塞拜疆因納卡屬誰經歷了持續幾個世紀的衝突(雖然國際上承認納卡爲後者領土,但納卡歷史十分複雜)。 1994年第一次納卡戰爭結束後,只簽訂了停火協議,真正的和平從未存在過。不過,除了前線間中有小或中規模衝突外,平常日子大多平靜。
第二次納卡戰爭後,阿塞拜疆和亞美尼亞尚未簽署和平協議,儘管過去幾年一直在醞釀達成協議。
世界地緣政治正十分動盪,兩國現有機會成就地區和平...但沒有人知道他們會否把握機會,在短期內達成這個重要協議。