Unveiling Shadows: Women of Post–Soviet Armenia

Tugce Aurora Aydin
(Armenia)

Unveiling Shadows explores the hidden lives of women in Armenia’s forgotten landscapes, delving into their resilience, silenced voices, and the pursuit of empowerment amidst decaying Soviet mosaics. It is a documentary photography project exploring the hidden lives of women in the forgotten corners of Armenia. It seeks to build a narrative for the future by delving into their resilience, silenced voices, and quests for empowerment amidst the decaying Soviet architecture. Set against the backdrop of abandoned factories and forgotten landscapes, this project uncovers their stories of resilience and determination in a changing society.

Tugce Aydin is a filmmaker and performance artist. She has been creatively inspired by documentary filmmaking and performance art where she questions notions of encounters; experience in art&life, empathy&harmony between people, cultures and their stories. In 2017, she created an art performance What remains behind? at the SALT Galata (Istanbul), involving a giant canvas made of 20 photographs taken at Istanbul’s neighborhoods, delving into themes of belonging and Armenian identity. In 2021, she contributed her work to Time to Speak – Winning the City with Women’s Words and Art resulting in a virtual exhibition, a book, and city-wide billboards. From 2019 to 2022, collaborating with Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, she produced the documentary Inner Line, co-produced by Les Films D’ici (France), Cobra Film (Belgium), ARTE France / La Lucarne and RTBF.