Ongoing Projects: Artsakh: Between War and Peace: NKRWP_020

At her home in Nor Noragyugh, Alina Arzumanyan embraces her granddaughter, Elmira, who has just woken up from a nap. Elmira’s parents, a teacher and a gas station attendant, had spent two years and their life savings buying and renovating an apartment in Shushi (Shusha), the final front that was ceded to Azerbaijan. In the weeks before the war, everything seemed to be coming together. They had just moved in and brought their second daughter, Elina, home from the hospital. When the shelling started in Shushi, they left with nothing but a change of clothes for the girls. Now they are faced with the reality that they can never return.

At her home in Nor Noragyugh, Alina Arzumanyan embraces her granddaughter, Elmira, who has just woken up from a nap. Elmira’s parents, a teacher and a gas station attendant, had spent two years and their life savings buying and renovating an apartment in Shushi (Shusha), the final front that was ceded to Azerbaijan. In the weeks before the war, everything seemed to be coming together. They had just moved in and brought their second daughter, Elina, home from the hospital. When the shelling started in Shushi, they left with nothing but a change of clothes for the girls. Now they are faced with the reality that they can never return.