The Blue Yerevan project is a cross-disciplinary research initiative that investigates the transformation of Yerevan’s water infrastructures and their impact on the city’s environment, cultural and social memory. Situated at the intersection of urban studies, memory studies, and environmental anthropology, this project aims to examine how water bodies in post-Soviet Yerevan have been reshaped, degraded, or erased over the past decades. By combining multiple methodologies, including archival research, fieldwork, mapping, artistic interventions and community engagement, Blue Yerevan seeks to reimagine the city’s urban landscape and highlight the central role of water bodies within it.
In the flow of Yerevan’s irregular urban transformations, the post-Soviet period has been marked by the ongoing degradation of green and blue public zones. This process has gradually led to the disappearance and marginalisation of natural landscapes from urban life, public space, and everyday practices. Amid the growing climate crisis, these changes have not only contributed to the deterioration of ecological conditions but have also resulted in the loss of the social and cultural significance of Yerevan’s natural environment. The city’s blue bodies, rivers, lakes, basins, fountains, and springs remain especially vulnerable to ongoing gentrification. In an increasingly dense and hardened city, these islands of tenderness and refuge are often viewed by developers as zones of opportunity for appropriation and enclosure.
Over the past three decades, Yerevan’s river networks have been polluted and canalised, numerous public water spaces have dried up, and many artificial lakes and public pools have been privatised and redeveloped. Framing these transformations as both urban and cultural phenomena, the project engages with water and water bodies as a key lens through which to understand urban memory and the social transformations of Yerevan.
Thematic Scope and Research Focus
Blue Yerevan addresses several interconnected themes, including:
– The gentrification of blue zones and its ecological, urban, cultural, and social consequences
– The role of river systems and water streams as networks of communication
– The significance of lakes and reservoirs as sites of accumulation and community gathering
– The importance of fountains and swimming pools as spaces of collective practices
– The development of vernacular water infrastructures for collective spaces
The project is driven by interdisciplinary collaboration among anthropologists, architects, urbanists, ecologists, and artists. Through a combination of theoretical inquiry, archival research, mapping, and oral history collection, Blue Yerevan aims to foster public discourse on water bodies as vital ecological, cultural, and public spaces within the city.
By uncovering forgotten or transformed water infrastructures, the project seeks to reframe Yerevan’s urban narratives, critically engaging with prevailing city images such as “the pink city,” “the stone city,” or “the city of the sun.” In doing so, Blue Yerevan brings forward the city’s water narratives and outlines Yerevan’s blue body.
Team and Collaborators
Project Curator: Tigran Amiryan
Authors: Oral History Matters (OHM), Misak Khostikyan, Arsen Abrahamyan
Research Team: Inesa Sahakyan, Davit Yeremyan, Mariam Yeghiazaryan
Artists: Armine Shahbazyan, lucine talalyan, Anna Hakobyan, Davit Kochunts, Harutyun Tumaghyan
The results of the “Blue Yerevan” project will be showcased in diverse formats, including a book publication and an artistic documentary exhibition, organized with the support of the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives. The exhibition will also be displayed in Germany within the framework of the Leipzig Book Fair.
This project was created in cooperation with the “Cultural & Social Narratives Laboratory” NGO and the Heinrich Boell Foundation Yerevan Office – South Caucasus Region.
The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of the Cultural and Social Narratives Laboratory NGO and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Heinrich Boell Stiftung Yerevan Office – South Caucasus Region.