In his journey to uncover his cultural heritage, Robert Barsamian traveled to Armenia to discover the more about the scope and immensity of the Armenian culture.  Confronted with the unstable political environment, he went on a sojourn to the countryside to see and meet people of the land.  He went to see the Armenian churches and their graveyards, the land and the lifestyle and imagined it was little changed from 100 years ago. 

 

Barsamian was inspired and began a series of small portraits that he could draw while traveling.  The stark imagery and the faith of the people inspired prayers illuminated as they might have in the 6th century with actual people of Armenia in their daily tasks.  It was a lifestyle he imagined that his grandmother’s family might have been living in before the Armenian Genocide.