Apo Avedissian

Apo Avedissian (born 24 July 1990 in Baghdad, Iraq [1]) is an Iraqi-born Armenian-American artist, often working in film-making, writing, photography, and painting.

Apo Avedissian
Աբօ Ավետիսյան
Born(1990-07-24)July 24, 1990
Baghdad, Iraq
NationalityIraqi-American
Websitewww.apoavedissian.com

Avedissian’s writing portfolio most notably includes the autobiographical book “Thirteen in Baghdad,” detailing his life as a teenager in Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq War.[2]

Personal life

Avedissian started his path into the world of photography and his documentary style videography at the age of thirteen, at the beginning of the 2003 Iraq War. Born to Armenian parents, both of whom were children of Armenian Genocide survivors,[3] he immigrated to the United States in 2005. He's fluent in Arabic, Armenian, and English - and often uses all three in his artwork.

Artwork

The drone-shot "Armenia & Artsakh - A Bird's Eye View [4]," portions of which were used in System of a Down's Protect the Land music video,[5] in addition to the previous short-film “Obsessive Possessive - An Experience[6],” have generated over a million combined views. As of 2019, he has released 1-minute-long painting videos, also surpassing a million combined views.

Influencers

Avedissian cites graffiti artists Retna and Shepard Fairey as the two artists he follows closely the most.

Activism

Avedissian's teen years being spent in war and his grandparents' survival from the genocide put an immense load on his upbringing.[7] Avedissian’s work often includes tributes and a push for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, including starting the Twitter #ArmenianGenocide campaign[8] the week prior to April 24th, 2011. Using his blog's popularity to reach bigger accounts, and trending it after the involvement of and assistance from popular accounts like Kim Kardashian’s,[9][10] the hashtag has been trending yearly on the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, since.[11]

Avedissian visited Armenia in 2018, right after the 2018 Armenian revolution, and documented his trip via drone footage, which are all featured in his "Armenia & Artsakh - A Bird's Eye View" short.[12] Some of the footage was also used in System of a Down's Protect the Land music video, which was released during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war with all proceeds sent as humanitarian aid for Armenians fleeing their homes.[13]


References
  1. Vahakn Karakachian. "Apo Avedissian's Incredible Drone footage of the Wonders of Armenia". horizonweekly.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  2. "Thirteen in Baghdad". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  3. Avedissian, Apo (5 Sep 2013). Thirteen in Baghdad. Los Angeles: Apo Avedissian.
  4. "Armenia & Artsakh - A Bird's Eye View (2018)". IMDB.com.
  5. "System of a Down - Protect the Land". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  6. "Obsessive Possessive - An Experience (2018)". IMDB.com.
  7. "Telling Unheard Stories". Asbarez. 104 (14, 235). Los Angeles. 31 Mar 2012. p. 9.
  8. Levon Abrahamian (18 Jun 2012). "Telling Unheard Stories". Haytoug (Summer 2012). Los Angeles. pp. 18–20.
  9. "Kardashian Blogs for Armenian Genocide Recognition". Armenian Weekly. Los Angeles. 21 Apr 2012.
  10. "'Time to Recognize the Armenian Genocide,' Says Kim Kardashian". Asbarez. Los Angeles. 21 Apr 2012.
  11. Duncan Riley (24 Apr 2014). "Social Media Remembers The #ArmenianGenocide". Social News Daily.
  12. "Apo Avedissian's Incredible footage of Armenia". aypoupen.com. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  13. Grow, Kory. "Hear System of a Down's First New Music in 15 Years, 'Protect the Land' and 'Genocidal Humanoidz'". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
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