Kristin Anahit Cass’s Reparations of the Heart Imagines a Peaceful Alternative Vision of the World – The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

While major upheavals such as the recent fall of Artsakh or the destruction of Gaza and the millions of persons displaced globally continue to threaten humankind, Kristin Anahit Cass offers the world images of peace and of solidarity. The artist’s Reparations of the Heart: Toward a SWANA Futurity (Fifth Wheel Press, 2024), an assembly of photographs, commentaries and short narratives inspired by her ancestors’ culture, debunks the myth that it is possible to annihilate a people and erase their ancient customs. In fact, by reappropriating the past Cass subverts the all-too-popular notion she has been brainstormed with her entire life as the offspring of Genocide survivors — that to survive their trauma the forcibly displaced need to assimilate themselves completely. The fictional world Cass creates suggests that reviving the ancestral home may in fact be the way for refugees to survive in alien lands. The artist’s is a call for connection with our past. Her photographs are for the most part emblematic constructions bringing ancient culture into a modern space, with black and white portraying the past and color the present. The heirloom garments the characters wear in these compositions and the traditional foods they cook while they “assimilate” show...