Armenian Highlands Film Will Be Screened in Scotland
Called kar, the film traces the fragile survival of Western Armenian cultural and spiritual sites such as monasteries, cities and landscapes now within the borders of modern-day Turkey and left to ruin. It records the slow violence of erasure wrought by storms, earthquakes, military occupation, theft and neglect.
The film is to be shown at Timespan in Helmsdale, in keeping with the organisation’s wider programme on land justice.
HighlandThe neglected Armenian sites echo the empty townships scattered across Sutherland, where communities were displaced, traditions factured and landscapes reshaped for profit and control during the clearances
“Both contexts are a reminder that land is never passive. It is a site of power, belonging and survival,” said Timespan director and curator Giulia Gregnanin.
“The video installation kar by Alex Sarkisian poetically reflects on the deep entanglement of land, memory and power, tracing histories of erasure and survival in Western Armenia.
“Presenting it in Helmsdale invites us to reflect on the erasures that have shaped the Scottish Highlands and those still unfolding across the world. At Timespan, we believe art has the power to hold space for these histories, nurturing solidarity and care.”
She added: “Through kar, Timespan invites audiences to consider how the endurance of landscape – its stones, ruins, and silences – becomes a record of both loss and resistance.”
Sarkisian said they were “incredibly excited” about bringing kar to Timespan.
“It will be the first time the film has been shown outside Armenia and in a new installation context,” they said. “Timespan is the ideal place for it to be initially shared in Scotland, with the organisation’s programme offering continuous sensitivity and a generative approach to land justice.”
A museum and cultural institution, Timespan is dedicated to using culture as a catalyst for political, social, cultural and environmental change at both local and global levels. The site houses a local history museum, contemporary art gallery, archive, geology and herb gardens, shop and café, with the ambition of fostering a more equitable, inclusive, diverse and sustainable future.
The hub engages more than 20,000 individuals annually and reaches an online audience of 110,000 across various platforms.
The new exhibition will run from November 23-March 1, 2026
