Emely Ekmaliyan

From the project 'nona/ნონა' by Emely Ekmaliyan

Biography

Emely Ekmaliyan is a visual artist with Armenian and Georgian roots. In 2002, she started a bachelor's degree in photography in Sint-Lukas Brussels. She is a documentary oriented photographer who stages. For her, photography is like a new reality that she can create and have under control. A new perception that stimulates a type of sixth sense. The boundaries between fiction and non-fiction disappear. She explores themes such as multicultural origins, identity, human relationships, and motherhood. To take something mundane out of context to create sometihng absurd. It's almost as if she finds photographing more entertaining than seeing it  with her own eyes. 

The project

"This is a story about a mother and daughter who struggle with their cultural background, personal identity, and alienation from each other. 

It is about a mother who immigrated from Georgia and ended up in Belgium, with her emotional baggage and a small suitcase. Nona had to make a completely new start with no expectations and no help. This brought with it an unrecognizable feeling that conflicts with nostalgia for the past. Today she feels that she is very much between two worlds: her motherland and here. She is disconnected from her roots. These feelings are transferred to Emely. A contradiction arises because mother and daughter have not experienced the same thing and have a different way of thinking. She must constantly adapt to her parent norms and values, even if they are not extended with her own. It’ s like the languages they speak are not intelligible to each other in the same house. 

Through the lens of a camera, Emely was able to get to know her in a different way. It was a way to work on the relationship. Moments are frozen, ultimately giving a look of intimacy, empathy and experience. Emely saw her not only as a mother but also as a woman with a past that want to be understood."

From the project 'nona/ნონა' by Emely Ekmaliyan