Armenian Needlelace Initiative
A collaborative project centering Armenian needlelace traditions, evolutions, and emerging futures—co-founded by Deborah Valoma and Elise Youssoufian
Tserakordz Circle: Armenian Needlelace
Mirroring historic ways handwork traditions were passed on between relatives, neighbors, and friends, Armenian Needlelace Initiative co-founder Elise Youssoufian guides the Tserakordz Circle, a weekly in-person gathering to grow skills, share stories, and build community. Tserakordz (Western Armenian pronunciation of ձեռագործ) means “handwork.” Among Western Armenian-speaking diasporans, this term is often used to refer to the needlelace, also typically known as ժանյակ (janyak, “lace”) in Eastern Armenian.
Visit the Armenian Needlelace Initiative’s Tserakordz Circle page for more information, including how to register!
While tricky to master, practicing this art can be infinitely rewarding to the patient seeker.
Armenian Needlelace: reclamations & reformations, 2019 onward
Armenian needlelace has ancient roots. The interlacing and life-affirming patterns—also found on our medieval wood and stone carvings, and ceramic art—create a net of protection intended to beguile, entrap and confuse evil spirits and intentions. For me, cultural recovery takes listening, learning and practicing in community and in heartfelt solitude. Every knot is a dream and a prayer of health in the body, peace in the spirit and love in the heart—personally and collectively.
In response to the fall 2020 war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), I made a series of rainbow-colored ornaments (see examples above) to support humanitarian aid for the Armenians of Artsakh who are enduring violent dispossession, blockades and destruction.
Heart Mirrors: journeys of making and (re)connecting, 2017-2019
The Heart Mirrors project was an emergence from the dreaming—an experiment in bringing forth diverse reflections of a more just and connected world. All materials were repurposed, most were non synthetic, and over 200 hearts were made and given to friends old and new. Journeys from the streets of Oakland and San Francisco to Chiapas, the Diné Nation, Chicago, New York, Turkey, and Հայաստան (Armenia) brought this project home.