Alt B: Mixtape: Live with Perla Kantarjian & Olivia Melkonian

About this event

Armenian Arts and Film London launches a new series of cross-disciplinary events at Bush Theatre — starting with poetry and sound. One of Perla Kantarjian's poems is archived on the Moon, sent up as part of the Lunar Codex. Lebanese-Armenian, writing in her third language, English, she's been racking up prizes — from the Bridport Prize to the National Poetry Competition — and was the sole Sonny Mehta Scholar chosen from the MENA region at UEA. The Guardian calls her work "fierce and bristling with life." Her debut, You Must Become Field (Bad Betty Press), lands in the UK this September, moving from 1915 Constantinople to a 2025 Beirut club bathroom — and from language to language, the way memory does. "I come from a family that was already once made homeless by history," Kantarjian says. "Writing is how I hold the small and the vast in one hand." Joining her: Olivia Melkonian, sound artist and founder of Analog Armenia, an open-access archive preserving Armenian cassette culture — endangered dialects, folk songs, revolutionary broadcasts, sourced from Lebanon, Armenia and community contributions. Melkonian traces her own fragmented Lebanese-Armenian heritage through the recordings she saves. Two archivists, different mediums — one in language, one in tape. Expect poetry and music alongside the conversation, followed by drinks in the Bush Theatre's welcoming cafe. Armenian Arts and Film London supports and promotes Armenian and diasporan artists, filmmakers, and creatives through cultural and educational programmes. MIXTAPE is a series of events assembled by Armenian Arts and Film London to give a platform to new voices in the arts and beyond. Co-sponsored by Bad Betty Press and the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA).