Village Voices Armenia is an intergenerational cultural heritage project that connects high school students from Yerevan with elderly residents in Armenian villages to preserve stories that risk disappearing.
As rural communities face migration, aging populations, and economic decline, valuable oral histories, dialects, traditions, recipes, and local knowledge are being lost. Through guided village visits, students will spend time with elderly hosts, documenting their memories, daily life, and cultural practices through interviews, photographs, videos, and written research.
The collected materials will be preserved in a free digital archive and interactive village map, making them accessible to future generations, researchers, schools, and the public. Other than documentation, the project encourages meaningful relationships between generations, reduces loneliness among elderly participants, and helps young people develop a deeper appreciation for Armenia's rural communities and cultural heritage. The pilot program will begin with three villages near Yerevan and three participating students, ending with a public exhibition showcasing their work. The students will stay one week in the village or they can choose to travel daily with public transportation. Our long-term vision is to expand across Armenia, creating the country's largest archive of village oral history and ensuring that the voices, memories, and identities of rural communities are preserved before they disappear.