1489, 2023

When soldiers are killed, they often end up as anonymous numbers in news reports. But behind every number there is a person who leaves behind heartbroken family members. The title 1489 refers to the anonymous number of a “body of an individual missing in action.” It was the number assigned to Soghomon Vardanyan, a 21-year-old student and musician who was close to completing his mandatory military service when the conflict between Azerbaijan and his home country Armenia over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) flared up again in September 2020.