​Traces of the historic presence of Christian Armenian communities permeate the landscapes of what is today eastern Turkey. Armenian lives were intricately entwined with those of their Kurdish neighbours until the 1915 Genocide brought centuries of Muslim-Christian conviviality to an end. Yet shared histories have an afterlife in stones, bodies, and imaginations. Kurdish lives unfold amongst the ruins of monumental Armenian churches (1), literally incorporating these sacred spaces into their own homes (2, 3). Survivors of genocide peruse the landscape to trace their ancestors (4), and as their bodies align with those of their former neighbours, shared pasts gain a fleeting presence (5).  
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Kurdish-Armenian Afterlives 1 © Marlene Schäfers
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Kurdish-Armenian Afterlives 2 © Marlene Schäfers
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Kurdish-Armenian Afterlives 3 © Marlene Schäfers
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Kurdish-Armenian Afterlives 4 © Marlene Schäfers
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Kurdish-Armenian Afterlives 5 © Marlene Schäfers
Dr Marlene Schäfers is a social anthropologist and holder of a Newton International Fellowship (awarded by the British Academy), based in the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. In May 2021, Marlene will deliver the Evans-Pritchard Lectures at All Souls College, Oxford.
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