The feature length documentary, The Dragon Under Our Feet, follows my journey as a multi-disciplinary artist as I learn about Armenian carpets in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Armenia. We watch my hands create a contemporary stained glass piece in homage to Armenian carpets, illuminating a forgotten history that elicits more questions than answers. As the symbols take shape, the stories of my subjects begin to unfold. 

Through my art practice, I dive into the meaning of traditional Armenian carpets, unveiling the symbols and history woven into rugs, with emphasis on the dragon (vishap) motif. In scenes with SF Armenian Rug Society founders and researchers, and my father, Garbis Baghdassarian, an avid carpet enthusiast and collector, I uncover the history and intricate process of decoding ancient symbols. I speak with other young American-Armenian artists who are incorporating the symbols and lessons of Armenian carpets into their work. The more diasporans I speak to, I see a fragmented community seeking a means of connection to one another. 

Across the ocean, I connect with intergenerational families of weavers, shepherds, and villagers in Armenia who harvest plants for dyes, along with a collective of refugee women at the Goris Women’s Resource Center supporting their families through weaving. I speak with historians and cultural experts who have devoted their lives to studying these carpets and preserving their legacies.

Themes of cultural erasure, diaspora, and war entwine as I navigate through a country facing ongoing violence while asking the question — what stories have these carpets survived to tell? And what makes them Armenian?

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

Thanks to my parents' passion for collecting, I’ve been surrounded by Armenian rugs since birth. Growing up, they took my brother and me to carpet events and lectures across California. As active members of the Armenian Rugs Society’s SF chapter, they organized exhibitions and worked to preserve these cultural pieces.

It wasn’t until after I lived in Armenia, that I truly began to value the historical and cultural relevance of what they were doing. In 2017, I moved to my homeland for 5 years. In the fall of 2020, my rose-tinted glasses shattered when Azerbaijan launched a full-scale war against the independent Armenian enclave of Artsakh , or Nagorno-Karabakh. For months, I mobilized with the rest of the country, collecting food and medicine, filming aid distributions near frontlines, and gathering stories from refugees. In 2023, we lost what little was left of Artsakh and Armenians experienced mass displacement once again.

Given my upbringing, I feel compelled to preserve a threatened culture and bridge my hometown and my homeland. As the daughter of carpet collectors, I feel a personal responsibility to understand and appreciate the value of the collection I may one day inherit.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT <3 SIRDOV, TARA