A lot of the general goods you find that are Armenian related tend to be quite repetitive, generally cheap goods that are catered more to the idea of Armenia that the tourist may want and need to bring home. There's still a significant number of interesting items to find as you explore the country, though. Sometimes you do have to look around a little more in order to notice the more fun things. The little relics of yesteryear. The areas of the Soviet Union and its technological achievements. Items that have been forgotten in time, almost springing out to much surprise once discovered. I have seen a lot of things like this: old televisions, radios, various little technological tools with very specific purposes for use. It's really fascinating that Armenia sometimes feels like it still lives in the past, where some of the nation has developed in certain areas, while still clinging to releases of prior decades. The first thing you notice here is the cars: rustic, beaten, and a lot of the time being very old. Ranging from the 60s to the 90s. Next up is the architecture: many old buildings, Soviet era with heavy communist influence. Odd structures that spoke on the success and strength of the Union, the collective.
Sunday markets in any place tend to be a good way to get an idea of what the past was like there. A way to see what people owned, the various goods that were once important to people that are now considered secondhand trash, for the most part. Attempted to be sold for whatever they possibly can make, the exchanging of various goods in pursuit of just collecting more clutter, ultimately. The cycle of consumerism. But it's a great way to see the interests of people, the literature, the old music that has probably exchanged hands many times over the years, what sort of music managed to enter the nation in such times, especially around the tighter era of a communist nation. A big surprise for me was immediately seeing various editions of Hitler's Mein Kampf book. The story that rose the man to his higher fame, leading to much praise and support from the people for his hardships faced, and want to see Germany as a more successful nation. A huge counter to the entire ideology of even modern Russia and former republics, which often censor the book to this day. These were at the very entrance of the market, so it gave off quite the impression from the very start. Behind it, a series of the typical nonsense, the same crap you tend to find everywhere else.
A lot of the general nonsense consists of the typical Armenian colours and patterns one may find on the carpets of this region. Others tend to be anything with some sort of connection to the pomegranate. Paintings on ugly little cups, places, and pretty much anything that would end up just sitting idle in a cupboard somewhere in the kitchen over the years, not really used or cared for by anyone. Fortunately it's just the entrance that holds this stuff for the most part, the rest opens up into various crafts, items of the past, rugs, and clothing. Some even displaying various entertainment options in the form of fancy chessboards or nardi -- a game I have grown addicted to here, as frustrating as the luck-based board game can be. To no surprise, you see old men playing this game everywhere, where it was once more popular around the Soviet apartment blocks where grandpas would meet outside and play. Sometimes you still see it, but much of that older population died off. Though, within this market, some of the workers behind the stalls passed the time with their cigarettes and a game of nardi against each other.
A continuation of the oddities here, one can find various tools. Some of these tools are a bit more questionable regarding their purpose. Fancy knives and daggers litter the space. Some are more focused around the colours and patterns, something a teenager would love to grab ahold of based on the infamous knife craze of Counter Strike games. I suspect that's the majority of the audience for this, the youthful. Where more the daggers are aimed at collectors, older people. A bit more culture added to those in their patterns, more for sitting on a shelf somewhere and appreciated from afar. I thought about it, and actually kind of liked the idea of having a fun knife, but I'm a stupidly immature man on the brink of thirty. The knives extended beyond the talon-shaped colourful ones, and into the realm of butterfly knives.
It's probably no surprise to say that I didn't really see anyone looking at these. The Armenian market for such items is probably quite thin. Armenian men don't really like anything colourful, and probably don't have much use for something like this. Again, perhaps catering more to the tourist side of things, though I question how one may get such an item through customs without it raising a few eyebrows. I had the thought as a result as to how many sales they tend to generate here, not just regarding the knives, but for much of the various items that are attempted to be flogged. A lot of it admittedly is just trash. Things that barely function, rustic and likely broken. One old camera and lens seller insisted that everything worked, yet refused to let me pick up the lenses and take a look for myself. Within that moment, it felt clear that the transaction would be something based purely on trust, rather than intelligence. Once I was told to not touch the lenses, I simply put it down and walked off, completely uninterested in the idea of buying something I can't even actually look at.
Another camera vendor had a lot more faith to him, a person that I had stumbled across before briefly. During that small interaction, he informed me that the lens within my hands was in fact broken, it would not work. Straight-up honesty. And allowing the potential customers to roam through his impressive collection and actually look into them, checking them over for any particular scratches, dents, or damage that may result in the item being completely void of interest and potential use. This is how things should be done: a collection of items that are roamed through, investigated, haggled, and then maybe even purchased. The experience being much more fun. Much more interesting knowing that with all the gear he had, I could pick up anything and consider what use it may have to me. This ran from old Soviet era 35mm film cameras, to lenses and even Soviet era expired film stock available for sale.
His collection was impressive. It went on for a while. Some cameras were more than just still cameras, some were for video. Old 16mm cameras with massive lenses that would be incredible to adapt to a more modern camera, that vintage aesthetic creating much curiosity within me. Unfortunately I didn't have the things with me to test it all. Though I suspect one day I will attempt to do so. It was really fun to look at it all, my consumerist side definitely opened up a bit, though I didn't ask what the prices might be. The owner of the collection mostly just leaves the potential customers alone to look through it all, only intervening if he feels the need to explain what something might be to someone that seems a bit confused. A manual light metre was of interest. But I really wanted one of those movie cameras!
At times the market can feel a bit underwhelming, the lack of interesting goods can lead to two sides of a long walk with just nothing really to see. You can tell some vendors obtained the same items from the same locations. Some items a bit tacky and still focused too much on the tourism side. It made the areas of unique technology and more luxurious items a bit more interesting. Stumbling across little items that you haven't seen before, curious over it all. But for a market, it's still quite busy. A lot of food places to stop and grab something to eat and drink in the middle. Multiple aisles to walk down, rows of jewellery and Soviet pin and stamps. I didn't bother with the little food places, not really my thing. Mostly fast food that doesn't quite speak to me in any capacity. Though I appreciate the attempts to make it an environment that keeps people around and roaming, trying to keep the market aesthetic alive in this era of ordering things online and buying from franchise shops.
Back to the collection side of things, it appears you can even purchase old pistols. Some of them have clear rifling that display an ability to fire. It's interesting to see such an item here, where in England the concept of even carrying a spoon in public or buying a regular food knife from a regular supermarket can result in the request for proof of identification. I quite like this. Where the society is more high trust. Guns still being something more prohibited, but people can buy swords, knives, daggers, and more from markets. Some swords looked more like katanas, for some context!
To end the post, I figured it would be great to display some of that cultural element of Armenia. Two men casually playing a game of nardi out in the open, nobody bothering them. No crowd observing. Just the day passing as workers have a bit of fun. I couldn't figure out who was likely to win, though. It was quite early on in the game.
