meet the team: victoria melkonyan
Hi. I’m so thrilled that you’re here.
There’s many ways I could go about this, many histories I could tell. But I figured I’d start with where I’m at right now.
My name is Vic(toria). You may know me by Moso or another name. I am at my very core an artist. My family hails from West Asia (the Middle East), and much of my artistic life is influenced by the stories of those who came before me, and those who currently inhabit the terrain of my past.
4 years ago I graduated from CSULB with a BA in Theatre Performance. Shortly after that, the world ended and after I blinked a couple of times I found myself here, in the very last few moments of 2023.
I used to believe that art was the answer to everything. I don’t believe that way anymore. Though I do believe in the power of art as a tool. Storytelling has existed as long as humans have. Through storytelling we bear witness, we teach, we transform, and we (hopefully) push the masses to fight for a better world. It is through storytelling that we become immortal. Though our bodies may decay and reunite with the soil, it is through our art, our stories, our actions, etc. that our fires remain ablaze.
I invite you to read this piece of poetry by the martyred Palestinian poet, Refaat Alareer:
If I must die
You must live
To tell my story
To sell my things
To buy a piece of cloth
And some strings
(Make it white with a long tail)
So that a child, somewhere in Gaza
While looking heaven in the eye
Awaiting his father, who left in a blaze—
And bid no one farewell
Not even to his flesh
Not even to himself—
Sees the kite, my kite you made, flying above
And thinks for a moment an angel is there
Bringing back love
If I must die
Let it bring hope
Let it be a tale.
Refaat, the ethnostate may have ended your life, but it is through your words you live on. We will not forget. We will not forgive.
(un)defined’s hope is to redefine storytelling. (un)defined is a promise. To keep going. To keep building. To keep evolving. To keep creating.
Our stories will not be extinguished. And if we do things right, hopefully we’ll change the world along the way.
Thank you for joining us on this journey.