Culture and Lifestyle

In Armenia tech education starts early. In a typical three-storey state school in the suburbs of Yerevan, the Armenian capital, nine-year old Slavik is demonstrating his invention, a box with three LED lights.  Next to him, 14-year-old Eric and Narek are showing their smart greenhouse model that monitors temperature and controls fans automatically through a mobile app. Other children are enthusiastically showcasing their inventions: games, robots, apps and smart home projects. Eleven-year-old Arakel is holding his cardboard model of a house with a retractable clothesline.

In less than two months the Eurovision Song Contest will be held once more, this time in Switzerland. The competition, established by the European Broadcast Union in 1956, has many detractors but also many loyal fans. Intended to bring the countries of the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) together, the event is meant to be a celebration of cultural diversity and creativity. That hasn’t always been the case, however, especially when the acts are from the South Caucasus.