Today we’d like to introduce you to George Jojo Baghdassarian

Hi George JoJo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Good LOVE of cheers to you all, and without delay I’m thankful to my good brethren – the Fine Artist: Dominic Wordlaw for welcoming me into VoyageLA’s Q&A by way of Sid Reddy.

I was bounded by a versatile artistic family that I was born into on August 11th, 1974, as George JoJo Baghdassarian – in Beirut Lebanon; while also having a life in Aleppo Syria until the age of 8. My genetic name derives from two mystical names of Saint George and Balthazar. In the early 1980s, my mother Osanna, father Garabed, sister Maria and I, took refuge from the Mediterranean/Middle East Civil War’s by immigrating to the City of Angels, California.

We broke out of a large scale of violently organized conflicts; primarily over regional power to achieve religious might in an inhuman way – utter terror of mass destruction upon innocent civilians as it continues on today throughout our planet. The greatest hate persists to reveal itself within the worldly hurdles of religious love!

Years before our arrival to L.A, my uncle Abraham Koushian; a genuine begetter of an artist and an expert jewelry designer – settled his family in Los Angeles, Ca. He equally helped to reinforce the Baghdassarian family by leading the way for us to rent a home in Glendale, Ca. We’ve been in the City of Glendale ever since (for the most part).

Now that I’m halfway to being a centenarian and my daughter Graysee is 8 years of age (we’re both Leo’s : ) I’ve come to be mindfully conscious of all things under the indigenous guide of mother nature; within the everlasting and ever-expanding areas of the Lively Arts, Healing Arts, Social Arts, Fine Arts and my ideals around the Culinary Arts – exceedingly palatable! Throughout my upbringing, my mother and father have collaborated together upon their craftsmanship as imaginative Fine Artists, textile experts, fashion and furniture design.

In the Mediterranean; my family was speaking Arabic, French, Turkish and primarily the Western Armenian language. Since I grew up utilizing my Mediterranean languages; I adapted diplomatically to learn the American language on the streets of Los Angeles; California – while also attending the curriculums of the LA Unified School District.

In those days of the 80’s & 90’s; my neighborhood friends and LA collectives who we played street basketball and pastime sports with were raised in families that were associated with scores of Los Angeles gangs (the “Gang Capital of America”); so as the matter of course, I meshed abnormally with the gangsters from those various rings since they were also present at the same schools/classmates that I was attending. On the contrary, I became more in-tuned with the street breakers (break dancers), punk-rockers, fine art painters, skateboarders, surfers, fashionistas, graffiti artists, DJ’s, musicians and eventually the party crews that would utilize abandoned L.A warehouses and backyards of their homes for privatized underground parties – setting up generators to guest carloads of like minded social creatives from all walks of life. Our squad was given the name of The Unknown Family and Street Beat Magazine was the publication that would cover the underground/rave youth culture of our times vs Lowrider Magazine would cover the Lowrider automotive culture. We were groups of young teenagers from all cultural backgrounds that planned and hosted underground events, parties, and raves during the late 80s and early-1990s. I’ve been collectively hosting the Lively Arts ever since…

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