Dom stands for "home" and "house" in Russian.
This topic has always been sensitive in my family. My great grandfather's home was destroyed twice because of dekulakization — the Soviet campaign of political repressions. My family was forced to move twice; the first time was when I was three, after the 1998 Russian financial crisis. I moved myself in March 2022 after the government of my country launched a criminal full-scale war against Ukraine and turned demanding peace into a crime.
The ongoing project explores different edges of feeling at home, losing home, and trying to find one. I interviewed my friends from Russia and Ukraine, most of whom moved after the invasion, and captured them in their current apartments abroad with the objects that help create the ephemeral sensation of being at home.
In the end, the objects turned out to be just a thread that helped untangle something deeper and much more complex.
It is especially important for me to share the stories of my Ukrainian friends as nothing can be compared to losing one’s home, both mental and physical one, to air strikes, tanks and bombs.
The ongoing project explores different edges of feeling at home, losing home, and trying to find one. I interviewed my friends from Russia and Ukraine, most of whom moved after the invasion, and captured them in their current apartments abroad with the objects that help create the ephemeral sensation of being at home.
In the end, the objects turned out to be just a thread that helped untangle something deeper and much more complex.
It is especially important for me to share the stories of my Ukrainian friends as nothing can be compared to losing one’s home, both mental and physical one, to air strikes, tanks and bombs.
DOM
ongoing
'When I think of home, I imagine mom cooking something in the kitchen. Dad watching TV. I come home, mom hugs me, and I smell freshly cooked soup. I sit down at the piano to play.
My mom and dad have already passed away. Mom died six years ago, and dad — just a week before the war started.'
My mom and dad have already passed away. Mom died six years ago, and dad — just a week before the war started.'
Dasha
from Krivoy Rog
based in Barcelona
based in Barcelona
‘These days, my home is in Tbilisi, which I love wholeheartedly — and in the Georgian language, which helped me to rediscover my own freedom.’
Sasha
from Moscow
based in Tbilisi
based in Tbilisi
‘The first thing that comes to mind when I think about home is a vacuum cleaner. Everything is so unstable these days that at least at home
I want to have stability. I want the apartment to be clean.’
I want to have stability. I want the apartment to be clean.’
Vlada
from Kherson
based in Limassol
based in Limassol
‘These planes are a link to my childhood, home and my cherished dream — creating my own airline one day.’
‘In Omsk I care when something is not right. I fight it, write appeals, argue. Here I wouldn’t do that. Either everything is so good, or I haven’t reached that deeper level of home yet.’
‘In Omsk I care when something is not right. I fight it, write appeals, argue. Here I wouldn’t do that. Either everything is so good, or I haven’t reached that deeper level of home yet.’
Oleg
from Omsk
based in Vienna
based in Vienna
‘For me, home is a complicated topic, because for most of my life, I lived by the principle ‘anywhere to get out of here’. Only recently, I started to realize that there exists a sense of home.’
Misha
from Sysert
based in Berlin
based in Berlin
‘Now home is where I left my suitcase and where the bed I sleep in is, with no strings attached. But these earrings are a connection to my childhood home. My mom gave them to me when I was in elementary school, and I’ve been wearing them ever since. The more often I move, the more these earrings remind me of where my most beloved people live.’
‘I want to be close to all the people I love. It’s just that they are in different places.’
‘I want to be close to all the people I love. It’s just that they are in different places.’
Ira
from Ekaterinburg
based in Limassol
based in Limassol
“The feeling of home emerges once you allow yourself to keep things that serve no practical purpose. Those useless, yet such very useful things give you the feeling of significance, liveliness, and warmth."
Yulia
from Ekaterinburg
based in Limassol
based in Limassol
‘Home is your habits. It’s hard to change your habits completely. That is why I lost my home in Russia. I don’t have a home now. Even though I used to.’
LEV
from Vladivostok
based in Pissouri
based in Pissouri
‘Home is where you feel safe; where you’re surrounded with things that make your life easier and make you feel like you are standing on both feet, especially in the periods of turbulence.
The magic wand is also about safety and protection; if it gets too hard, I can always call upon a patronus.‘
The magic wand is also about safety and protection; if it gets too hard, I can always call upon a patronus.‘
Olya
from Moscow
based in Limassol
based in Limassol
‘When you separate from the family, home becomes internal. It is a place where you can find peace. For, when there is chaos and anxiety, it’s unsettling, you’re outside your home.’
Veronika
from Odessa
based in Barcelona
based in Barcelona
‘When I moved to Prague, I felt that the whole city was home.
When I was flying from there to Moscow — even before the war — it was giving me some nervous trembling, the feeling that in my home country something bad might happen to me.’
When I was flying from there to Moscow — even before the war — it was giving me some nervous trembling, the feeling that in my home country something bad might happen to me.’
Arina
from Murom
based in Prague
based in Prague
‘My little house has turned out to be surrounded by an alien atmosphere, ideology, ideas, and people. I never thought I would feel like a stranger among my own people, but it’s happened.’
‘There are always icons and photographs of my loved ones on my table; that’s a link to the spiritual home and the earthly one.’
‘There are always icons and photographs of my loved ones on my table; that’s a link to the spiritual home and the earthly one.’
Sergey
from Kostroma
based in Tbilisi
based in Tbilisi
‘Whenever I talk about home, what I mention a lot is the air, both outside and inside the apartment. I feel good when I can breathe in deeply.’
Katia
from Saint Petersburg
based in Barcelona
based in Barcelona