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 during dekulakization — the Soviet campaign of political repression. My family was forced to move twice: the first time when I was three, after the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and the second time in 2019, right before the pandemic. I moved myself in March 2022.
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 start of the war, 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.
The aim of Dom is not to compare the stories, but to delve into the definition of home and its multiple layers and find answers to the questions that have remained central within me since my childhood — and now, have become even more crucial.
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 start of the war, 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.
The aim of Dom is not to compare the stories, but to delve into the definition of home and its multiple layers and find answers to the questions that have remained central within me since my childhood — and now, have become even more crucial.
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
“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
‘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