Somewhere Else: Limbo on the Balcony of Europe
(2025 - Ongoing)
After 4 years of war in Ukraine, one sometimes overlooked side effect is the enormous displacement of people from Belarus and Russia, due to their countries' rapid shift to authoritarianism. Large numbers of dissidents and oppositionists have fled to Georgia, as it was the quickest and one of the only paths to safety.
However they are not granted asylum nor residence, so they must stay there in prolonged uncertainty, effectively as permanent tourists. Everyone does the visa run once a year over the border, hoping there won't be problems this time. Everyone knows they don't have a future in this place. For most, returning home is not an option - some await prison sentences while others can't imagine life in a closed regime. Some have fallen in love with Georgia - for it's rich and hospitable culture, people and landscape. Nevertheless, there are no guarantees.
This project explores a precarious situation for Europeans who wish for the freedoms enjoyed across the EU, but who instead have been pushed out to the edge, to the so-called “balcony of Europe", where existence is characterized by limbo, volatility and trying to survive in the present moment, one which is becoming less secure all the time.
