Rob Hornstras „The Sochi Project“

Über die Langzeitdokumentation „The Sochi Project“ der Niederländer Rob Hornstra und Arnold van Bruggen, die insgesamt elf Mal in die Kaukasusregion gereist sind, um auf die Situation und die Veränderungen vor Ort aufmerksam zu machen, habe ich in der Vergangenheit bereits in zwei Artikeln berichtet.

Nun ist in der April-Ausgabe der Photographie mein ausführlicher Abschlussbericht zu diesem außergewöhnlichen Projekt erschienen. Den gesamten Artikel gibt es hier als PDF.

Außerdem besteht in diesem Jahr gleich mehrfach, die Ausstellung zu besuchen – bis zum 22. Juni beispielsweise beim Noorderlicht Fotofestival im niederländischen Groningen.

Links: The Sochi Project, Noorderlicht, Aperture

: Cover von „An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus“, erschienen bei Aperture 2013

: The Sochi Project – Ausstellungsansicht im FotoMuseum Antwerpen Bild: FoMu © Guy Voet

: The Sochi Project – Ausstellungsansicht im FotoMuseum Antwerpen Bild: FoMu © Guy Voet

: Sochi, RUSSIA, 2011 – It’s common for Sochi restaurants (and eateries throughout the country) to feature singers who, night after night, rely on a fixed repertoire of Russian chansons. The term ?background music? is a foreign concept to these performers (often the volume is cranked up to 11) and instead of talking, patrons dance and sing. On this photo: Marika Baiur in restaurant Eurasia in Sochi. © Rob Hornstra / The Sochi Project

: Gimry, RUSSIA, 2012 – View from the road between Shamilkala and Gimry. In the distance are the first houses of Gimry, birthplace of the 19th-century resistance hero Imam Shamil and a h otbed for the current Islamic-inspired separatism. Gimry is under a permanent KTO regime (KTO stands for counterterrorist operation), a kind of state of emergency that gives the police sweeping powers. © Rob Hornstra / The Sochi Project

: Kuabchara, ABKHAZIA, 2009 – Brothers Zashrikwa (17) and Edrese (14) pose proudly with a Kalashnikov on the sofa in their aunt and uncle’s house. They live in the Kodori Valley, a remote mountainous region on the border between Abkhazia and Georgia. In August 2008, Abkhazia gained control of the officially demilitarised Kodori Valley. The valley’s 2,000 Georgian inhabitants fled over the border. A few families refused to be driven out: ‚We are mountain people. Borders don’t mean very much to us. But if I had to choose between a Georgian and an Abkhazian passport, I would choose a Georgian one.‘ © Rob Hornstra / The Sochi Project

: Sochi, RUSSIA, 2009 – Every year, Mikhail Pavelivich Karabelnikov (77) from Novokuznetsk travels around 3,000 kilometres in order to be able to take his holiday in Sochi. The coastal strip on the Black Sea around the subtropical resort of Sochi (Russia) has for decades been famous for its sanatoria. During the Soviet era, millions of workers were sent to one of these sanatoria annually to revive their spirits and strengthen their bodies. Today, the sanatoria are still fully booked year round mostly with elderly or disabled Russians. In the run-up to the Olympic Winter Games in 2014, almost all the sanatoria will be converted into luxury hotels. There is no place for sentimentality when it comes to the past. Sanatorium is an ode to these Soviet strongholds, revealing a deep-seated love for spas that is firmly embedded in the Russian soul. © Rob Hornstra / The Sochi Project

: Gudauri, GEORGIA, 2013 – Soviet Monument to Russo-Georgian Friendship, north of Gudauri. © Rob Hornstra / The Sochi Project