The Sochi Project: An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus
A Project by Rob Hornstra and Arnold van Bruggen
Contact Gallery May 1-31
by Magdalyn Asimakis
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.
Two years after the International Olympic Committee decided that Sochi would host the 2014 Winter Olympics, photographer Rob Hornstra and journalist Arnold van Bruggen decided to undertake an ambitious project of “slow journalism,” filming, photographing, and capturing oral histories in Sochi over four years. Hornstra explained that he wanted to begin as early as possible, fearing that Russia would cut off the media at some point.
Hornstra’s intuition proved correct as he and van Bruggen were eventually denied entrance to Russia. Fortunately, by that time they had already been immersed in the Sochi project for four years. Hornstra, in Toronto for the festival, explained that they were looking for the “alternative stories” to the Olympics; they were interested in delving into the lives of those in the city in order to uncover Sochi’s authentic identity while documenting the tensions and changes that were occurring in the transition period leading up to the games.
Hornstra noted that they were particularly interested in communicating the contrasts and, perhaps, contradictions present in Sochi in order to draw attention to stories on the periphery, and in turn shine light on post-Soviet Russia’s search for identity.
Curated amongst the photographs and films were quotes from citizens, maps, descriptions of Sochi, Abkhazia, and North Caucasus, and contextual information about the project. The result was an engaging exploration of the cultural geography as well as the diversity of those who inhabited it.
The photographs observe people and spaces, as do the films which are played on iPads, hanging on the walls amongst the images. Both mediums are deeply engaging. The films observe individuals in spaces they have inhabited for years, as they speak about Sochi and their place within it, acknowledging the past, present, and future. Through the films, the spaces and people come to life and nuances in their environment are brought to light. Oral histories are uncovered without imposing interpretive language.
The photographs, whether close-up or site-specific portraits, were a mix of candid, posed, and documentary, and seem to momentarily freeze subjects in their context in order to tell their story, as if they had one foot in their environment and one foot in the gallery. Each photograph is accompanied by a small paragraph explaining who the subjects are and a bit of information which either gives insight into a central theme in their lives, or underlines a moment when their lives changed. On an individual level, this could seem like a historicist approach. But as a collective, the stories come together and create a compelling mosaic of perspectives and identities, which take time to go through, proving the exhibition to be a concise look at the tip of a very large, complicated iceberg.
Hornstra and van Bruggen have published a book about their project, also entitled The Sochi Project: An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus.
Magdalyn Asimakis lives in Toronto, Ontario and works as a research assistant in the curatorial department at the Art Gallery of Ontario, she is a regular contributor to BlackFlash Magazine and our Contact Photography Festival correspondent.
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