​​Stray She

Undone visuals. Just verbals

It was the end of the winter 2022 when everything in Ukraine was about uncertainty. People froze, expecting that russia was going to attack and were doubting that at the same time. It was hard to believe. We didn’t know how the beginning of this war could look like, there was no such an experience before, we did not have a knowledge about the right way to pack the backpack. My head was constantly playing different what if’s questions. The main was how I’d feel if russians did anything with something / someone that I love.

If they came to my place, I could not imagine that my things can be touched without my permission.  The things I love are the things that tell about me; it is like touching me when my physical body is not there, but the objects I have connection with still are. 

That was my personal concept, I guess. Preserving myself packing things I love, and which are valuable and leaving less of myself open for the enemy. As many things you can add into your backpack, as much of yourself you will bring. I brought my identity. It was not easy due to the limited space in my backpack. How I’d feel to imagine if my clothes were touched? I packed my favorite underwear, sweater and jeans. I initially did not think about the practical part. My approach was to take everything I value with me. As a designer, I have my own way of interacting with objects, which has a deep personal gratitude for the materialistic world and my personal belief is that objects are about energy and senses. To bring the things I took, was a way of preserving my normal life as well as kind of a fuse not allowing myself drowning through – becoming – a – refugee. My way was to not give the enemy any chance. I needed to leave behind my plants in my apartment, my green ecosystem. I bought a white orchid the day before I left. Bringing flowers to my house was about continuing investing in my home. I packed my name cards, the postcards I designed

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