Temporary Homes

Student dormitories are the only type of social housing that exists in Ukraine  nowadays. They were constructed during the soviet epoch and since that time,  buildings and living conditions haven’t changed that much but Ukraine and its  people did. I started to photograph dormitories in 2019 because they represented  the co-existence of the soviet heritage and the new pro-European generation. This  duality attracts me and it shows how the mentality of people from the ex communist country changes due to globalization. Being inspired by Maidan Revolution which started in 2013 by a student protest I wanted to make a sincere portrait of the generation born in independent Ukraine which turned towards  European values.

Students who live in dormitories have just left their families and moved into their first independent housing. They stay in their small rooms for only 3 or 4 years, yet they decorate them with a personal touch. All these buildings which look cold and unified from the outside hide diverse rooms that unite gloomy interiors and personal belongings, drawings, and posters of each student. Neither a family house nor a rented flat, dormitories are a kind of cocoon: the place of transition from teenage years to an adult life

Daria Svertilova is a photographer and visual artist from Odesa, currently living and working between Kyiv and Paris. In 2023, she obtained a master’s degree in photography and video art from the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris. In her artistic practice, Daria explores the connections between past and present, focusing primarily on the youth and cultural, social, and political contexts in which young people live. Since 2022, Daria’s artistic focus has shifted toward witnessing the consequences of the Russian war against Ukraine.