Devon-based photojournalist Frankie Mills introduces current exhibition Good Evening, We Are From Ukraine being presented in partnership with Libraries Unlimited as part of the Platforma festival 2023, produced by Counterpoints Arts. At Paignton Library till 31 October.
I had put out a post asking to meet Ukrainians in my home county of Devon. One day I got a message from someone called Valentyna Romanchuk. She had escaped Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine located an hour’s drive from the Russian border. She was now living in Moorhaven – a tiny community on the edge of Dartmoor.
It felt surreal that this remote village was now hosting people fleeing a war-torn country which was dominating the minds and headlines of people all over the globe. I couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to suddenly crash-land in a landscape which is defined by open skies, hikers, sheep, and golfers. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to leave behind your home while it is on fire and arrive somewhere known by few bar the local community.
This project originally started out of a desire to document the shock of abruptly finding oneself in a remote and rural landscape having been severed from another life; of going through the motions each day while the heart and mind rages from grief and longing for home.
Then, the project took a turn. Friendships formed. The local bus timetable became known to all – as did the location of the best Polish food shop. English classes sprang up in town halls. Each small milestone was a step forward – including finding and returning to a favourite spot on Dartmoor, or saying hi to a neighbour each day. A community was establishing itself. Ukrainian Independence Day was, tearfully, celebrated by Brits and Ukrainians together. People got their first jobs. People got their first car. Then, over the months, some people got their first homes.
In spite of mourning for home, people began to open their minds to the possibility that this place could also be home – even if only a temporary one. People changed from focusing only on returning to Ukraine to re-start their lives, to being able to live them here and now. And quickly it became clear that there was enough possibility in today and tomorrow for life to feel meaningful.
Having an asylum system based on compassion enabled people to find their independence and establish a sense of home, as did the friendships, communities, and shared experiences between those who arrived here.
There is a lot that the Homes for Ukraine scheme says about British people too. Why people willingly opened their homes to strangers in a county that voted for Brexit – a vote we know was driven by migration fears – was something I was initially eager to know. There are many political answers to this question: race, the media, government incentivisation. But during the making of this work I realised the why’s were not so important. What is more important is that the scheme has, overall, been a success for Ukrainians and Brits.
A poll of over 1200 hosts by More in Common, a civil society organisation, found that eight out of ten people were glad they’d been involved. The primary reason for doing so was to help people fleeing a war zone. Seventy per cent of hosts said they would do it again, of that 70 per cent, three quarters said they would consider hosting people fleeing Afghanistan.
Of all the households I spoke with who opened up their homes to strangers, almost all reported a deep sense of love and care for the people they lived with. Even in cases where relationships went askew or where habits clashed, there was a sense that guests will always have a place in their sponsor’s home. The relationship felt akin to something like your standard dysfunctional family – one that comes with a baseline of love, care, and a healthy deal of communication problems. From the people I have spoken to, I cannot help but suspect that it is impossible to go through sharing a home together and not come out the other side as something like family.
The sponsorship scheme has proven the depths of our empathy when there is a cause that appeals to us. It has proven that both sides benefit when we choose to be open to others.
It feels serendipitous to have made this work at a time when we have tightened our borders beyond anything we have seen in the past, and deemed refugees to be illegal based upon how they arrive here, all the while repeatedly housing them in accommodation unsafe for human life.
Against this backdrop, we’ve also proven that we have an asylum system that could work for all. The experience of opening our homes to others has radically challenged us to be open in a way we haven’t seen in recent history. I hope that this experiment inspires us to be more and more open to others in the future.”
More on Frankie here and on the exhibition here
The exhibition is touring the following libraries around Devon:
Ivybridge Library 3rd – 14th October
This will include a FREE family drop-in printmaking workshop with Anna Boland on Saturday 7th October between 9am – 12.30pm. Make your voice heard and try your hand at making an activist print with messages and thoughts about the theme of freedom and sanctuary in response to the works in the exhibition. Suitable for ages 5+.
Paignton Library 17th – 31st October
A FREE text and image workshop will be held with photographer Frankie Mills on Saturday 21st October 10am – 12.00pm, and a Talk where Frankie shares her creative process and aspiration for the work at 1.30pm.This will be followed by a performance from the Ukrainian Harmony women’s choir from Cornwall at 2pm. Torn from menfolk defending their homeland, Ukrainian women, with their children, began arriving in mid-Cornwall last spring. Inspired by the conviction that song is a strong part of any national identity, this resilient group started singing together, and Ukrainian Harmony was formed.
