"Between Two Homes"
As a multi part project, Between Two Homes is tackling the Romanian stereotype through the spectrum of several considerations.
The interpretation of the stereotype as a barrier or mask that gets assigned to people and which obscures personal identities and personas has its visual roots within Romanian folk and traditional memory. Having pagan origins, the role of the mask is to conceal identity as well as to scare malefic spirits away. Mask wearers can mock and humiliate dissatisfactory habits of others, bringing criticism and forcing them to accept the implications of their actions. Here, the masked man walks through the streets of Bucharest capturing a day in his life, accompanied by testimonies of Romanians living in the UK who are voicing their experiences on the reductive effects of stereotyping.
Visit full project here.
"I feel there is a difference and I think everyone's aware that they should be treating me equally but you can tell when people go: oh! she's from a different country...I need to treat her equally... and they don't ask questions like: how is Romania? How was it moving here? Was it hard to adapt?"
"I think they are making assumptions, but I don't know what these assumptions are"
"It's just hard, you're living two lives. You're always caught in between. You can never find your place anymore once you step outside your country. "It's really difficult. If you go back home, you can't find your place, you don't know how things work anymore and you feel insecure and left out."
"I was on the phone with my mother, speaking in Romanian... and somebody shouted at me from the other side of the street: Go back where you came from, this is an English speaking country!"
"I consider them my friends even though they are strangers. At the end of the day, they are people, you know... so, I have nothing bad to say, about them."
"I am always thinking about these things; maybe I need to change, maybe I need to show that I am friendly. So it's always about "I need to show this, I need to show that", and then sometimes, I'm thinking maybe I'm trying too hard and maybe they don't like that."
"I feel more and more that I miss my country. Every time I go back I find that I'm really, really close to those people and I interact so well with them... and that tells me that I miss this, that I don't have all this interaction that I'm eager for (in the UK)."