Heda

Chechnya is a divided nation – its bloody history of wars for independence has forced a large percentage of the population to flee the country. Now living in Europe, the daughters of these refugees exist in a constant state of limbo: alienated from their culture of origin due to its misogyny, yet not fully accepted in their new countries because of xenophobia.
The starting point of “Heda” was born somewhere between the thousands of texts messages which I have exchanged over the years with one of my closest friends, an anthropology graduate born in Chechnya and now living in Moscow. The original idea – back in 2019 – was to combine our respective anthropological and artistic research into a documentary project about the oppression faced by women in the
restrictive culture of post-war Chechnya. This plan was quickly hindered first by the pandemic, and later the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It became impossible for us to meet in person: I couldn’t enter Russia, and she couldn’t leave.

Amidst these challenges, a new concept emerged – a narrative which would incorporate both a broader picture of the cultural identity of Chechen women, and the connection which the two of us personally share. In the winter of 2023, I started travelling around Europe photographing young Chechen women who share the same name as my friend – Heda. I set out to create a story which is concerned not just with the contemporary issues of migration, but above all the individual character of each of its heroines. The project focuses on their struggle to navigate a life between cultures; as one of the women told me: “In Europe, I am seen as a Chechen, but in Chechnya, I am seen as an European”
This project tells the stories of five Hedas – the four I met across Europe, and the one still 1400 kilometers away. Together, they form a multidimensional tale of migration, war, trauma, belonging, and community.