within No Land's Men, Amsterdam, 2013
In order to be able to stay in the EU countries, non-EU citizens are obliged to apply for visas and residence permits. After moving from Russia to the Netherlands, I experienced the insecurity of immigration through exposure to the visa regime. It brought new elements of instability and powerlessness to everyday life. It gave rise to the need to prove one’s economic and civil necessity in society. The fear of failing to prove this intersected with a constant feeling of not knowing what my rights actually were.
At the same time, it was interesting to observe through my own case how official requirements influence basic human interactions. One aspect, for instance, is the importance of official declarations of relationship type (marriage or registered partnership) in order to allow someone to stay in the country. In a way, this politicises the whole notion of love. In the end, the question “Do I have the right to be in the Netherlands?” grew for me into the existential question of “Do I have the right to be?”, which is not necessarily connected to the issue of immigration.
This video piece is based on my own personal documentation. My work does not criticise the current political system, but rather attempts to generalise the topic.
Photos by Konstantin Guz
Before the official presentation, I showed the video piece to a select group of a few people. Those who have never encountered visa problems thought that the film was only about a broken relationship. But those with other backgrounds asked: “Did you sort out your visa issues? Do you need any help or support?” I observed that the suffering connected with visa issues appeared to be difficult to understand for those who have never experienced them. I am interested in researching what the visa regime actually means in a more general human context, as well as the metaphors and miscommunication that can be connected to it.
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