AS THE RUSSIAN CITY OF KAZAN HAS UNDERGONE MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS OVER THE RECENT YEARS, ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GRASP THE IMPACT OF THE EVER-CHANGING URBAN LANDSCAPES ON PEOPLE’S SENSE OF COMFORT AND SAFETY. THERE IS ALWAYS A CERTAIN CONNECTION, SOME KIND OF PERSONAL HISTORY, BETWEEN SPACE AND PEOPLE WHO INHABIT IT. BUT RAPID CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION CAN RUIN THIS BOND.

Territorial borders, both external and internal, build a certain dynamic of the city and affect the comfort and safety of people. Artists and photographers often reflect on the constantly changing urban environment and create various projects or art series shining light on the problems connected to the definition of boundaries, borders and territories. For example, Dutch photographer Valerio Vincenzo in his “Borderline. Frontiers of Peace” [1] project highlights the borders between European countries, or rather their conditionality and the absence of checkpoints and border guards — a result of the Schengen agreement signed between the countries.

Dmitry Lookianov in his “Intrinsic Journey” [3] captures aesthetics of Russia's grey panel buildings and everyday landscapes in the country's most peripheral locations. In the photo project “O Brave New Village” [4], author Ilya Osinchuk reflects on the all-consuming power of massive residential buildings and compares them to black holes, and the remnants of the so-called "village life", which can no longer compete with concrete jungle, its weak defense is most likely doomed to fail.

Kazan photographer Timur Khadeyev captured his acquaintances and friends against the backdrop of wastelands on the outskirts of the city in his ‘On the outskirts of Kazan’ [5] project, on which he worked from 2014 to 2018. He documents that moment and leaves it in his memory as shortly after the empty spaces would be taken over by new buildings.

The issue that the photographer addresses in his project remains relevant, since the construction does not ever stop, thereby, people have to continue to interact with new environment. New large shopping centers emerge (usually they are built closer to the outskirts of the city), creating new life around them. On the one hand, they satisfy the consumer needs of society, on the other hand, they form the space around themselves, leaving fewer and fewer empty unfenced meditative places where people can be alone with nature and themselves. Timur Khadeyev's project was a part of the Moscow-Kazan-Moscow group exhibition-research at the Tsarskaya Bashnya Gallery in Moscow in 2018.

Constant construction in Russia has made an infinite number of different fences a part of everyday life. Perhaps no other country has so many fences. They are being erected everywhere: as a division between a sidewalk and a highway, between different territories or between one high-rise building and another.

Sasha demonstrates various fences in her photographs: tin fences, concrete fences with barbed wire, Soviet PO-2 fences, wooden patriotic fences with a tricolor on them, metal fences similar to those used at rallies and protests, fences that seem completely meaningless (somewhere in the forest against the background of picturesque landscapes), “nominal” fences, which are easy to overcome, decrepit fences covering the identically decrepit buildings, etc. Fences become a noticeboard, a canvas of various statements (from graffiti to telephone numbers), a line between private and public, hiding something secret or valuable.

Initially, the concept of the project was somewhat different. Sasha Grom designed her own fence as an art object. As usually people protect something valuable, Sasha has decided that the most valuable thing is herself, so she acted as the very “object” that should be protected from prying eyes. She walked through the streets сarrying a fence, even attended several parties. But those around her perceived it in their own way, they wanted to join Sasha, stand next to her, take pictures using the fence as a background. Overall, they perceived her artistic statement as a joke. Eventually, she decided to use herself as a background, multiplying her self-portraits, and the fence became the one being portrayed.

Sasha Grom states that endless fences make her feel paranoid, as if someone is directing her route. This creates a feeling of hostility and lack of freedom. However, in the process of working on the project, the photographer realized that oftentimes fences reflect people who use it, or the place where it stands. It forms a certain awareness that the fence is not only about visual and, often, physical discomfort, but also is an inevitable necessity.

Yulia has learned about the specific problems local residents face by asking those whose houses are located along the borders of Kazan. For example, in the village of Osinovo, some houses have difficulties with garbage disposal. Those who live in the houses belonging to the city territory have fewer of them, as the Kazan city inspection companies are stricter in terms of controlling garbage removal. The borders of Kazan are drawn in a way that frequently adjacent objects may have different status and position — some belong to the city, others, outside of it, to the republic.