The project consists of a series of linocuts that complement a diploma comic about the settlement of Halmer-Yu.Sixty kilometers north of Vorkuta lie the ruins of Halmer-Yu—once a thriving mining settlement where 4,000 people lived. In the 1990s, the mines were shut down, and the active and painful resettlement of the settlement began for its residents. Halmer-Yu became home to thousands of people—a place many residents personally developed and built. The houses are gone, but the people hold memories of it.
The village has not existed for over 30 years—all memory of it is concentrated in the elusive and ever-changing images held in the recollections of local residents. This series of printmaking is inspired by interviews with former residents and visitors of the village. It reflects their memories: collective, yet in some places diverging, fleeting, and pieced together from countless fragments.
Each piece is dedicated to a specific, significant location within the village and constitutes a «collage» assembled from various imprints. In certain areas, repeating patterns draw the viewer back to Nenets ornamental tradition (Khalmer-Yu—the former sanctuary of Nenets reindeer herders, a settlement area for the indigenous peoples of the North).
