This exhibition is about people. About those who found themselves in Latvia not by plan, but by necessity. About those who lost their familiar homes and began to build a new life from small, often unnoticed steps.
The photographs and texts in this exhibition were created by refugees from Ukraine themselves.
This is not an outside perspective, but an internal one. It explores everyday life, fears and hopes, loneliness and support, difficulties and small victories.
There are no “typical stories” here. Each one is personal. Each one tells the story of adaptation:
how to learn to live in a new language, how to be strong for children, how to allow yourself to dream again, how to find support in an unfamiliar country.
Many of these stories began or continue at the Salvation Army Refugee Day Center in Riga. For some, it is the first safe place after a long journey. For others, it is a space of silence. For others, it is a conversation over a cup of tea. For others, it is a place where they can be themselves again, and not “refugees.” The center doesn’t solve all problems. But it provides the most important thing: a sense of safety, acceptance, and human dignity. This is where recovery begins.
The people in this photograph aren’t just helpers. They are the ones who daily create an atmosphere in which trust, conversation, and support are possible. They welcome, listen, conduct activities, make cofe, help navigate—and simply be there. It is thanks to them that the center remains a living space, not just a room. This exhibition is not about pity. It is about strength. About people’s ability to continue living, even when the familiar world is destroyed.
We invite you not only to look at the photographs, but also to see the people behind them. Read their words. Stop. And perhaps rethink the meaning of “home,” “support,” and “being there.”