Mark Chehodaiev

Hotel Europa is a project that explores accommodation, rest, or recreation sites in Austria that were historically part of the country’s tourism infrastructure. These places are now in a state of decline, technically and morally obsolete. Once hotels and resorts, they have lost their original function and are now offered as shelters to Ukrainians displaced by the full-scale invasion.

These sites and their inhabitants coexist in a strange state in which “temporary” becomes permanent. Financial or health limitations have prevented many displaced people from integrating into their new country and they lead very hermetic lifestyles in hotels, often without contact with the cities where they now live. With no safe place to call home, people must adapt to what they have.

The body of the project is a photo series depicting the interiors of these locations—both private rooms and open areas—and daily life there. Using a film camera, Mark Chehodaiev captures this liminal reality and, more broadly, the less visible “side effects” of wars and displacement.

Hotel Ukraine is a research project that includes a photography series, interviews and an art installation as potential outcome. I explore locations that traditionally used to provide temporary accommodation, such as hotels, hostels, and resorts, but now offer shelter to Ukrainians displaced by the full-scale invasion. I capture these places and document Ukrainians and their everyday life in Austrian recreation areas. My goal is to explore how people who lack a secure place to call home reorganize their temporary environment, adapt to it and adjust their needs accordingly. All work is carried out with permission of the individuals involved and full respect for their privacy.