Russian photographer Oksana Yushko: “It’s our history and heritage”
Russian photographer and visual artist Oksana Yushko was born in Ukraine and is now based in Moscow, Russia. Together with Estonian journalist and filmmaker Liisi Mölder she forms Beyond 91’s Team Estonia. The two are reporting on the community of ethnic Russians living in Estonia. This community is very little integrated into the Estonian-speaking society. The two groups live quite separately in different worlds. They have separate areas where they live, separate schools and even separate shops that are considered more Russian or more Estonian. But what connects these two worlds?
Read more about which topics Oksana is the most interested in and what she likes about Beyond 91.
Which subjects and issues are you the most interested in?
I have been always interested in people and how they live. I love traveling and meeting people who I didn’t know before, learning about new cultures, sharing ideas. I am interested in human rights topics, environmental issues, women’s lives, traditions. I like to collaborate and interact with others. For me both the process and the goal are important.
Do you have any precise memories of Perestroika? What was it like?
I don’t remember much. I remember everyone started saying that we’d have more freedom now and that you can say everything you want. I remember my parents trying to get more food for our family and me holding my mother’s hand standing in a line in front of an empty shop.
What makes the “Perestroika generation” so special?
I think that the “Perestroika generation” differs from their parents as any other generation. At the same time they have been growing up during the years of economic and political reforms. The Soviet Union had almost failed and a new generation was “waiting for changes” — this quote from the song “We are waiting for changes” performed by Tsoi in the movie Assa (a cult film directed by Sergei Solovyov and released in 1987, N.B.) became the unofficial hymn of Perestroika.
Do you ever have nostalgic feelings towards the communist period in Eastern Europe?
Those were my childhood years and of course I have nostalgic feelings towards my childhood. I am grateful to my parents because I had a very happy childhood. And now, when I visit my hometown in Ukraine, meet school friends, think about those times, I feel a lot of good vibes. Children need love when growing up, and it has nothing to do with politics.
What do you think the Western media gets wrong when reporting about the former communist East?
Since the end of the Cold War, I suppose there are still lots of clichés, fears and sometimes lack of knowledge in reporting from both sides. It leads to a world which is black and white. But it’s not. Unfortunately, people only read headlines and rate everything with one click. Nobody has time to stop and think. Media doesn’t have enough money to go deeper into the subject. But it’s a circle, and everyone is responsible.
Why did you want to become part of Beyond 91?
I like the idea of exploring that period of time from many sides, by different people and in different places. It’s our history and heritage, and I believe it’s important to reflect on such things and not having it filtered, not repeating the mistakes from the past.
If you would have to describe Eastern Europe today in three words — what would they be?
People, traditions, rules.
