Series of 16 archival inkjet prints.

125 x 160 cm each.

 

Working under the watchful eyes of the Armenian Police Force, Sarkissian photographed the underground metro system in Yerevan, Armenia, which was constructed in the Soviet era. After the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades before, these spaces became a symbol of a past that encompassed power and prosperity, while at the same time sheltering people from the new corrupt and unreliable system outside. 

For Sarkissian, a diaspora Armenian growing up with an inherited longing for the homeland, it is paradoxical to observe how the local inhabitants feel departed from their own homeland, even though they never left.