"Med K-pengar kunde jag återvända och berätta mammas historia"

Vad händer när du återvänder till en plats du älskat som barn, men inte sett på tio år? Med kameran i hand reste Kristina Kolaric tillbaka till sin mammas hemby Islam Grčki i Kroatien – en plats format av krig, övergivna hus och långsam återuppbyggnad.

I fotoprojektet Memories That Made Us blandar hon gamla familjefoton med nya bilder för att skapa en minneskarta över det som var och det som är. Med K-pengar blev drömmen verklighet.

Nedan berättar Kristina Kolaric om resan tillbaka, om att fotografera på film och hur K-pengar hjälpte henne att förverkliga sitt projekt. Du kan se alla foton och läsa mer om projektet på projektets hemsida.

Can you tell us about the project – what's the story behind it?
With this project, I’m returning to my mother’s hometown of Islam Grčki, a small village near Zadar in Croatia. The place that was heavily impacted by the war in the 1990s and is still shaping back into its original state. I haven’t been back in almost ten years, and the place feels suspended between past and present, with wide fields, some houses that were left abandoned, and others slowly being rebuilt. Through this photo series, I’m creating a sort of memory map by revisiting the family house, the stories, and the feelings tied to that place. For me, Islam Grčki is both familiar and distant as a place that I knew well as a child, but I am now returning to it with new perspective, searching for the pieces of its story that were missing.

Your project blends old family photographs with new documentary images. How has that process been for you emotionally and artistically?
Going back after so many years, I wasn’t sure how I would feel. Visiting places from the past is always a mix of familiarity and strangeness. It was difficult to capture the story of people who are no longer staying there, but also inspiring to look through the old photographs. I kept asking myself how does it feel for me, and does my mom see it differently? Which places stayed the same, and what has changed? This was a theme I really wanted to explore, and I’ve enjoyed starting this project.

What was it like to return to Islam Grčki and photograph the village today?
It felt strange, nostalgic, and at many times sad, but also exciting to see everything again. I loved being there, it’s quiet, almost like another world. Photographing and writing about it gave me a sense of closure to some stories. Many places have been fully rebuilt by now and it was important also to capture its current shape.

What advice do you wish someone had given you before you started this project?
To take more time, stay longer, gather more material, and maybe try to approach the place from different perspectives, prepare to have unexpected costs or situations, it doesn't all always go in the way we plan it out. How did the K-pengar grant make a difference for your project? What did the funding go towards? The funding helped me a lot to realize this project. It allowed me to return to the village, to work fully with analog photography which was very important to me and to cover the costs of shooting and developing the material. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to tell this story in the way I wanted.

How did you first hear about Kultur Ungdom, and what made you apply for K-pengar?
I was a member of a cultural house in Gothenburg, and they introduced me to many opportunities for artistic development and funding. It made a big difference to know that support from K-pengar existed, giving me the chance to develop projects I wasn’t able to before. Many young people in Sweden might not know much about the history of this region.

What do you hope they will take with them when they see your images?
I hope they become curious about the place and its history. Islam Grčki is a beautiful village, but many people don’t know where it is or what it has been through. Through my work, I tried to capture some of its story through portraying the life at my family house, and I hope this leaves a lasting feeling.

How do you see the project evolving in the future will there be a book or maybe an exhibition?
I hope to eventually create a photo book, since I feel it fits the project best. I would also like to form an exhibition that brings together all the works, along with the book, for the public to experience.

What have you learned from the project so far, and what do you hope to explore next?
While gathering old material and combining it with my new photographs, I became more drawn to the idea of letting the present images remain more empty, not having current portraits of my family but letting the feeling of the place speak for itself, with the story told through old texts and subtle details. Next time I go back, I want to talk more with my family, search for journals, and look for overlooked details to photograph.

Do you have any tips for other young people who want to create their own cultural projects but don’t know where to turn for support?
Yes! There are many organizations and cultural houses that support young artists. For me, Kulturlagret was a big help,they provided spaces, equipment, advice on funding, and even ways to promote projects. Reaching out to these kinds of places can open up a lot of opportunities and resources.