Russian expat documents Tbilisi street chairs to explore cultural belonging

Alexander Zakharenkov moved from Moscow to Tbilisi in 2022 and began documenting the city's public seating culture.

After noticing numerous chairs and couches placed on the streets for residents and vendors to use, Zakharenkov began photographing these objects on film. He eventually launched a video project and a website to showcase the unusual seats he found across the Georgian capital. Zakharenkov used the project to navigate his personal identity as a Russian man in Georgia.

He noted that the city's relaxed attitude toward public space allowed him to slow down his pace of life compared to the constant rushing he experienced in Moscow. To observe how people interacted with the furniture, he placed his own chair on the street and monitored it from his balcony. While the first chair was stolen quickly, he chained a second chair to a cinder block to keep it in place.

The project eventually moved Zakharenkov to Serbia, where he continues to observe local street furniture. He noted that his work in Tbilisi helped him find a sense of belonging while also highlighting the complexities of being a Russian expatriate in a country where he initially felt like a stranger. He eventually stopped photographing chairs as he naturally reached a point where he could no longer find unique seats to capture.