“I am interested in the connection between landscape and identity and in the idea of landscape as a component of national feeling. Therefore, I approached the theme of political refugees through landscapes. I wanted to choose as the main theme of my project something that everyone had a personal relationship with and could understand.”

Photographer Miia Autio’s series tells about Rwandan refugees who have escaped to Europe and about the memories of the homeland they have left behind. Autio has photographed Rwandans in several European countries and the landscapes in Rwanda they have described.

Autio’s portraits, landscapes, and interviews with the people form a cohesive entity that considers the relationship between homeland, landscape, and identity, recognising the subjectivity of memories.

Miia Autio (b. 1986) lives and works in Bielefeld. She is a graduate of the Institute of Design and Fine Arts at Lahti University of Applied Sciences.