white but not quite: buddy program / practices of conditional belonging
Since 2022, my artistic research has been informed by an ongoing relationship with Ukrainian displaced individuals in the Netherlands. This engagement began through an introduction by a social worker at a reception centre for Ukrainian displaced persons (Opvanglocatie Oekraïense Ontheemden) in Zutphen, where I was connected to a refugee family from Mariupol. This engagement has been sustained through regular contact over time, forming an ongoing basis for both relational exchange and artistic inquiry. Over the past years, I have remained in close contact with the family, supporting them in navigating everyday life in a new environment. This has included practical assistance with administrative processes, employment, and access to social systems, as well as ongoing emotional exchange and mutual support. These encounters take place in informal, everyday contexts — within domestic spaces, shared moments, and conversations. Rather than constituting a formal program, this engagement is grounded in continuity, trust, and lived experience over time. This ongoing relationship has shaped my artistic project White But Not Quite, which explores how belonging, care, and recognition are negotiated in situations of displacement. The work focuses not on representing individual stories, but on reflecting the conditions under which connection, hospitality, and inclusion emerge — and sometimes fail. The initiative engages with how care, recognition, and belonging function as informal and often fragile mechanisms of social repair in the aftermath of violence and displacement.
