The Sochi Project

The Sochi Project will be showing at Salzburg's Fotohof Gallery from 31 January. The exhibition comprises of a documentary project by photographer Rob Hornstra and author Arnold van Bruggen on Russia's Sochi region, host of the Olympic Games 2014. The pair began the project in 2009, over the years repeatedly returning to the future Olympics venue – as well as the crisis zones that surround it.

Transformation beyond recognition
"Never before have the Olympics been held in a place that stands in sharper contrast to the Games than Sochi," explains Arnold van Bruggen. "The conflict zone of Abkhazia is a mere 20 kilometres away. To the East, the Caucasus Mountains lead on to impoverished breakaway regions such as the Republic of North Ossetia and Chechnya. On the coast, old Soviet sanatoriums are standing side-by-side with the most upmarket hotels and clubs of the Russian Riviera. By 2014, the Sochi region is set to be transformed beyond recognition."

Further information at Fotohof, The Sochi Project