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A Country That No Longer Exists
A Country That No Longer Exists
May 14, 2026
Náhorní Karabach © Karel Cudlín / 400 ASA Collective, 2008
Before the 400 ASA Collective came into being, three of its future members – Karel Cudlín, Antonín Kratochvíl, and Jan Mihaliček – turned their lens on Nagorno-Karabakh: a country that no longer exists. Each of them arrived at a different time, in a different location, and under different circumstances.
Around 2008, Karel Cudlín portrayed the Armenian inhabitants of Karabakh with his characteristically empathetic approach, capturing their everyday lives in the mountains during a period of relative calm. His images show people baking bread, tending livestock – recurring, timeless moments of village life. Shortly before the turn of the millennium, internationally acclaimed photographer Antonín Kratochvíl documented the fate of ethnic Azerbaijanis, following their exodus from villages in Karabakh that had fallen under Armenian control. On behalf of the UNHCR, he accompanied large groups of displaced civilians who had turned abandoned freight trains into makeshift homes. One of his images depicts a small sapling; it was planted by a refugee who – having left behind the mature trees of his former home – was nurturing it every day, hoping to one day die in its shadow.
The earliest images in the showcase were taken by Jan Mihaliček in 1992, during what is referred to as the First War. He arrived in the remote mountain enclave as part of SOS Karabach – the first mission of the Lidové Noviny Foundation, which delivered food, medicine and other supplies including a mobile field hospital. Further relief efforts followed; to simply stop providing humanitarian aid was not an option. For the photographer, who was twenty-seven at the time, those few days became a defining experience that fundamentally changed his view of the world.
Through their work, these three photographers convey what they have witnessed: the horrors of war, the plight of refugees – but also the fragile process of post-war recovery. A photo book of the same title is currently in preparation, and can be supported on the fundraising platform www.donio.cz.
Further exhibition details are available at Leica Gallery Prague.
Katrin UllmannAround 2008, Karel Cudlín portrayed the Armenian inhabitants of Karabakh with his characteristically empathetic approach, capturing their everyday lives in the mountains during a period of relative calm. His images show people baking bread, tending livestock – recurring, timeless moments of village life. Shortly before the turn of the millennium, internationally acclaimed photographer Antonín Kratochvíl documented the fate of ethnic Azerbaijanis, following their exodus from villages in Karabakh that had fallen under Armenian control. On behalf of the UNHCR, he accompanied large groups of displaced civilians who had turned abandoned freight trains into makeshift homes. One of his images depicts a small sapling; it was planted by a refugee who – having left behind the mature trees of his former home – was nurturing it every day, hoping to one day die in its shadow.
The earliest images in the showcase were taken by Jan Mihaliček in 1992, during what is referred to as the First War. He arrived in the remote mountain enclave as part of SOS Karabach – the first mission of the Lidové Noviny Foundation, which delivered food, medicine and other supplies including a mobile field hospital. Further relief efforts followed; to simply stop providing humanitarian aid was not an option. For the photographer, who was twenty-seven at the time, those few days became a defining experience that fundamentally changed his view of the world.
Through their work, these three photographers convey what they have witnessed: the horrors of war, the plight of refugees – but also the fragile process of post-war recovery. A photo book of the same title is currently in preparation, and can be supported on the fundraising platform www.donio.cz.
Further exhibition details are available at Leica Gallery Prague.
Náhorní Karabach © Karel Cudlín / 400 ASA Collective, 2008
Náhorní Karabach © Karel Cudlín / 400 ASA Collective, 2008
Náhorní Karabach © Antonín Kratochvíl / 400 ASA Collective, 1998
Náhorní Karabach © Antonín Kratochvíl / 400 ASA Collective, 1998
Náhorní Karabach © Jan Mihaliček / 400 ASA Collective, 1992
Náhorní Karabach © Jan Mihaliček / 400 ASA Collective, 1992