Gintare Kulyte - Fleeting Havens

Fleeting Havens is a personal project that reflects on the transient nature of place attachment. At the centre of the project are young people, who, like myself, do not come from Edinburgh but have experienced the city as their home during the time of their work or studies. Migration and moving homes is a familiar experience for
many people in the globalised world. This experience is often deeply disorienting, as our minds face the need to find comfort and familiarity in new, alien places. However, as the saying goes, home is where life happens: as we spend time in these new places, gradually they gain layers of meanings emerging from thoughts, emotions, important encounters and other experiences that happen to us in those places. As these layers of meaning accumulate, we become attached to places underlying them. These places become cherished havens of safety and comfort, and we come to call them our own. Yet, in the globalised world, such places are inevitably temporary and slip through our fingers as we move to yet another destination.

This project is an attempt to document those spaces and meanings that my close friends created for themselves during their time in Edinburgh. It was, in large part, precipitated by a sense that our time together in the city is coming to a close, as many of us start to move out of the city - some back home, some - to new adventures. I wanted to capture the places in Edinburgh that my friends call their own, together with the tension inherent in the nature of such places - they are so precious, yet so temporary and fleeting. Almost like a reflection in a mirror.

Žilvinas
Former economics student
4 years in Edinburgh
Location: his former home near Bruntsfield Links

For Žilvinas, his haven was his former home near Bruntsfield Links. In 10 years since he moved out from his family home in Lithuania, he moved around a lot, but this is the place that he lived in for longest - 3 years. The flat has seen many significant experiences for Žilvinas - from the quarantine and the first Christmas spent away from the family, to long evenings and parties with close friends he made during his studies. Žilvinas has now moved out from Edinburgh, but when he revisits the city and walks past Bruntsfield Links, he always glances up to the windows of his former flat. At the time of our photograph, he was excited to see that the curtains of the living room are still the same.

Isla
Young professional
1.5 in Edinburgh
Location: St. Giles’ Cathedral

Isla moved from Adelaide to Edinburgh for work, and since then has created a tumultuous and fast-moving life for herself here. Sometimes, when she gets overwhelmed by all the new experiences the life brings, Isla visits St. Giles’ Cathedral. There, she likes to sit on one of the chairs pictured in the photograph, takes out her diary and journals. When journaling, she often looks up at the gorgeous ceiling of the cathedral to collect her thoughts. As she journals, each time her thoughts wander many centuries back to all the people who have been in the Cathedral before her, making Isla feel comfortingly small.

Aušrinė
Former neuroscience student
5 years in Edinburgh
Location: Lauder Rd and other adjacent streets in Marchmont

For the majority of her time in Edinburgh, Aušrinė lived in Marchmont. Often, when balancing studies, work and mental health difficulties became overwhelming, Aušrinė would go for a walk in the neighborhood, which always made her feel at least a little better. Walking through Lauder Road and other adjacent streets would take Aušrinė’s thoughts back to her exchange year in Toronto, when she would take wellbeing walks on a street strikingly similar to the ones in Marchmont. We were wondering that, probably, Aušrinė’s mind is the only space where these two places, separated by thousands of miles and an ocean in reality, are so closely connected.

Nojus
Former PhD student
4 years in Edinburgh
Location: Holyrood Park

Nojus is an avid trail runner. He is standing on a little hill overlooking Dunsapie Loch - a place he revisits during the longer runs of his weekly routine. On these runs, this hill serves as a warmup before conquering the bigger peak - the Arthurs seat. Having reached the top of the little hill, Nojus likes to stand on the same stone and look towards the challenge ahead; as such, the hill is his place of solitude and contemplation. However, at the same time he likes to observe other people on the hill - often these are other trail runners or people walking their dogs, but sometimes also people who come there to relax over a joint, or some couple romantically looking over the city from above.

Evelina
Postdoc researcher
6 years in Edinburgh
Location: Blackford Hill

Evelina first visited this place near Blackford hill soon after she first arrived in Edinburgh for her Masters. That day, as she stood at the edge of the hill, she became mesmerized by the lively, murmuring forest underneath her feet. Fascinated by the place, she would since then return there regularly - at first during her weekend walks, and later - during trail runs with her partner, Nojus. Each time, she would take some time to stand on this spot and look around; through time, the spot became her personal checkpoint, a place to reflect on her journey so far.

Tadas
PhD student
7 years in Edinburgh
Location: Innocent Railway Tunnel

Tadas took me to Innocent Railway Tunnel, which he and his friends visited when going on cycling adventures. As the tunnel goes down the hill, cycling down - towards the adventures - was always fast, almost like flying. Going up - and from the adventures - was much slower and more arduous. To distract himself from the physical work cycling up, Tadas would admire the graffitis on the walls of the tunnel - just like in a gallery, he says. He particularly liked this one, depicting a unicorn.

Julija
PhD student
8 years in Edinburgh
Location: The Meadows

Meadows has been a central part of Julija’s student life in Edinburgh. At one point, she and her friends - including myself - all lived around Meadows, so it became a natural gathering place to play our favourite outdoors game - spikeball. This game requires four players, so we would take turns to play, and those who waited in the meantime would chat away, catching up with each other’s lives. During summer time, we would meet several times per week, and often would play up until dusk - just like in this picture - stopping only when it got too dark to see the ball.

Gintarė
Masters student
7 years in Edinburgh
Location: The paths on the Meadows

During my first year, walking though the Meadows was always stressful - especially on the warm days, when people would start gathering to picnic or just relax on the grass. I was very lonely at the time, and seeing people enjoying each other’s company, was a painful reminder of my loneliness - I did not have anyone to enjoy the Meadows with. When I got my bike, I noticed that walking with it by my side was less painful - somehow, weirdly, alongside it I did not feel completely alone. I still walk though the same paths on the Meadows every day, but the pain and anxiety are long gone; I now do have friends I can enjoy the warm days with - many of them are pictured in this series. But often - especially when I find myself walking with my dear old bike by my side - I still remember the Gintarė from first year, and reflect on how far she has walked since then.

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