SpaceBridge is a live performance and immersive installation which explores the impact of political and cultural polarization on youth. It explores the challenges faced by Russian youth relocating to the US due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and their families’ anti-war stance, navigating their integration into American society and facing a lack of empathy due to their origin.

SpaceBridge draws its inspiration from the 1983 peace mission by 12-year-old American activist Samantha Smith to the USSR, who managed to bridge Russians and Americans during the Cold War; and the satellite-mediated spacebridges: “citizens’ debates” that facilitated unfiltered conversations between ordinary Russians and Americans across two continents.

As an integral aspect of developing SpaceBridge, I facilitated a series of creative workshops in the Fall of 2023, employing art and performance to initiate meaningful dialogues about what it means to be a young Russian refugee in the West. The workshops, at La MaMa ETC, brought together young Russian refugees (most of whom live in shelters and entered the country through the US-Mexico border) with their American peers.

In the initial workshops, we brought together ten Russian refugees to share their stories, process feelings of loss and grief, and recognize that their challenges were not unique. They revisited their departure, mapped out their immigration journeys and shared their initial moments in the US. Together, they crafted the fictional character Masha, whose story reflected their collective experiences as refugees.

In subsequent workshops, Russian participants collaborated with American-born youth to foster connections, mutual understanding, and envision an alternative future where intercultural friendships were embraced and supported. Together, we designed an ideal school and town to promote a sense of belonging, developed imaginative tools to address alienation between Russia and the US, and constructed handmade models envisioning what the United Nations might—and should—look like if they could express their own needs as U.N. constituents.

Prior to the workshops I’ve wrestled with the question whether the challenges faced by displaced Russian youth deserve awareness when Ukrainian children are being kidnapped or orphaned. Yet, working with these ten refugees and their new American friends gave me hope that we can foster empathy for Russian children, whose families sought refuge due to persecution for their pro-democracy stance in Russia.

Concluding a two-month workshop program, participants showcased their future vision in a work-in-progress presentation on December 9, 2023, at La MaMa ETC. The audience, consisting of their parents and invited guests, was urged to actively contribute to transforming this vision into a reality. If Samantha Smith, who once suggested Andropov and Reagan exchange granddaughters to bridge nations, were alive today, I imagine she would advocate for listening to these creative and empathetic young individuals.