the WI N  D

2022-present 

The train was traversing through the mountains, heading from one city to another. Suddenly, it came to a halt. The voice announced that the train wouldn't be able to proceed further due to the Wind. Thus, the train remained stationary for two days.

In autumn 2018, Katerina Murysina and her husband, Maksim Ksenofontov, a cynologist, traveled to Xinjiang, China. This region is known for the political repression of Uyghurs and other Muslim citizens. Xinjiang was heavily militarized, and public spaces were equipped with checkpoints to control the movement of Uyghurs. The government had established "re-education camps" in this area, where people were detained against their will under prison-like conditions. Some cities were completely closed to foreign visitors.

Murysina and Ksenofontov took a night train from Kashgar to Turpan. In the morning, passengers realized that instead of approaching their destination, the train had stopped about an hour away, in the mountains. The train attendants announced that the journey could not continue due to high winds and that it would resume once the wind subsided, although no one knew when that would be. Leaving the train was prohibited.

The train remained stationary throughout the following night, guarded by police with shields. The next morning, with the help of a group of Chinese tourists, Murysina and her husband managed to leave the train, which remained in place until the evening.

This experience inspired a series of graphic works titled "The Wind," serving as a catalyst for reflection on the concept of freedom — symbolized by the perpetually halted train and the travelers trapped within it.