7 October – 5 November, 2021
. . . the roof is covered with forest
Tako Robakidze
In the midday heat it is quiet over Tbilisi Sea. A steep concrete staircase leads under shady trees up to the former heart clinic, which has been an accommodation for displaced persons from Abkhazia for decades. Laundry dries on linen stretched in the open stairwell. A breath of wind blows through, then a wing beat sounds. A swallow got caught in a small hole in the concrete under the high ceiling. Her body hangs limply, her head is stuck. For a few minutes she flutters around in panic and tries to break free. Then she sways exhausted in the wind. A few residents come by and look up, exhausted mothers with their children and an old man. They are not surprised at the sight. They shrug their shoulders. The ceiling is too high. The swallow hardly moves any more. Then she begins to flap her wings again.
