The
Artist
Maria Hansen
Lives and Works in
Denmark
Maria Høy Hansen, b. 1995, is a Danish photojournalist with a BA from the Danish School of Media & Journalism. Through in-depth photography, her self-chosen work mainly focuses on systemic stories about human rights issues and ideology. Working with sensitive topics Maria’s work always starts with considerations of the lives of people in front of her and her role in portraying them.
Projects
2023
Hidden Away
On a hill at the end of a long gravel road far away from society lies Moldova's biggest institution for adults with mental and physical disabilities. Here live approximately 300 adults with varying degrees of disabilities, outside the small village of Bădiceni. This story captures their daily life.
Gate guarded around the clock, this institution is supposed to be a temporary home for people, before reintegrating into society. However, the graveyard just a stone's throw away tells another story. The people in Bădiceni mostly are diagnosed with skitzofrenia, mental retardation, and dementia. Many of them have lived much of their lives in institutions, and very few have family who visit them.
Large institutions remain a part of society in Moldova, even 30 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Almost 1700 patients are still placed in these institutions despite Moldova's deinstitutionalization efforts in the last ten years. UN’s OHCHR has critiqued the institutions for the use of forced medication, isolation of patients, and examples of violence against patients.
As Moldova entered membership negotiations with the European Union in December 2023, the country plans to reform this kind of treatment for people with disabilities. However, Human Rights NGO's criticize that plan as vague, inactionable, and underfunded. The goal is to have removed half of the patients living in these kinds of institutions by the end of 2026, relocating them into small houses in countryside villages instead.
2023
Hidden Away
On a hill at the end of a long gravel road far away from society lies Moldova's biggest institution for adults with mental and physical disabilities. Here live approximately 300 adults with varying degrees of disabilities, outside the small village of Bădiceni. This story captures their daily life.
Gate guarded around the clock, this institution is supposed to be a temporary home for people, before reintegrating into society. However, the graveyard just a stone's throw away tells another story. The people in Bădiceni mostly are diagnosed with skitzofrenia, mental retardation, and dementia. Many of them have lived much of their lives in institutions, and very few have family who visit them.
Large institutions remain a part of society in Moldova, even 30 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Almost 1700 patients are still placed in these institutions despite Moldova's deinstitutionalization efforts in the last ten years. UN’s OHCHR has critiqued the institutions for the use of forced medication, isolation of patients, and examples of violence against patients.
As Moldova entered membership negotiations with the European Union in December 2023, the country plans to reform this kind of treatment for people with disabilities. However, Human Rights NGO's criticize that plan as vague, inactionable, and underfunded. The goal is to have removed half of the patients living in these kinds of institutions by the end of 2026, relocating them into small houses in countryside villages instead.
Maria Hansen
Copenhagen Photo Festival
Show all projects
Each year every member of the FUTURES European Photography Platform nominates a set of artists and projects to become part of the FUTURES network.
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