In many video diaries, the concept of “home” emerges not through direct depictions, but through symbolic, fragmented, and often intimate visual choices.
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One of the most frequently portrayed objects within this category are interior plants and flowers.
These plants may symbolize growth, resilience, or the hope embedded in the migrant journey. Some may have accompanied participants through their migration paths, carrying personal significance; others may simply reflect a desire for beauty and life in their current space. Regardless, their presence suggests a deep, emotional connection between rootedness and aspiration.
Beyond plants, representations of home are often abstract – anonymous glimpses rather than full scenes. Participants frequently film undefined parts of ceilings, floors or walls, corners of beds or reflections in windows or mirrors, conveying a tension between the desire to share and the need to protect their private space. These partial views may reflect the in-betweenness of their status: present but provisional, settled yet still on the move.
In some diaries, we also encounter images of houses under construction or in transition—scenes of packing, building, or rearranging. These visual cues echo a sense of permanence in flux, a reminder that for many migrants, “home” is not a fixed location but a process—constantly being made, unmade, and reimagined.
“I know that, just like this plant or any other plants, you have to know where your place is. You have to know where you can grow”
Belgium _ Participant 6, March 2024
“As you can see, I have my plant here. You can see also my guitar, but I cannot separate them (laughing). If I were asked which one, I would choose, that would be my plant.
So, this is ‘tchulo’ — yes, I named him. I have a lot of plants around me in my apartment, but ‘tchulo’ is my favorite one because I just like the way he grows. And I think he represents me, because when I moved here into my apartment, I was trying to put him in different places before, not here, but he wasn’t ok, he wasn’t happy (laughing) in that place. So, after several tries, I put him here in this spot and he started sprouting, he started showing leaves, he started being this healthy and tall and beautiful.
What I feel — why this plant represents me — because I know that, just like this plant or any other plants, you have to know where your place is. You have to know where you can grow — the environments, the amounts of nutrients, the amounts of the factors that you will be taking in. And I’m talking in general because as I mentioned earlier, Belgium has a lot of possibilities. So here, I feel like I know more open-minded people and I am careful what I put inside me — my mind, my body, my health. And I think that ‘tchulo’ really represents me.”