Recognition of Abkhazia’s independence by Russia and a few Russian allies came in 2008, after Moscow’s war with Georgia. The cash and Russian tourists started to stream in shortly thereafter. Hotels mushroomed in Sokhumi and other seaside spots, roads were repaired, new schools were built.

Yet beyond a few bohemian cafés and burger joints along the Sokhumi promenade, places for young Abkhaz to relax or party with friends are still hard to come by. Large, youth-focused events are rare, though Abkhazia does have its own rock bands.

Instead, for entertainment, young Abkhaz look to their own resources.

A few creative minds make the best of the ruins around them. The derelict parliament building, looking like an empty, concrete Advent calendar, is a regular hang-out site. Graffiti artists have unleashed paint and creativity on the second floor and sprayed the walls with drawings and slogans. “Independence” is a constant refrain.

The contemporary art collective Sklad, run by young artists and cultural managers, has set up a residency program that, this year, invited artists from around the world to come to Abkhazia to explore a topic related to that 1992-1993 quest for independence – the destruction of the Abkhaz archives.

The point, they note, is not “a tragic commemoration,” but to fill the “void” left by the loss of such cultural institutions with “memories and new works.”