10 Letters About Love

2026 – ongoing

Stage monologue, 10 inkjet prints, artist’s book: a collection of 10 loose pages accompanied by a text in Russian and Swedish, edition of 10

Excerpts from Elena Fanailova’s text for the project:

In the series 10 Letters About Love, fragments of a monologue for an intimate theatre setting are brought together with photographs of landscapes around Lake Ringsjön in southern Sweden, taken by the artist between February and May 2026. The photographs do not illustrate the text, and the text does not explain the images. At first glance, they seem unrelated, but they meet in the artist’s psyche and body as he explores the landscape, and in his memory: the monologue is based on unsent letters to lovers and parents. These letters cannot find their addressees. The addressees are either dead, or dialogue with them is no longer possible; it has reached a dead end.

The black bars covering parts of the text in the Russian version refer to political censorship in contemporary Russia — the author’s country of origin, which he left many years ago. In Russia, such black rectangles are used in the public sphere to conceal artists’ words about war, sex, LGBTQ issues and the body in general, effectively equating private life with political expression.

Translation from Russian into Swedish: Lida Starodubtseva.

Design and artist’s book concept: Alexandra Papademetriou.