Love Letters

Istituto Svizzero Roma

April 19th 2021

In collaboration with Yoan Mudry and Louis Schild.


LOVE LETTERS is inspired by the figure of the Ficus Magnolioide which paradoxical image represents on one hand the need for non-linearity, multiple anchors and nomadism, and on the other hand the need to create perennial connections that go beyond the state of emergency and short-term thinking.

In an open, multidisciplinary and participative format the aim is to establish long-lasting connections, to start a discussion rather than to present the result of a finished project. During this day long event, and in a cosy, welcoming and open frame set up in the terrasse of the Swiss Institute, the public is invited to write letters.

The letters can be addressed to anyone, from famous artists and researchers to friends, family and the plants on your balcony. No matter how distant the recipients are from your original circle, each participant is free to write one or one hundred letters. Thanks to the superposition of different moments and places the event allows for both collective and individual participation. While some letters are intimate, written by a single person, others may be the work of collective reflections, of commonly exchanges and reflections on which are the important discussions to set up, the interesting questions to ask, the connections to (re)activate.

You can also participate from afar ! If you can’t join us phisically, you can still be part of this experiment by sending us one (or twenty) letter(s) via email. The letters will be transcribed by hand during the event and sent with all the others.

The letters will be written on postcards and writing paper produced specificaly fot the occasion by artists : Marco Emmanuele, Giorgia Garzilli, Andreas Hochuli, Laure Marville, Flora Mottini, Thomas Perrodin.