Recently, I have been sorting out some stuff in an old flat of my parents and found a suitcase full of old letters. The letters contain the history of my family, my childhood. Our memory of the old times that fit in a pile of papers. In these letters our mom wrote about my sister, and me, her daily routine, joys and challenges. She raised us, studied, did the housekeeping and knitted splendid kids suits for us.

Our father was an inventor, a magician, and presented us with his knowledge and impression of the sea.On coming back from his voyage, he is used to bring us a whole new world — of water, fish, sailor’s knots and rules. Once he crafted an aquarium for me and my sister, and painted its back wall. It was a mysterious undersea world — with a shipwreck and a scuba diver swimming towards it. When I moved to my husband’s, one of our first valuable investments was a huge aquarium.

Given time, I changed our parents’ flat to a new one with the view over the Neva River. Looking at the boats passing by, I remember my father and his love for sea, and my mom waiting for him to come back home.

The encounter with my parents have occurred though these letters. I couldn’t know them so well when they were alive. I want to make the memory of my mom and dad more tangible. My project is devoted to the memory knots that tie us together.