The publication Dear Life was created in Germany during a period of intensified migration restrictions, deportations, and xenophobic rhetoric across Europe. The project addresses displacement and exile amid ongoing wars, positioning itself not as a narrative of sorrow but as one that honors what was lost while pursuing happiness and connection. »Djan«—the word from which the title derives—means both »life« and »soul.« It also serves as a term of endearment signifying closeness in Armenia, where the curatorial team met.
The project centers on how family relationships mediate exile—leaving loved ones behind, fleeing together and witnessing relationships transform, or forming new bonds. Five artists explore visual, sonic, and sensual aspects of memory through intergenerational conversations about love, labor, agency, and solidarity. They include Nihad Nino Pušija (Roma displacement in Germany), Mariat Abdulkhamidova (Umukusum: A Fairytale of an Apricot Seed Watered by Tears), Aysel Akhundova (soundscapes of exile dreams), Dasha Trofimova (generational migration from Kazakhstan to Riga), and Ali Asfour (Palestinian displacement through family archives).
The curatorial team consists of Katya F. (multidisciplinary designer working with identity), Evgeniia Skvortsova (culture worker and Gasp Magazine coordinator), and Misha Kurilov (artist and Radio Fantasia co-founder)— affiliates of Typography Collective and migrants who formed new families after leaving their home country. Their personal experiences of migration shape the project’s intimate approach to displacement and family bonds.
