Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist

stories we did not tell, secrets we did not share

I remember the day my sister left home, especially the last minutes before her departure to Georgia. Looking at me and our father through the window of the train, she was crying. I was too. This is probably the strongest memory I have of her of all the time we had together before her move.

She was only 16, and I was 13. Our next meeting happened 10 years later.

This project began as an attempt to get closer to my sister and eventually became an exploration of our relationship. The void that ten-year separation created won’t be filled with new memories, but as adults with our own families, we are discovering a new familiarity.

This project is also a reflection of our newly formed roles: a mother and an aunt. My sister gave birth to her first child several years ago — something that redefines our relationships, changes the dynamic within, and even brings us back to our childhood — to the time before the separation.

2022 — WIP.


Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist


Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist

Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist
Stories we did not tell. Mayya Kelova artist

“In the Spirit of Friendship, ” Dom Museum Wien, 2024 — 2025

Curator: Johanna Schwanberg
Co-Curator: Klaus Speidel
Curatorial assistants: Nina Schermann, Anke Wiedmann

Photo: L. Deinhardtstein and Marlene Fröhlich, LuxundLumen.com