The project Dear Beloved moves exactly on this edge of what is credible and possible. The opening work draws upon a collection of scam e-mails Huseynov received in 2016. The goals of those letters are similar to each other and clearly aimed at getting the personal data of the receiver. However, the elaboration of the narratives and the often beautiful written stories are convincing and give the reader a feeling of being personally addressed and thus involved. On a very basic level the letters are possible and the stories often credible (if one parts from the large sums of money you will supposedly get). Huseynov decided to group these letters and publish them as a book. The classical hard cover print gives emphasis to the literately qualities of those letters written by anonymous persons around the globe. At the same time the book becomes an unintended and fragmented diary of the world in 2016. It gives voice to conflicts and drama’s we know from the media but this time always from the personal perspective of the writer. Although on their own those stories might not be true, many of the elements in the letters are facts and many of the dramas are possible. Presented in a reading room, the viewer can sit and read. It is an invitation to engage personally with each of those letters. 

Connected to this room, two films show the filmic translation of two stories from the book. Huseynov using a visual language that balances between documentary and fiction provides those stories a credibility beyond the written word. The drama becomes more personal (as the main character receives a face) and monumental through the medium film.  

Text: Bjorn Geldhof