The multipart research project "Letter to Mom" explores migration through the stories of political refugees. Evolving through cycles, the project unveils various aspects of this complex experience.

Characterized by methods of interviewing, collecting, archiving, and community interaction, the project involved about 200 respondents. Employs  multimedia installations, performances, participatory and art-therapy practices, it serves as a space to highlight the problem and seek to navigate and overcome traumatic experiences.   

Nadya Sayapina began to work with the LETTER-TO-MOM project in January 2021 during her forced migration to Ukraine. The first research was based on thirty interviews of Belarusian immigrants, collected by the artist over several months. The project was implemented in the framework of residence in Mystetskyi Arsenal with the support of Goethe-Institut in Ukraine.The first part was exhibited in the Small Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal in June, 2021 and curated by Natasha Chichasova.

In 2021-2022 it was shown as a part of Echoes - Voices from Belarus. This project brings together conceptual artists from Belarus and musicians from the ECLAT environment in collective performances, videos and installations.

Collected interviews and the main subject of the project LETTER TO MOM became a basis for artist's course of lectures in HFBK (University of Fine Arts of Hamburg) during the winter semester 2021-2022 and the common exhibition with students called "LETTER TO_____".

In 2022-2023 LETTER TO MOM project was supplemented with a new series based on working on the selected data and making new research,through surveys, interviews and collecting photo and video materials from personal archives.

Thus series "TEMPORALITY" and performance "NON-ABSENCE-NON-PRESENCE" refers to an objects-symbols, reflecting the sense of temporality, a feeling of not accepting the new places, abandoning adaptation,memories,waiting for the possibility to return.

"POSTCARD NOWHERE" and "I ❤ MY OWN SPOT" series are investigations into the practices of rediscovering a lost sense of home in a new place.

Project "X-LETTERS" is a video - diary created in collaboration with musician Eugene Buldyk and Neue Vocalsolisten ensemble, which correlates and combines in one “book” diverse contexts and human stories on exile, migration,and existential crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and political repressions in Belarus.This is a commemoration of personal experiences and reflections from social media posts and comments, interview fragments and multimedia archives collected during the artist’s research.