There are threads we cannot see, but which bind us nonetheless.
For Klelija Zhivkovikj, these threads are not mere images but organs — alive, stretched across centuries and wombs, binding one body to another, one grief to one joy.
In Fear of Love, the artist follows these invisible bonds through a threefold gesture: sound, weaving, and physical presence. A woven umbilical cord materializes our personal attachments — both toward generations past and those who surround us here and now. It invites visitors to touch, to enter, to be caught in knots of tenderness, violence, and surrender. A soundscape unfolds like a chamber of mourning, resonating with echoes of disappearance — or perhaps with the pulse of a vitality regained. The woven cords recall a labor as old as civilization itself, bearing the weight of women’s historical role as weavers of continuity.
Through this installation, Klelija Zhivkovikj asks: what worlds are we building around us? And what unfolds when we relinquish control, allowing love to appear in forms no longer masked by fear?
On September 23th, 2025, the exhibition opening at the French institute in Skopje will be followed by an open conversation between the artist, the curator, and the public.
