53When I was a little girl, there
was this older girl who made pearl
necklaces, and I wanted to be exact-
ly like her. So, I started buying pearls
and making necklaces at home. My
grandma was fond of jewellery too; I
remember she had a gorgeous jewel-
lery box. For me, jewellery is like a
memory that can last forever. Some-
times I wear my grandma’s necklace,
and when I do, I always think of her.
My surname is Russian... some
of my ancestors fled Russia and came
to Denmark. My great grandfather
is actually Victor Cornelins, from
Saint Croix in the Caribbean. As
a small boy, in 1907, he was trans-
ported to Denmark to be exhibited
as part of a colonial exhibition in
Copenhagen. They displayed cultur-
al items and natives from their col-
onies and they wanted black human
subjects in the exhibition [because
many Danish people hadn’t seen
black people before].I was born 31 years ago in Co-
penhagen. My parents divorced
when I was three and my father met
his new wife when I was five. Then
my mother found a new husband
and they had a son together.
When my parents separated,
they lived on different floors in the
same house, so they could both be
near me. When I missed my father,
I went up to see him, and when I
missed my mother, I made my way to
see her. I spent about one week with
each of them. Of course, I knew they
had separated. My mother’s new
partner lived with us as well, and so
did my father’s new wife - all in one
big, old house with a yard. In the
summertime, we’d all meet together
in the yard with the apple tree. My
father also had a cottage in Rørvig,
where my mum and her new partner
came to visit in summer.
When I got older, I suspected
that things weren’t as perfect as theyseemed, and that the arrangement
was more of a compromise - I under-
stood that when my mother’s family
moved into a new apartment. I was
about 12, I think, when my mother
left. So, when my mother moved to
a new place, I continued living one
week at my father’s, and one week at
my mother’s - because her new place
was near the old one.
My stepmother had her own
daughter when she met my father
and I could see they had a different
relationship; they had something to-
gether I didn’t have with her. And
then, when I was 12, my father and
my stepmother had my little broth-
ers - and it changed the dynamic of
our relationship because the focus
went on to the boys. There wasn’t
that much space for me to have
friends over, whereas at my moth-
er’s place I could always have friends
over - sleepovers and stuff. At 16, I
decided to live at my mother’s house.LETTERS FROM COPENHAGENWords
SASKIA BESIAKOV
Interview
STAV DIMITROPOULOS
Photographs
DAVID LETH WILLIAMSSaskia Besiakov is a goldsmith who owns a jewellery
shop in Copenhagen.Portraits
53When I was a little girl, there
was this older girl who made pearl
necklaces, and I wanted to be exact-
ly like her. So, I started buying pearls
and making necklaces at home. My
grandma was fond of jewellery too; I
remember she had a gorgeous jewel-
lery box. For me, jewellery is like a
memory that can last forever. Some-
times I wear my grandma’s necklace,
and when I do, I always think of her.
My surname is Russian... some
of my ancestors fled Russia and came
to Denmark. My great grandfather
is actually Victor Cornelins, from
Saint Croix in the Caribbean. As
a small boy, in 1907, he was trans-
ported to Denmark to be exhibited
as part of a colonial exhibition in
Copenhagen. They displayed cultur-
al items and natives from their col-
onies and they wanted black human
subjects in the exhibition [because
many Danish people hadn’t seen
black people before].I was born 31 years ago in Co-
penhagen. My parents divorced
when I was three and my father met
his new wife when I was five. Then
my mother found a new husband
and they had a son together.
When my parents separated,
they lived on different floors in the
same house, so they could both be
near me. When I missed my father,
I went up to see him, and when I
missed my mother, I made my way to
see her. I spent about one week with
each of them. Of course, I knew they
had separated. My mother’s new
partner lived with us as well, and so
did my father’s new wife - all in one
big, old house with a yard. In the
summertime, we’d all meet together
in the yard with the apple tree. My
father also had a cottage in Rørvig,
where my mum and her new partner
came to visit in summer.
When I got older, I suspected
that things weren’t as perfect as theyseemed, and that the arrangement
was more of a compromise - I under-
stood that when my mother’s family
moved into a new apartment. I was
about 12, I think, when my mother
left. So, when my mother moved to
a new place, I continued living one
week at my father’s, and one week at
my mother’s - because her new place
was near the old one.
My stepmother had her own
daughter when she met my father
and I could see they had a different
relationship; they had something to-
gether I didn’t have with her. And
then, when I was 12, my father and
my stepmother had my little broth-
ers - and it changed the dynamic of
our relationship because the focus
went on to the boys. There wasn’t
that much space for me to have
friends over, whereas at my moth-
er’s place I could always have friends
over - sleepovers and stuff. At 16, I
decided to live at my mother’s house.LETTERS FROM COPENHAGENWords
SASKIA BESIAKOV
Interview
STAV DIMITROPOULOS
Photographs
DAVID LETH WILLIAMS
Saskia Besiakov is a goldsmith who owns a jewellery
shop in Copenhagen.Portraits