From issue: #27 Emerging Talent
Leonardo Taddei, Lekhallen
In November 2023, Leonardo Taddei moved into a housing complex located thirty minutes from the centre of Göteborg, Sweden. The eight-storey building is home to a mix of collectives, families and individuals, and its fifth floor functions as a communal space where residents gather in a sparsely furnished playroom known as the Lekhall. With only a few scattered children’s toys and a lingering, distinctive smell, the room became an unlikely site of artistic production.
Taddei transformed the Lekhall into a temporary studio, using a large-format camera to stage a series of performances. He invited adults from the building to step in front of the lens, engaging in scenes that were theatrical, awkward and deliberately unpolished. These were not moments of play being documented but moments created through the act of photographing. The camera was not just a witness but an instigator. Taking a picture became part of the game itself.
Born in Italy and currently based between Sweden and Italy, Taddei works across photography, video, sculpture and text. He recently graduated from Valand Academy in Göteborg, and his practice is shaped by the idea of play as a relational act, using image-making to shift the boundaries between artist, subject and viewer.
