I wrote my first letter to my crush Marika when I was 10 years old. The message read: “I like you, will you be with me? Sincerely, Jani.” I didn’t dare write a real message to a crush again until more than ten years later. Before that, I didn’t know a boy could fall in love with another boy.

Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä each lived in their own homes but spent a lot of time at each other’s places. Jansson’s atelier home was connected to her partner’s home by a passageway, and thus the two separate worlds were in constant connection throughout both the humdrum and the festivities of life. Through part of building this exhibition, a photo of the rumored passageway taken by Jansson’s friend and biographer Boel Westin was discovered.

This ordinary note left on the door of Tove Jansson’s home says a lot: “I’m at Tuulikki’s.” Her choice to write down her partner’s name on paper speaks to me of openness, which at that time was far from self-evident. Legally, their partnership was considered a crime. Even though in many respects we live in a different time now, many people still have to hide their love for fear of stigma or discrimination.

The note also reads to me as a partnership between two adults where independence and a distinctive way of building a family were strongly present. Work was a significant passion for both. Alongside it; a shared life, everyday little notes, and playfulness. My mind inevitably starts imagining: maybe Jansson left the note on the door, and in the next moment she was already dancing in her partner’s kitchen while the radio played, with Pietilä preparing lunch as they engaged in a lively discussion about art.