In this section you can find some of my projects. If you are looking for earlier works they are listed at the end of the page.
Corridor of Power (2020–2021)
Digital prints on paper, 90 × 300 mm, AR installation, Digital collages.
Corridor of Power (2020)
Digital print, paper 90x300mm
Corridor of Power addresses sociolinguistic processes through a critical engagement with the exhibition Conflicts and Adaptations. Estonian Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991),
part of the permanent collection of the
Estonian Art Museum.
The work responds to a seventy-metre-long archival corridor within the exhibition, composed of photographs, film stills, and explanatory texts presenting cultural life during the Soviet period. While the exhibition frames
its aim as creating semantic links between works of differing content, mood, and form, the corridor texts are presented only in Estonian and English. Despite the fact that Russian is the mother tongue of approximately one
third of Estonia’s population — and significantly more widely spoken locally
than English — the Russian language is absent.
This absence highlights a contradiction within the institutional framework:
while striving for international accessibility, the museum relinquishes its potential role as a mediator in intercultural dialogue with Russian-speaking audiences. This is particularly striking given that the historical period addressed in the exhibition directly shaped Russian as a primary language
for a significant part of the population.
Using the method of defamiliarization (ostranenie), the work intensifies this linguistic imbalance. Ten panels from the archival corridor are reproduced,
with Russian translations added to the existing texts, while the original visual content is deliberately presented in low resolution. This inversion shifts perceptual hierarchies and invites viewers from different language groups
to exchange positions — momentarily experiencing accessibility, distance,
and exclusion from another perspective.
Through this gesture, Corridor of Power proposes a space for reflecting on compassion, privilege, engagement, alienation, and linguistic power. Rather than offering resolution, the work invites a personal confrontation with how language structures access to history, memory, and institutional authority.
The artist thanks Anu Allas, curator of Conflicts and Adaptations. Estonian
Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991), for permission to use exhibition materials
in this work.
Video still from an ERR broadcast showing the archival corridor at KUMU Art Museum.
President Kersti Kaljulaid and Siim Preiman (Curator at Tallinn Art Hall) walking through Corridor of Power during the Spring Exhibition 2021, Tallinn Art Hall.
Exhibition "ida ots(as)? / east end(s)? / краи ̆ восток(y)?" (2020),
curated by Maria-Helen Känd
AR technical development: Simone Pizzagalli, Jevhen Bondarenko
In collaboration with: Tallinn University of Technology, Institute of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering
Produced with the support of: Estonian Cultural Endowment
Russian translations: Ekaterina Kaplan, Sandra Kosorotova, Evi Pärn
Corridor of Power – Augmented Reality Extension (2021)
Augmented reality installation, drawings and collage on paper.
This augmented reality installation continues the research initiated
in Corridor of Power by shifting the focus from translation as intervention to spatial and perceptual experience. The work was presented in 2022 as part of Tanja Muravskaja’s exhibition Hingelähedane sõna at the Tallinn Russian Museum.
The installation consists of eight framed images installed across two opposing walls. These works combine digitally composed collages, childhood photographs, drawings, and short text fragments reflecting on language, bilingualism, linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Each image functions as an AR marker: when viewed through a tablet camera, it activates a virtual panel derived from the visual language of the archival display at KUMU Art Museum.
As more panels are activated, they accumulate on the screen into
a continuous digital corridor. This virtual structure compresses and reassembles the logic of a curated museum visitor route, forming a dense, uninterrupted passage that overlays and partially obscures the physical exhibition space. What exists as separate elements in the room becomes, on the screen, a single spatial experience.
Within this digital corridor, linguistic hierarchy is deliberately inverted. Russian text is readable and foregrounded, while Estonian and English appear in low resolution and remain largely illegible.
Language thus operates not as information but as a spatial
condition — something that must be navigated, activated, and endured. Through bodily movement and mediated perception,
the work exposes how institutional space produces inclusion
and exclusion through language, visibility, and access.
Early and Collaborative Works (2011–2018)
Documentary film, social practice, theatre, and collaborations.
Grandmother's Story
Short documentary 2011.
Short documentary film
This short documentary film tells a real story about the artist’s grandmother. The work is structured through a sequence of photographs arranged chronologically, which function as visual fragments of memory and moments recalled from her life story.
The grandmother was born in an Estonian village in Georgia (then part of the USSR, now an independent country). Her mother tongue was Estonian. After a series of traumatic events, she spent her childhood in an orphanage, where she lost her native language within a few months and began speaking Russian instead. She was never able to relearn Estonian.
Later in life, she unexpectedly discovered a talent for playing the piano, despite never having studied musical notation or formal music theory. The film reflects on memory, loss, and adaptation, exploring how language, trauma, and creativity shape personal identity across generations.
<<< password to watch: salme003
Games of space – Loyalty and society.
Master thesis and personal exhibition project 2012.
Summary of the Master’s Thesis (2012)
The subject of this master’s thesis is a personal essay in which the author raises questions rather than seeks definitive answers. The aim of the work is to explore problems related
to the integration of young people in contemporary Estonia. The primary focus is on young people living in Tallinn, whose experiences are reflected through an artistic project. The written component situates the personal perspective within the broader social, historical, and political context of Estonia. The author refers to various studies, historical writings,
and analyses of Estonia’s contemporary situation.
The written work consists of five main parts. The first part presents the author’s personal manifesto addressed to young people living in Estonia. The second part, Hingestriptiisina (“Soul Striptease”), turns to the author’s family history. The third chapter, Mälu ja Armastus (“Memory and Love”), briefly revisits Estonia’s history and discusses collective memory, love, and the power of love through sections such as “History,” “Love,” and “Memory Barriers.” The fourth part, Poliitika ja Meedia (“Politics and Media”), outlines key aspects
of modern society, focusing on divisive forces and tensions. It examines how contemporary Estonian society is fragmented from both objective and subjective perspectives, and discusses the role of politics and media in this process from the author’s point of view.
The written work is accompanied by additional materials. The first annex describes the author’s artistic project, including an interactive video installation, the collection of materials, interviews, and the professional preparation of documentary videos. The
second annex presents an overview of Estonian and Russian nationalist websites accessible in the Estonian online space. The third annex provides a poetic vocabulary
of the Estonian language used directly or indirectly during the research process.
Most of the source material used in the thesis is freely available online. The intention was to rely on sources accessible to anyone with an internet connection. These include sociological studies, research reports, integration policy documents for Estonia, United Nations materials, Wikipedia, Estonica, and Estonian historical websites. One of the key sources is Integration of Second Generation Russians in Estonia, the country report of the TIES survey, although the author critically questions the generalisation implied by the term “Russians,” noting that according to Statistics Estonia (2011), representatives of 142 different nationalities live in Estonia. An important personal influence on the work was Merle Karusoo’s master’s thesis Põhisuunda mitte kuuluv (“Not Belonging to the Main Lines”), which addresses barriers of memory.
The thesis, written in the form of a personal essay, focuses primarily on the situation of young people in Tallinn. This choice is rooted in the author’s personal connection to the city, where she was born, attended school and university, and experienced the most significant stages of her life. The author recalls parts of the Soviet era and the process of Estonia regaining independence. The Soviet period left not only a historical legacy but also demographic consequences, as many people migrated to Estonia from other Soviet republics and remained after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In independent Estonia, new social categories emerged, such as immigrants and non-citizens. Despite more than two decades of independence, not all children born in the Republic of Estonia have the automatic right to Estonian citizenship (Citizenship Act, 1995).
The author’s motivation for choosing this topic stems from a personal need to understand her own position within this social context. Coming from a mixed family — an Estonian father and a mother of practically indeterminate nationality — she sought through this work to process personal pain and internal conflict. Maintaining objective distance was initially difficult; however, the author sees the personal dimension as a legitimate and necessary perspective, allowing her to seek balance through reflective writing.
The written work forms part of a larger art project that was exhibited in the basement space of Kanuti Gildi SAAL. In addition to the installation, short documentary films were screened, featuring participants from Spain (specifically Catalonia), Belgium, and Ireland. These films were motivated by the author’s travels and friendships in those countries and explore integration processes in different national contexts. Through these comparisons, the author aimed to demonstrate that integration challenges are not unique to Estonia and that language can both unite and divide societies.
During the research process, the author experienced a gradual sense of inner balance. The study reinforced the understanding that history is neither black nor white and that simple right-or-wrong answers do not exist. Without consideration and tolerance, social problems intensify. Integration, if it is to function effectively, cannot be a one-sided process. When communication between groups is hindered by emotional or linguistic barriers, the media often becomes the primary source of information, despite its tendency to manipulate and polarise society.
Through the analysis of studies, statistics, essays, and articles, the author concludes that society often relies on excessive labelling, overlooking nuances and complexities. This results in superficial and distorted representations. While the issue of youth integration in Estonia remains complex, the author observes signs of improvement among younger generations, who are less burdened by historical memory and inherited prejudices. The research highlights the importance of incorporating personal and emotional dimensions into discussions of integration.
The author proposes that integration could be supported through educational structures that bring Estonian- and Russian-speaking students together. She suggests joint lessons—such as music and physical education—for Estonian and Russian classes, fostering more natural and harmonious integration from an early age. Such an approach could reduce pressure on young people and encourage smoother communication and social bonding.
Finally, the thesis critically examines the role of the media, which often fuels fear and confrontation among both Estonian- and Russian-speaking audiences. By repeatedly revisiting and distorting historical narratives, media and political actors contribute to emotional polarisation. This dynamic operates primarily at the emotional level, sidelining rational discourse and ultimately affecting human relationships.
Art plays a crucial role in addressing these issues within the thesis. Artistic expression may offer a more trustworthy or engaging perspective than distorted media narratives, abstract statistics, or bureaucratic integration programs. Through creativity, the author emphasises that integration issues are complex, multifaceted, and cannot be reduced to simplistic binaries of right and wrong.
Interviews with people from Catalonia, Ireland, Belgium on language issues.
Games of Life’s Surroundings
(documentation of a performance)
This video documents a performance presented at Made in Estonia Marathon 2012. The work stems from the artist’s personal need to make sense of her position within a complex social and cultural environment in which she herself is one of the links. Coming from a mixed family — with an Estonian father and a mother of indeterminate nationality, often described as a Third Culture Kid — the artist approaches the subject through a personal and emotional lens, seeking balance rather than resolution.
The performance addresses failures in communication by exposing the instability of language and cultural symbols. Tongues interacting with a traditional Estonian silver brooch create a literal and symbolic play between words, images, and national markers. Through this gesture, communication is shown as fragile, charged, and prone to misunderstanding.
A central action of the performance involves piercing the body with the Estonian national silver brooch. This act brings private pain into the public sphere, referencing the tensions, mistrust, and unspoken anxieties present within Estonia’s multinational and multicultural society. The body becomes a site where personal experience and collective concerns intersect.
The work reflects on the challenges of understanding youth integration in contemporary Estonia, acknowledging the prevalence of superficial labelling and inherited prejudices. At the same time, it suggests cautious optimism: younger generations appear less burdened by historical memory and more open to change. By introducing a personal and emotional dimension, the performance seeks to complicate simplified narratives surrounding integration.
Camera (in theater): Ira Saburova, Kanuti Gildi Saal crew
Camera (in studio): Kristina Õllek
Editing: Evi Pärn
Made in Estonia Marathon 2012
saal.ee/event/453/
Parkla (2013)
Social activism act
Parkla (2013)
(documentation of an action)
Parkla (“Parking Lot” in Estonian) is a site-specific action addressing institutional absence and displacement. During the action, five bus stops near the Estonian Academy of Arts were temporarily renamed Parkla.
The intervention refers to the former main building of the Estonian Academy of Arts, which occupied this location from 1917 until 2010.
After the building was vacated, the site was turned into a parking lot.
As a consequence, the Academy’s departments were dispersed across several locations throughout Tallinn, fragmenting both daily academic
life and the sense of institutional presence.
The action responds directly to the political context of 2012, when state officials refused funding for the construction of a new building for the Estonian Academy of Arts. By renaming public infrastructure, Parkla makes visible the transformation of a cultural and educational site into a space of transit and temporary use, pointing to broader questions of cultural value, urban priorities, and institutional neglect.
"Eesti Ekspress"
newspaper paper and web version.
Cyclotron installation.
in collaboration with Audiokinetica
Cyclotron (2014)
(documentation of a collaborative work with the Audiokinetica project)
Cyclotron is an interactive sound installation based on direct engagement with the audience. The installation produces sound only through participation: visitors are required to make physical and collective effort in order to activate it. The more people interact with the work, the richer and more complex the sound environment becomes. Each interaction generates a unique, improvisational composition.
The installation was inspired by a Soviet-era animated film and developed by the Audiokinetica team as a large-scale, enterable musical machine. Visitors could physically step inside the structure, becoming part of the sound-generating mechanism rather than passive listeners.
Cyclotron was presented at the Russian Theatre in Tallinn over three days, from 12–15 June 2014. Each evening concluded with a live performance in which the machine and its sounds served as a starting point for invited musicians, composers, and visual artists: Aleksandr Žedeljov, Tammo Sumera, Taavi Kerikmäe, and Tencu.
Video documentation
Overview of the first day
Cyclotron – Team members
Artjom Garejev – director
Evi Pärn – artist
Katrin Kvade – sound artist
Nikita Šiškov – sound engineer
Aleksandr Potužnõi – tuner
Sergei Dragunov – designer
Dmitri Mjatšin – metal artist
Dmitri Gornakov – web developer
Anton Kiseljus – mechanic
Maksim Kiseljus – technical support
Valentin Siltšenko – programmer
Birgit Krullo – production assistant
Aleksandr Žedeljov – producer, composer, author of the concept
Biowaste
Short documentary 2011.
Biowaste (2011)
Documentary film, 9 min
Biowaste is a short documentary film addressing food waste within large supermarket chains. The work combines two parallel layers: an anonymous voice and an intentionally monotonous visual environment.
The audio layer consists of a recorded conversation with a supermarket employee. The interview was conducted via Skype; the artist has never met the speaker in person and does not know their appearance, workplace, or personal background. The individual remains anonymous, defined only through their work experience in the food retail system. This distance reinforces the confessional nature of the testimony, focusing attention on labour conditions and everyday practices rather than personal identity.
The visual layer deliberately avoids spectacle. Filmed with a hidden camera, it presents an irritatingly repetitive journey through endless supermarket aisles and shelves. Products accumulate in rigid geometric order, creating a visually dull and oppressive landscape. This banality mirrors the industrial logic of overproduction and disposability that structures contemporary food consumption.
One quote from the film encapsulates its underlying concern:
“Sometimes I imagine how some animal was born and grew up under absolute control, then was killed, wrapped in plastic, and finally thrown away.”
Through the combination of anonymous confession and visually restrained imagery, Biowaste reflects on the normalization of waste within capitalist food systems. The film exposes how food—once the result of living processes—is reduced to disposable material, while responsibility is diffused across invisible chains of production and labour.
Biowaste was created for the group exhibition Food by Estonian artists, presented at Võru City Gallery from 20 December 2011 to 19 January 2012.
English subtitles were added subsequently.
Biojäätmed (2011)
Dokumentaalfilm, 9 min
Biojäätmed on lühidokumentaalfilm, mis käsitleb toiduraiskamise teemat suurtes toidukaupluste kettides. Teos koosneb kahest paralleelsest kihist: anonüümsest jutustusest ja tahtlikult monotoonsest visuaalsest keskkonnast.
Heliriba põhineb vestlusel toidupoe töötajaga. Intervjuu viidi läbi Skype’i teel; autor ei ole intervjueeritavaga isiklikult kohtunud ega tea tema välimust, täpset töökohta ega elukohta. Inimese identiteet jääb varjatuks ning esile tõuseb üksnes tema töökogemus kaubandussüsteemi sees. Selline anonüümsus rõhutab ülestunnistuse (konfessiooni) iseloomu ning suunab tähelepanu süsteemsetele praktikatele, mitte üksikisikule.
Visuaalne kiht on teadlikult vaoshoitud ja ebameeldivalt korduv. Salakaameraga filmitud kaadrid viivad vaataja läbi näiliselt lõputute kaubalettide ridade. Kaupade geomeetriline kord ja steriilne küllus loovad rõhuva ja igava keskkonna, mis peegeldab tööstusliku tootmise ja tarbimise loogikat.
Üks filmis kõlav mõte võtab selle keskse küsimuse kokku:
„Mõnikord kujutan ette, kuidas mõni loom sünnib ja kasvab täieliku kontrolli
all, seejärel tapetakse, pakitakse plastiku sisse ja visatakse lõpuks ära.”
Biojäätmed toob esile, kuidas elusast protsessist saab kapitalistlikus toidusüsteemis kiiresti ühekordne ja asendatav objekt. Film osutab
vastutuse hajumisele ning toiduraiskamise normaliseerimisele
igapäevases tarbimiskultuuris.
Film valmis Eesti kunstnike ühisnäituse "Toit" jaoks, mis toimus Võru Linnagaleriis 20.12.2011–19.01.2012.
"At Second Sight"("Teisest silmapilgust" / Со второго взгляда )
SET AND COSTUME DESIGN, 2016.
How is it possible for an Estonian to have lived their whole life in Estonia without having a single Russian friend, even though one fourth of Estonian citizens are Russians? To find an answer to this question Mari-Liis Lill and Paavo Piik decided to test the process of integration on themselves, together with actors from Russian Theatre in Estonia. They formed a laboratory in which a group of actors from Tallinn City Theatre started learning Russian and a group of actors from the Russian Theatre started learning Estonian. The language courses lasted for two years.
In addition to learning each other's language they met with about 15 Estonian and Russian experts on integration politics and discussed in these meetings what to do to bring the Estonian citizens from two nationalities closer to each other.
If all Russian-speaking Estonian citizens left the country tomorrow, would Estonia be a better place? If they all started to speak Estonian tomorrow, would all the political problems be solved? Is integration something that can be done from top down?
„At Second Sight“ is a theatre trip in documentary style that starts simultaneously from Tallinn City Theatre (in Estonian language) and Russian Theatre (in Russian language). The second half of the trip takes place at Lindakivi Cultural Centre in Lasnamäe and is acted out in two languages at the same time. Directed in the style of a sketch-show, „Cosmos“ at Lindakivi can also be watched as a separate performance.
http://linnateater.ee/productions/productions-list/at-second-sight
Photo credits: Linnateater, Siim Vahur
Opera: Estonian History. A Nation Born of Shock.
MIMproject in collaboration with Kanuti Gildi SAAL and Estonian National Opera.
Part os staging team and responsible for Costume Design, 2018.
Opera by Manfred MIM
Supported by the Estonian State and produced in cooperation with the Estonian National Opera and Kanuti Gildi SAAL.
World premiere on January 19, 2018 at the Estonian National Opera
In March 2014, Estonian theatres decided to gift the Republic of Estonia with a grandiose stage project, which will present the audiences with a story of a century of the republic. In the framework of the project, 24 theatres will create 12 performances from the autumn of 2017 until the spring of 2018. The theatres raffled partners and divided the decades amongst themselves. Fortune chose for the joint effort of the Estonian National Opera and the Kanuti Gildi SAAL to reflect the sixties.
As a lucky coincidence, the partners had in their possession a libretto and a score of a piece yet unknown on the landscape of Estonian opera. It was written around the sixties by an innovative inventor and scientist Manfred MIM. The opera tells a story of a people and a land whose history has been affected by a great cosmic natural disaster, which caused them to inadvertently be the founders of the European culture since the early Iron Ages.
After almost two years of insistent work, the group of more than 10 creative members of MIMproject have worked their way through most of Manfred MIM’s notes and restored and deciphered the musical score. It is a monumental task, as at the time he wrote the opera neither the era’s modern music nor the stage technical facilities had developed to the level Manfred had hoped to use in his work. Therefore, some of the notes have been recorded in an unprecedented way and on many occasions the first task is to recreate the language for reading his scripts. Even now many of his ideas need the use of newest technology and it is very likely that quite a few of those elements will be used for the first time in an opera.
Creating the opera is a monumental task and engages the maximum creative and technical force by the Estonian National Opera, Kanuti Gildi SAAL and MIMproject.
The lecacy of Manfred MIM has been researched and prepared for the stage by: Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, Andrus Laansalu, Andrus Aaslaid, Karl Saks, Raul Keller, Taavet Jansen, Maike Lond Malmborg, Oksana Tralla, Mart Koldits, Henri Hütt, Kalle Tikas, Andres Tenusaar and Evi Pärn.
Presented by the soloists of the Estonian National Opera, dancers of the Estonian National Ballet, the orchestra and the chorus. Conductor Kaspar Mänd.
STAGING TEAM:
Conductor: Kaspar Mänd
The people who worked on Manfred MIM’s legacy and took care that the opera and the music became ripe for the stage were Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, Andrus Laansalu, Andrus Aaslaid, Karl Saks, Raul Keller, Taavet Jansen, Maike Lond Malmborg, Oksana Tralla, Mart Koldits, Henri Hütt, Kalle Tikas, Andres Tenusaar and Evi Pärn.
