1. Triin Kerge and Aksel Haagensen “Off We Go!”

Triin Kerge and Aksel Haagensen “Off We Go!”

26.07.2021

On Friday, 30 July at 5 p.m. Triin Kerge and Aksel Haagensen will open their exhibition “Off We Go!” in the large gallery of Tartu Art House.
 
The exhibition is based on the stories of people who fled as children from Estonia in 1944 or were deported as children to Siberia in 1949. The artists place these two narratives from Estonian history into a dialogue and question the cultural understandings that exist around the deportations and the exodus of refugees.
 
Triin Kerge presents to the viewer six women who were deported as children to Siberia in 1949, focusing on the personal aspects of collective memory. Aksel Haagensen juxtaposes his experiences of being an exiled Estonian with those of his grandmother alongside their respective relationships with the Australian environment.
 
This generation of children is the last to have an immediate experience of historic events that have also shaped following generations. The artists use personal stories and memories to contemplate the multilayered aspects of events from seventy years ago and their consequences today.
 
Triin Kerge works mainly with photography, video and installation. In her practice she focuses on the home, its meaning and homesickness. Over the last years, she has worked with the stories and memories of children who were deported to Siberia. Kerge studied documentary photography (BA) at the University of Wales, Newport and contemporary art (MA) at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
 
Aksel Haagensen mainly works with installation and video and is interested in the documentary aspects of contemporary art. He has investigated the subject of refugees based on the stories of his grandmother, using this as a filter to approach contemporary situations. Haagensen studied installation and sculpture (BA) and contemporary art (MA) at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
 
The exhibition is open until 29 August.
 
Additional information:
Tanel Asmer
Tartu Art House producer
Tel: +372 5562 1192
E-post: produtsent@kunstimaja.ee
 
Tartu Art House
Vanemuise 26, 51014 Tartu
Wed–Mon 12.00–18.00
www.kunstimaja.ee
www.facebook.com/kunstimaja
 
Triin Kerge and Aksel Haagensen “Off We Go!”
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