We Here in the Country
Curators Alar Madisson, Maris Rosenthal. At the outdoor exhibition on the ruins of Raadi manor houses, a part of the photo material collected during the project "Estonian Types" will be exhibited in the summer of 2008, which introduces the uniqueness of Estonian society at the beginning of the 21st century through the people living here. The exhibition was awarded with the title of Museum Rat of the Estonian Ministry of Culture in the Innovation category in 2010.
Open in Raadi manor park from 7 am to 10 pm
Curators: Maris Rosenthal, Alar Madisson
The Innovation Prize of the Little Museum Rat of 2010 was awarded to the Estonian National Museum's exhibition "We Here in the Country", which main characters are ordinary people from different parts of Estonia.
The preparation of the exhibition “We Here in the Country” began in 2008, when field work took place in all 15 counties of Estonia in a total of 49 settlements from May to September within the framework of the photo project “Estonian Types”. "Estonian Types" was a cooperation project between photographer Alar Madisson and the Estonian National Museum, with the aim of photographing people of different ages, nationalities and social groups living in Estonia to supplement the museum's photo collection.
The visual material collected during the summer of 2008 brings together for future generations a portrait of Estonians from the beginning of the 21st century. The contemporary documentary project captured almost half a thousand urban and rural people, including local cultural and business figures, researchers and doctors, teachers and students, and other professions in everyday clothing, workwear and performance costumes. The youngest subjects of the project were four 1-year-old children and the oldest was a 92-year-old Polish woman, who was captured while she was in Abruka with her granddaughter. In addition to the Poles, Russians, Hungarians, Finns, Tatars, Azerbaijanis, Ukrainians and Maris were also represented among the non-indigenous peoples. A separate list can be obtained from people for whom the nation listed in the passport was secondary to self-introduction, such as people from Setomaa, Mulgimaa, Abruka, Hiiumaa, Saaremaa and the Old Believers. Only a third of the recorded material is hung on the windows of the main building of Raadi manor.
The aim of the outdoor exhibition opened on the 15th May 2009 is to show the diversity of Estonian society through the people living here. We live in the middle of a diverse group of compatriots, and the goodness of our lives depends, among other things, on whether and to what extent we know and trust each other.