In August and September, the Route Diverse art tours invite people to South Estonia to explore new and familiar places from a surprising angle and take the road less traveled.Route Diverse (Maailma Maaliin) is an unique art experience that is part of the European Capital of Tartu 2024 main programme. It takes the audience on a special bus tour to discover the peripheral areas of Southern Estonian nature and ways of living. Till the end of September, a total of 30 art journeys will be conducted, some of which will be in English. During the event, three distinct exhibition venues will be visited, with the art tour bus itself providing a unique and surprising artistic experience.
Helena Krinal, the Artistic Director of Route Diverse, describes the art journey as a colorful collaboration between artists and local people. “For about four years, we have been shaping this experience together with people from various fields, countries of origin, and diverse cultural backgrounds from Southern Estonia. Now, we have created an immersive art experience that invites exploration of the peripheral nature of Southern Estonia and the fringes of human existence – be it our relationship with non-human creatures, the supernatural, or our own local surroundings,” Krinal explained.
Bus as a trickster character
“Laima Jaunzema, a renowned performance artist from Latvia, has designed both the interior of the bus and the time spent on it, transforming the bus into an intriguing character. During the Route Diverse art journey, the bus ride is not merely a means of transportation but an integral part of the art programme,” described Krinal.The three-and-a-half-hour journey begins at Valga railway station and continues to Ähijärve, where Jane Remm’s nature installation in Karula National Park invites visitors to explore what non-human creatures – birds, insects, and fish – consider home. Visitors can crawl into human-sized nests and burrows to experience the world from a different perspective.
Mysterious encounters
From Ähijärve, the culture bus heads to Hargla Community Culture House (Hargla Maakultuurimaja), where a sound installation by American-Estonian artist Patrick Tubin McGinley, will be unveiled exclusively for the tour. Inspired by encounters with the supernatural and the unexplained by people of diverse cultural backgrounds living in Southern Estonia, this audio experience brings together the suris of Koikküla (South-Estonian healers), ancestors hidden in Ghanaian ants, a Roma grandmother, and many others.
The art journey finally circles back to Valga railway station, where Barbara Lehtna’s spatial installation explores how to live in a city that statistics suggest people do not want to live in. Lehtna, who shares her life between Estonia and Latvia, was influenced by her nearly 20-year personal experience with Valga and is based on interviews she conducted by approaching strangers in playgrounds, cafés, the railway station, and other places.
The next Route Diverse art tours in English will take place on August 24th and 25th. Tours in Estonian will take place on August 23rd, 24th, 25th, and September 7th. More information about the schedule and tickets on Piletilevi.
Photo by Danel Rinaldo
