Kas tunned maad? (Do You Know This Land?)
[2017-2023]
solo show11th-21st July, 2023, AD Space - Corridor Gallery, Gadigal Country
Kas tunned maad? came as a culmination of six years of sitting on sentiments. Presenting 104 hand-drawn maps of Estonia originally made in 2017-18, the works afforded a chance for many past participants from the Estonian community to reconnect and reflect.
Borrowing its title from a series of maps printed in Estonia in 1939 and nationalist poem by Mihkel Veske, Kas tunned maad? investigated the nature of cartography as charged tools reflective of our cultural, economic and political environments. The maps mentioned come from a series of surveys undertaken by the Topo-Hydrographic Department of the Estonian Armed Forces between 1930-39 at 1:200000 scale, and printed in 1939 by the State Printing House (1923-1940).
As one of the last major surveys of Estonia prior to Soviet occupation, these maps were continually reprinted with new municipality boundaries and often merged to print custom maps. In 1938, these maps were converted into a series of public hiking maps titled ‘Kas tunned maad?’. Whilst the maps were mass-produced, due to the accuracy and detail of the master copies they were forbidden during the Soviet period and several were supposedly destroyed.
On the reverse of the roomsheets created for this show was a high resolution scan of one of the twelve panels of this map courtesy of National Library of Estonia (RaRa). You can view these maps and download them for free here: https://www.digar.ee/arhiiv/ These maps and roomsheets for the show were printed with assistance from Rory Moy & Kieran Butler at Arc Creative.
The one hundred maps displayed – previously held in private storage – were originally drawn by members of the Estonian-Australian community throughout 2017-2018 to coincide with the 100th Anniversary of Estonian Independence and XXVII Eesti Päevad (Estonian Festival). Asked to “draw a map of Estonia from memory” across a series of impromptu workshops, the activity and outcome – titled Müüt maa, Muutmälu (Mythical Land, Random Memory) – was a direct response to Shilpa Gupta’s series, 100 Hand drawn maps of my country (2008-ongoing) once on display at the AGNSW. Kas tunned maad? (Do You Know This Land?) offered an opportunity to both reflect on the new climate of border politics within Eastern Europe and also how my own personal sentiments and memories have evolved since 2018 following my deepened understanding of my connection to Estonia.
After a six year hiatus, these maps continue to speak to a collective imagining of a kodumaa (homeland) that is in constant construction; the waxing and waning boundaries presenting a counter narrative to any notion of a singular “maa”. Expanding and receding like bruised, pastel pools, the mind-maps unintentionally form a historical snapshot of the Estonian-Australia diaspora’s origin-point - for some a future home, for some a forever memory.
These immaterial landscapes are realities remembered, recollected and in revision. Inscribed in ink and graphite, the winding paragraphs and fragments of text meander and illustrate personal journeys and stories of growing up and returning to one’s roots. For some, the task of depicting an isamaa (fatherland) accurately became an act of territorial demarcation and “non-violent” conquest with towns de-Russified and borders drawn back to the lines of the 1920 Tartu rahu (Treaty of Tartu).
In reasserting historical land claims or by challenging it, the x- and y-coordinates of these maps suggest an ongoing re-orientation of bodies away from an origin point and towards a fragmented and splintered reimagining, perhaps one more accurate than a single map ever could achieve.
Four years since facilitating this work, on the eve of the 104th Anniversary of Estonian Independence, Russia invaded Ukraine. To ignore this fact would be a disservice to those who have lost everything they loved. Mapping is inherently political – territories only exist to justify a separation of one group from another. Considering this, the exhibition stands in solidarity with Ukraine and the diaspora including those recently displaced.
This exhibition was facilitated and produced on the Gadigal, Wallumedegal and Kaurna Country (thankyou Lucy Semenov for assistance in facilitating these workshops) and I want to extends my respect to Elders past and present and Leaders emerging. Whilst in Estonian, maa can refer to both ‘land, country, the countryside, soil, ground and earth’, Country here refers to a nuanced and deeply rooted understanding of land that extends to waterways, seas, familial relations and cultural practices. This exhibition was curated by a descendant of Estonian and English migrants and understands that the themes of displacement, dispossession and land ownership derive from a European understanding of border sovereignty.
As we stand with Ukraine, we stand with all First Nations people in their struggle and fight for sovereignty and self-determination.
Müüt maa, Muutmälu (Mythical Land, Altered Memory)[2017-2023]
104 hand-illustrated maps reproductions, chalk pastel on printed A4 vellum, dimensions variable, with installation assistance from Liisa Kuru, David Pleass & Josh Hwang
Reprinted and re-exhibited after six years in storage, these maps were coloured to resemble antique water colour maps and bruises suggesting healing yet a trauma that lingers below the surface. The maps were printed on vellum with the intention to be overlaid and change position over the two week period however this was not realised due to the labour involved.
Kas tunned maad? (Do You Know This Land?) [2023]
looped audio recording (02:03:00) featuring interviews with Imbi Semmelweis, Kieran Scott, Esmee Okamoto, Siiri Iismaa, Ella Scott, Esmee Okamoto, Juho Looveer, Sandra Buchert, Mai Bell, Maie Barrow, Sulev Kalamäe, Malle Lehtsalu & Lachlan BellAs an extension of Müüt maa, Muutmälu (Mythical Land, Altered Memory), an interview series was compiled for the show from casual and formal conversations that each speaking to the current state of the diaspora in Australia and what it means to connect to a homeland when you are situated outside of it. The work was initially intended to act as a sonic cacophany of voices, intending to match the original plan of ‘overlaid’ maps - hence the use of vellum for the printed reproductions.
Acknowledgments
Thankyou to the following people for their assistance, knowledge, insights and support in realising this exhibition.
Mai Bell
Malle Lehtsalu
Rory Moy
Courtney Bowd
Josh Hwang
Marleena Oudomvillay
Rainer Ciar
Maie Barrow
Sulev Kalamäe
Imbi Semmelweis
Ella Scott
Siiri Iismaa
Kieran Scott
Felix Parker
Juho Looveer
Lucy Semenov
Malle Lehtsalu
Rory Moy
Courtney Bowd
Josh Hwang
Marleena Oudomvillay
Rainer Ciar
Maie Barrow
Sulev Kalamäe
Imbi Semmelweis
Ella Scott
Siiri Iismaa
Kieran Scott
Felix Parker
Juho Looveer
Lucy Semenov
Thankyou to all who participated in the map-making workshops at Sydney & Adelaide Estonian House in 2017-2018. The following people are those which could be identified since exhibiting the work:
Madis Alvre
Tiina Alvre
Mai Bell
Mai Buchert
Peeter Maasepp
Virge Nielsen
Marissa Pikkat
Maud Kaljot
Malle Lehtsalu
Steven Buchert
Vella Philak
Triin Pehk
Toivo Rosenwald
Juho Looveer
Kieran Scott
Ingrid Tartu
Sandra Buchert
Kristjan Semmelweis
Sigi Aisatullin
Harri Rodgers
Ximonie Clark
Hiie Pank
Siiri Iismaa
Lucy Semenov
Max Semenov
Rhys Maidla
Marju Tonisson
Ella Ranniko
Pille Püvendi
Malle
RN
TN
EN
AC
SS
RL
SK
HR
KN
ER
RR
ML
MB
LA
TR
RS
MA
HPB
LS
ZRD
Tiina Alvre
Mai Bell
Mai Buchert
Peeter Maasepp
Virge Nielsen
Marissa Pikkat
Maud Kaljot
Malle Lehtsalu
Steven Buchert
Vella Philak
Triin Pehk
Toivo Rosenwald
Juho Looveer
Kieran Scott
Ingrid Tartu
Sandra Buchert
Kristjan Semmelweis
Sigi Aisatullin
Harri Rodgers
Ximonie Clark
Hiie Pank
Siiri Iismaa
Lucy Semenov
Max Semenov
Rhys Maidla
Marju Tonisson
Ella Ranniko
Pille Püvendi
Malle
RN
TN
EN
AC
SS
RL
SK
HR
KN
ER
RR
ML
MB
LA
TR
RS
MA
HPB
LS
ZRD