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Fathers and sons

Song Festival MuseumExhibition
Time of occurrence: 18.06.2025-31.08.2025
Place of occurrence: Song Festival Museum, Jaama 14, Tartu

From June 18th to August 31st, an exhibition is displayed in the park of the Tartu Song Festival Museum that explores the significance of the father’s role in raising sons through old photographs. It delves into how the father-son relationship has evolved over time.

The curator of the exhibition is Indrek Aija, a longtime curator of art and photo collections at the Pärnu Museum. His main passion lies in the historical background and origin of photographs. The stories behind the images are enriched by dramaturge Ott Kilusk, who supports each photo with poetic interpretative possibilities. Together, they offer a personal perspective on the everyday and celebratory lives of fathers and sons, highlighting social and economic differences, conflicts, and cooperation.

Curator Indrek Aija says:
“While we’re used to saying ‘Be a man!’, we should really find a way to say ‘Be a father!’ Just as it is often said that true female maturity comes with motherhood, the same applies to men. Fatherhood challenges a man’s readiness to commit, to take responsibility, and to love.”

The selected photographs emphasize the father’s role as a connector and role model across generations. The old images bring to life stories, situations, and relationships that are unique to the transmission of masculine values from fathers to sons and vice versa. The exhibition includes photos of public figures such as politicians and athletes, as well as teachers, fishermen, and naturalists. This juxtaposition of fathers and sons from various backgrounds and social strata creates a warm and heartfelt insight into the emotional and everyday world of men.

The exhibition features 24 panels, each telling a personal and poetic story of a father and son. The photos come from museum archives and private family collections. This is time preserved, our emotional memory. Every picture tells its own story, even if we know nothing about the people in them. Together, they form an incredibly captivating gallery, a poetic cross-section of father-son relationships throughout our history.

“A father’s role in raising a son is larger than life because it is through successes and failures that one must raise a person who becomes a better man than he himself once was. The best possible man for his partner and the best possible father for his children. This can only happen through time spent together and shared experiences, where strengths and weaknesses are learned through love. Nothing is accidental, nothing is lost—every moment found for each other is essential and remains,” says dramaturge Ott Kilusk about the exhibition.

The exhibition is open during the Tartu Song Festival Museum’s regular hours and to visitors of the summer performance “Fathers and Sons.”

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