The Capital of Culture year is just around the corner and the coming year is very significant for the city of Tartu. Tartu City Museum invites all current and former Tartu residents to take part in the Capital of Culture year’s exhibition, to reflect on the city and the district where they live now or have lived previously. Stories, photos and items that best describe Tartu and the districts of Tartu are welcome.
‘Our Tartu’ is a unique exhibition that, through the inclusion of city residents and communities, tells the story of Tartu and its districts as seen through the eyes of modern Tartu residents. This also means that the exhibition is open to change; guests can come and debate in a good-natured manner and thereby make suggestions on how to expand on it or guide its direction. In the future, the museum hopes to organise events and undertakings in cooperation with the community and bring exhibitions to districts.
“We want to bring the past and present of the city of Tartu to visitors with the help of our people,” says Director of the Tartu City Museum Risto Lehiste.
“We dream that this exhibition will bring bright ideas and first-hand stories to the museum and that the museum will reach the communities of the city districts and the people of Tartu more widely. Inclusion sounds lovely, but it is much more difficult to give that word actual meaning. We aspire to include people, not only by inviting them to the opening of the exhibition but also by having the exhibition made by the people themselves—if not by turning screws and raising walls, then by actively giving input, telling stories and donating exhibits that would help make this exhibition a reality,” says Lehiste.
Anyone who wants to take part in the exhibition and share their memories, photos and vision of Tartu is invited to sign up. You can publish your thoughts and come forwards until the end of April.
We collect good thoughts on the museum’s website: https://muuseum.tartu.ee/tartu-linnamuuseum/meie-tartu/, at the email address meie.tartu@muuseum.tartu.ee and in Tartu City Museum, at Narva mnt 23, Tartu, from Wednesday to Sunday 11:00-18:00.
The visual author is Hildegard Reimann.