Kumu exhibition gives confined young people a voice

Ten young people from a closed children’s institution have told their personal stories through art in a social sculpture park at Kumu, ERR reported. The exhibition, titled “Hold Me Close. A Monument to Survival,” is open in the museum’s courtyard until October 25.

The project was initiated by artist Marta Vaarik, who is also completing a feature-length documentary film with the same title. The exhibition gives a voice to young people who are often noticed by society only when something has gone seriously wrong.

Vaarik called the participants superheroes for opening up through moving works about highly personal and painful experiences that are usually difficult to discuss.

“We started two years ago with ten young people from Kaagvere, and today they have all made it to Kumu, which makes me enormously proud,” Vaarik said. She added that this showed how important the project was to them and how much they wanted to take part.

Vaarik and Juri Krutii held workshops with the young people, helping each participant find a suitable way to tell their story. The resulting works include installations, sculptures, videos and sound pieces.

“We collected their stories, conducted interviews, returned to Kaagvere, showed them different things and reflected throughout the process. We introduced various possibilities so they could choose for themselves and develop,” Vaarik said.

The artists are urging adults to notice, listen to and help young people before their problems become overwhelming. Vaarik said schools already have a system for identifying and supporting children in difficulty, and that she was strongly advocating for it to be put into use.

“The most terrible thing, in my view, is when a child wants to kill themselves. Then something is very wrong in society,” she said.

Vaarik said any normal human contact could help, as long as adults did not look down on young people they viewed as troublemakers.

“In reality, they are young people who need help. They are wonderful when you are wonderful with them. You never have a problem if you do not begin a conversation with aggression, because then you will certainly get aggression back,” she said.

She added that the project’s central message was the need to respect young people and avoid hierarchical relationships between children and adults. “We are all equal and must respect one another,” Vaarik said.

The filmmakers hope to present the feature-length documentary, which has been in production for two years, in about a year.