Route Diverse Art Tour: Explore the Periphery!

Join the unique Route Diverse art tours in summery Southern Estonia and discover what life is like on the periphery! Route Diverse is part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme and an unique experience which takes the audience on a special bus tour to explore the Southern Estonian hinterlands.The tour lasts for 3.5 h, starting and finishing in the border city of Valga.

⇝ Bus Ride as an Art Experience
Latvian performance artist Laima Jaunzema has designed the bus interior and the time spent on it in a way that a bus ride becomes more than just a journey between the points. It will become an art experience in itself! Through her work, Laima explores what it takes for a space and a group of people to feel like home, and whether this is achievable in just a few hours spent together. The bus also provides a recreational space for the audience to return to after adventures in the periphery. Moreover, this bus is not your average bus, but she is also one of the primary storytellers in the Route Diverse art programme.

⇝ Ähijärve – Experience Home as an Insect or Bird
Jane Remm’s nature installation at Ähijärve, in Karula National Park, invites you to discover what non-human beings – birds, insects, fish – consider home. The exhibition offers visitors the chance to crawl into human-sized nests and burrows and perceive life from the perspective of a bird or spider.

⇝ Hargla – Supernatural Happenings of Being a Human
American-Estonian artist Patrick Tubin McGinley’s sound installation brings the audience to the Hargla Community Center, where portals into realities open, offering glimpses into the life of suris of Koikküla, ancestral spirits hidden in Ghanaian ants, Roma grandmother’s stories, communication with Sri Lankan spirits, and Cuban healers. All stories are collected from the people of Southern Estonia in their native languages.

⇝ Valga – A City Where No One Wants to Live?
Barbara Lehtna’s spatial installation explores how to live in a city where statistics suggest people don’t want to live. How do you dream of tomorrow when today seems quite bleak? The work is inspired by the artist’s long-term experience with Valga and the question of how to be happy in a seemingly random environment like an average Estonian “provincial town.”

⇝ An Enjoyable Peripheral Experience
This unique art discovery trip playfully explores what life looks like when stepping off the usual paths. The tour invites you to explore, experience, and reflect on the fringes of being human – who we are as animals, how diverse the human species is, and how we seek and find ourselves among others.

Route: Valga–Ähijärve–Hargla–Valga.

Artists: Jane Remm, Patrick McGinley, Barbara Lehtna, Laima Jaunzema
Artistic Director: Helena Krinal
Concept: Nastja Pertšjonok

Practical Information:

The art tour takes place both indoors and outdoors. Dress according to the weather and check the forecast, choose comfortable shoes and clothing.
Snacks can be purchased on-site (cash). You can also bring your own food and drinks. The bus is equipped with air conditioning, a toilet, and toilet facilities are available at all stops.
The programme is suitable for all art and exploration curious people, adults and children alike. Very young children will need parents to explain them some part