March 1, 12:00– 4:00 p.m.
“Garage Culture Themed Day: Garages in the Urban Space”
March 1, 12:00– 4:00 p.m. “Garage Culture Themed Day: Garages in the Urban Space”
By organizing thematic days dedicated to garage culture, the museum aims to bring together people from different fields for whom a garage means far more than an 18‑square‑meter space for a car, to enhance the value of garage culture and to strengthen a sense of community. The thematic days explore various facets of garage culture: garage culture and urban space; garages and creativity; garages and entrepreneurship. In cooperation with the exhibition curator (Aleksandra Ianchenko), the artists participating in the exhibition (Andrei Kedrin / Aleksandra Ianchenko), and entrepreneurs (IKIGI and other businesses), the program includes lectures, workshops, a bicycle garage tour, and a garage sale.
On 1 March, from 12:00 to 13:00, there will be a guided tour of the exhibition “Garaaž. Гараж. Garage”
with Professor of Urban Studies at Tallinn University, Tauri Tuvikene, followed by a lecture in Estonian titled “Garages and Garage Complexes.”
In his lecture, exhibition consultant Professor Tauri Tuvikene will draw on his research to discuss the history, current use, and future of garage areas. Garages are not merely spaces
for cars; they are extensions of the home and spaces of possibility. Garage complexes are clusters of such garages, sometimes numbering in the hundreds or even thousands. They emerged as a phenomenon of Soviet society, part of its car culture and “hamster society,” in which, under conditions of scarcity, people had to acquire necessary items on their own and store them somewhere. Although the need for storage is no longer the same, garages have not disappeared, and a new generation is rediscovering the possibilities of this space.
Tauri Tuvikene is a Professor of Urban Studies at Tallinn University. His research focuses on mobility, urban cultures, and post-socialism. Garages and garage complexes were the subject of his bachelor’s thesis in 2007, and he has subsequently published scholarly articles on the topic in Landscape Research as well as in Methis. Although his research has since expanded to new research themes – most notably public transport as public space and participatory transport planning – garages and garage complexes remain the topic that most comprehensively brings together mobility, urban cultures, and (post-)socialism.
FOTO: Garaažid Tallinnas, Jalgaplli tn 13. Meeli Küttim
1:30–4:00 p.m. Joint viewing of the documentary film Garage People. The screening will be introduced by the film’s director, Natalija Jefimkina.
Completed in 2020, Garage People follows the everyday lives of garage owners in northern Russia, where garages stretch as far as the eye can see. Behind the rusty doors, you can find everything except cars. For many, the garage is a refuge, an opportunity to escape the grayness of daily life and a sign of hope for the fulfillment of big dreams.
The film is in Russian with English subtitles.
The event is free of charge.
Supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment
