Stories of your Kreenholm
Site-specific installation at empty spaces of Kreenholm textile mill, Estonia, 2015
In 2015, when I was still developing on a body of work ‘Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear’, I was invited by Narva Museum to make an installation at an empty space of a former textile mill back in my hometown in Estonia. The installation was my first attempt to present the images and stories kindly shared with me by the former workers of the mill during a series of the interviews I organised between 2014-201 with the help of Narva College.
The mill, which used to be the most significant employer in the town, after its 150 years of existence, closed down in 2009. The empty buildings, now belong to a Swedish property company, still stand In the town as reminder of the recent traumatic events for the community. In that year, the museum started the guided tours around the mill territory and my installation was part of those to share real stories of people who used to work there.
In 2017, this body of work developed into as an exhibition titled ‘Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear’ followed by a book, published in 2020.