Clandestines 1944 – Paadipõgenike jälgedes
[Site specific installation Kuuresaare, 2016]
162 g/m2 glass fabric, epoxy, steal wire, fruit tree


more images

The 21st of September 1944 Aksel Toompuu fled Saaremaa, and like 6500 of other Estonians he came to the Swedish island of Gotland. The crossing was dangerous and perhaps as many as 3000 Estonians perished in the same pursuit. Hans Suur fled the 170 km to Gotland with 2 other men, rowing a small fishing boat, 2 x 4 meters!

My site-specific installation uses the shape of the cross-section of Suur’s boat and is made from a transparent fiberglass material, also used by makers of wooden boats. About 50 small "boats" are placed in a fruit tree, as Toompuu translates to Prunus (the family of cherry and plum trees) in latin. The wind rocks the shapes like boats in the waves, and I intend for them to symbolize freedom. The title refers to the name the Italian boarder-police calls the boat refugees that currently arrive to the island of Lampedusa.

My work of art is dedicated to all those who risks their own, and sometimes their family’s lives, for a chance for a life in freedom. In 2016 they still need our help.

The art work is part of the exhibition B7 - Ebakõla /Dissonance which is situated along the bike roads of Kuuresaare, Saaremaa, Estonia 23.05.2016-08.2016.

Previous art work from 2009: Clandestine 2029?.