Exhibition view from "Life in Decline", curated by Francisco Martínez, Estonian Mining Museum at Kohtla-Nõmme, 2021:

Vacant / Vaba / Bакантный

Pigment ink print
Framed
Dimensions variable
Model: Üüve-Lydia Toompere
Lighting and assisting: Alis Mäesalu
2021

Made for the exhibition "Life in Decline", curated by Francisco Martínez, Estonian Museum of Mining at Kohtla Nõmme.

"This photo series engages with the current depopulation in Ida-Virumaa, a region that has lost 35% of its inhabitants since 1989 (from 205,000 to 131,900). Accordingly, the Ministry of Finances has approved a pilot project to demolish half-empty apartment buildings and re-organize the inhabitants into other buildings. Young people allege different reasons for leaving: namely, pollution (due to intensive industrial, mining and chemical production), postsocialist abandonment by the state, or simply seeing no future here. Photos of local apartments on sale are, however, presented with a seductive real-estate agent and in dialog with the calculating machinery of the accountant of the Kohtla mine. For potential buyers, this means an opportunity in a land of resilience." - Francisco Martínez

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