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Artists Lilli Tölp and Mai Sööt travelled for many years in India and Asia. They lived and ate with locals and when there was not enough room, they shared the floor of a train with fellow travellers. The immense hospitality and warmth of Indians broke all cultural barriers.
Inspired by this experience, the artists decided to do the impossible: to create everyday Indian situations in Estonia. With the idea of approaching unknown people through food, they decided to build a four-wheeled pushcart that could then be used to sell home-made Indian food on the streets of their hometown Pärnu. In Asian countries people gather around a pushcart to eat, talk and conduct business. While eating, people get to know each other, exchange information, learn about others and often forget cultural, political and religious differences and dissensions.
Doing business in India is simple and there is a solution for everything: even if your art doesn’t sell, you can sell rice at the exhibition. Does India fit into Estonia and vice versa? Do potatoes and rice go on the same plate?
All this and much more can be discussed during a common meal at the opening!
Lilli Tölp (b 1984) is a new media and performance artist. She has studied at the Tartu Art College, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Institute Seni in Indonesia and has a master’s degree in new media from the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has participated in numerous exhibitions and performance projects in Estonia and India.
Mai Sööt (b 1983) has graduated from the painting department of the Tartu Art College and has a master’s degree in interdisciplinary arts from the Estonian Academy of Arts. From 2010, she has been active as a performance artist. In 2013, she had a personal exhibition at the Tartu Art House.
Thanks: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Gram Art Project , Andres Tölp , Eva Bubla , Helle Tölp , Janno Palits , Lalit Vikamshi , Navkesh Tekade , Paradsinga villagers, Parvindar Singh, Peet Tölp , gamily Bhattad , Pärnu Papiniidu K-Rauta employees, Linda Sööt, University of Tartu Botanical Gardens.
The exhibition will remain open until 23 July.