Conference dates: 30 October–2 November 2024
The academic programme takes place on 31 October and 1 November 2024 at the Estonian National Museum.
The conference
programme involves organised tours of the Washing Machine Made of Beetroot exhibition on
30 October 2024, and visits to various public repair workshops in
Tartu on
2 November 2024.
The full conference programme will be published on 1 May 2024.
The conference programme involves an organised tour of the joint exhibition project Washing Machine Made of Beetroot.
This is a joint exhibition made in collaboration between the Estonian Road Museum, the Estonian Agricultural Museum, and the Tartu City Museum that deals with invention, ingenuity, recycling, and do-it-yourself mentality.
The tour takes place as an organised day trip by bus, and is available for all registered conference participants.
Story
“I made a washing machine out of beetroot" is an expression that dates to the Soviet era. At that time, people were incredibly inventive, with great craft skills. The do-it-yourself mentality was then associated with scarcity, yet today, it's in fashion. In our culture of (over)consumption, people are into creating something with their own hands as opposed to always buying new things.
Experience
Each museum explores a different topic, according to the museum’s field.
Tartu City Museum shows you what it was like to live in deprivation during the Soviet era. If what was needed was not available, people had to take the old and turn it into something new, or at least pimp it up a little bit. They made their own clothes, cosmetics, hobby equipment, and even household appliances. The City Museum has collected these stories and home-made items. Come and get some clever ideas for reusing and upcycling!
At the Estonian Road Museum, you can experience the invention and ingenuity of road workshops and private garages. Garage culture, repairing, and home-made vehicles still have a strong presence all over Estonia.
The Estonian Agricultural Museum will inspire you with horticulture and gardens, applied textiles, food preservation methods and home-made agricultural machinery. It's highly likely that in 2024 we'll be sticking our fingers into the soil to grow food.
See more about the Washing Machine Made of Beetroot joint exhibition (in English)
See more about the Washing Machine Made of Beetroot joint exhibition (in Estonian)
Visits to public workshops, 2 November 2024
The conference programme involves visits to various public repair workshops and recycling centres in Tartu.
Visits are organised, and full information about each establishment is provided by the conference organisers.
Repair workshops and recycling centres:
- Paranduskelder (Repair Basement) is a community makerspace and repair workshop run by local activists.
- Restaureerimiskesus (Renovation Centre) is a public makerspace and workshop. See more (in Estonian)
- Tartu Eksperimentaalne Jalgrattatehas (Tartu Experimental Bicycle Factory) is a public bicycle repair and maintenance workshop, and recycle centre. See more (in Estonian)
- Men`s Shed Tartu (Tartu Kuur, Meest Koda) is a public makerspace and workshop. See more (in Estonian)
- Reuse Centre (Uuskasutuskeskus) is an independent social enterprise that aims to put used locally donated household items and clothes back into circulation through 17 second-hand shops all over Estonia.
- Tartu Recycling Centre (Tartu Taaskasutuskeskus) is an NGO that aims to put locally donated household items and clothes, that can be renovated or repaired in the process, back into circulation at their second-hand shop.
- Waste Station (Jäätmejaam) is a waste management centre that provides waste management service for Tartu city. It accepts various types of waste and aims to put it into circulation as a source material; the station also accepts household items for second-hand use.