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 full programme involves organised tours of the Washing Machine Made of Beetroot exhibition on 30 October 2024, and visits to various public workshops and a community garden in Tartu on 2 November 2024.

Please see the ABSTRACT BOOK (PDF).

PROGRAMME

30/10/2024

Exhibition Tour

11:00-17:30

Tour of the Washing Machine Made of Beetroot joint exhibition project

19:00-22:00

Opening reception at the Tartu City Museum


31/10/2024

Academic programme at the Estonian National Museum

9:00-10:00

Registration, coffee and tea

10:00-10:15

Welcome Address

10:15-11:45

Keynote

  • Steven J. Jackson (Cornell University), Broken World Thinking: Maintenance, Repair, Hope

11:45-12:00

Coffee and tea

12:00-13:30

Session 1


Museums and Sustainability

  • Tiina Paavola (The Historical Museums of Tampere), Reuse, Recycle or Sale? Good Practice in the Use of Deaccessioned Textiles

  • Katrīna Kūkoja (Latvian Museum of Literature and Music), Elīna Kursīte (Latvian Museum of Literature and Music) and Leonarda Ķestere (Latvian Museum of Literature and Music), Preservation for the Future: Aligning Museum Policy with Sustainability Goals

  • Theodora Năstasie (National Museum of the Romanian Peasant), Table Display Case to Office Desk to Artefact: Assigning Uses to the Material Legacy of Former Socialist Museums

  • Magdalena Puchberger (Volkskundemuseum) and Ana Salvador (House of European History), History of Waste: Stories of Re-Use and Sustainability, a Cooperation Project on a European Level

Renovation and Repair 1

  • Daniela Moisa (Université du Québec à Rimouski) and Iurie Stamati (Université du Québec à Rimouski), Vernacular Houses, Repair and Community Building in Quebec, Canada

  • Iida Kalakoski (Tampere University), Building Repair As a Learning Process

  • Sigrun Thorgrimsdottir (University of Gothenburg), Byggnadsvård: Mobilising Alternative Narratives of Building Care

Resilient Community Practices

  • Sunna Kovanen (Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg) and Lilian Pungas (University Duisburg-Essen; Friedrich Schiller University Jena), On Babushkas and Post-capitalism: Theorising Diverse Economies from the Global East

  • Lilian Pungas (University Duisburg-Essen; Friedrich Schiller University Jena) and Bianka Plüschke-Altof (University of Tartu; Tallinn University), Same, Same but Different? The ‘Right’ Kind of Gardening and the Negotiation of Neoliberal Urban Governance in the Post-socialist City

  • Dagmar Narusson (University of Tartu), Anneli Kährik (University of Tartu), Aet Annist (University of Tartu), Bianka Plüschke-Altof (University of Tartu) and Lilian Pungas (University of Tartu), Community Garden As a Citizen Space: Analysing the Transformative Potential of Emajõe Garden in Tartu

  • Saara Mildeberg (Tallinn University), Lilian Pungas (University of Duisburg-Essen; Friedrich Schiller University Jena) and Annela Samuel (Tallinn University), Building Bridges with Gardeners' Day: A Tribute to Overlooked Food Self-Provisioning Practice through Transdisciplinary Dialogue and Co-creation

13:30-14:30

Lunch

14:30-16:00

Session 2


Repair and Reuse Communities 1

  • Rachel Smith (Repair Shop) and Sam Bennett (Repair Shop; Eindhoven University of Technology), How Mending Survives: Repair and the Role of Communal Knowledge Exchange

  • Isabel Ordóñez (Elisava School of Design and Engineering; Central University of Catalonia), Fixoteket: Neighbourhood Spaces for Reuse, Repair and Community

  • Thomas Meyer (Goethe Institute Czech Republic), The Green Side of Libraries

  • Lauri Mei (Paranduskelder), How to Empower Repair in a Local Community

Crafts, Heritage and Materials 1

  • Ave Matsin (University of Tartu), Local Natural Craft Materials for Resilience

  • Asimina Kouvara (Tallinn University of Technology), Vernacular Practices As a Catalyst for Sustainability: The Case of the Pokari Project (Wool)

  • Madis Rennu (University of Tartu) and Andres Rõigas (University of Tartu), Fieldwork Notes through the Eyes of a Craftsman: Economic Interests, Local and Cultural Cooperation in the Intentional Communities of Southern Estonia

Renovation and Repair 2

  • Rūta Šmite (The Ziedonis Museum) and Una Vindberga (The Ziedonis Museum), Summerhouse As A Manifest Of Sustainability

  • Timothy Meek (University of Stirling), Vicky Flintoff (University of York) and Kate North (English Heritage), Lime Finishes: What’s the Point?

  • Aljona Gineiko (Estonian Academy of Arts), Considering Using Historical Wood Waste in Restoration through 3D Printing

  • Amelia Allen and Timothy Meek (University of Stirling), Fractured Fabrics: Exposing the Core of a Building to Reclaim Lost Knowledge and Inform on Modern Approaches

16:00-16:30

Coffee and tea

16:30-18:00

Session 3


Repair and Reuse Communities 2

  • Frazen Tolentino-Zondervan (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) and Willem van Winden (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), Towards the Circular Management of Construction and Demolition Waste

  • Willem van Winden (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) and Isabel Ordóñez (Elisava School of Design and Engineering & Central University of Catalonia), Can Urban Resource Centers Help Us Re-Use CDW?

  • Iiris Tähti Toom (Spatialist Studio) and Henri Kopra (Spatialist Studio), Meanwhile in Kopli

  • Rakel Jónsdóttir (University of Iceland), Empathfridges: A Story of Freedges and Invisible Family Members

Crafts, Heritage and Materials 2

  • Thomas O'Dell (Lund University) and Lizette Gradén (Lund University), The Revitalisation of Cultural Heritage and Traditional Crafts: Lessons Learned from a Master Thatcher

  • Débora Paulino (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro), Sustainable Applications of Industrial Hemp through a DIY Approach

  • Mathilde Frances Lind (Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts), Artefacts or Living Tools? Dilemmas in the Conservation and Use of Antique Textile Equipment

Workshop

  • Hanna Korhonen (National Museum of Finland), My Heritage Box

18:00-20:00

Tours of the Estonian National Museum`s permanent exhibitions Encounters, and Echo of the Urals



01/11/2024

Academic programme at the Estonian National Museum

9:00-9:30

Registration, coffee and tea

9:30-11:00

Keynote

  • Tomás Errázuriz (Universidad Andrés Bello) and Ricardo Greene (Universidad de las Américas), Care, Adapt, Survive

11:00-11:30

Coffee and tea

11:30-13:00

Session 4


Repair and Mending 1

  • Ren Ewart (University of Groningen), Sampling Samplers: Mending Heritage and Artistic Practice

  • Maris Taul, Exploring Traditional Textile Repair Techniques in Estonian Peasant Culture: Insights from the 19th and Early 20th Centuries

  • Tenno Teidearu (Estonian National Museum), The Changing Meanings of Repair in Estonia: From Necessity to Sustainability

  • Dominic Brownell (University of Hertfordshire), Repair and Reuse in the Mass Consumption of Cars in Britain, 1950-2010

Design and Arts

  • Danielle Keller Aviram, Precious Minerals Can Never Become Waste

  • Amy Schwartzott (North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University), Recuperating Object Materiality: Recycling in Contemporary Mozambican Art

  • Evgeniya Grafskaya, Modern Papermaking: Combining Sustainability, Budget and Art

  • Kateriin Rikken, Junk Glass: A Playful Source for the Glass Artist

DIY Culture

  • Gábor Kőszegi (Museum of Ethnography) and Tamás Móser (Museum of Ethnography), Objects Born of Lack: Peculiar Object Making Practices in Hungary during State Socialism

  • Mari-Liis Tammiste (Estonian Agricultural Museum), New Materials and Old Techniques: How Hay Baling Twine and Other Synthetic Materials Were Adapted into Crafting Supplies from the Late 1960s to the 1980s

  • Madis Vasser and Maria Muuk, Terra Low Tech Theme Park

  • Robertho Miguel Paredes Coral (University of Tartu), Visual Narratives of the Forest and Tambopata Amazonian Cosmovision

13:00-14:00

Lunch

14:00-15:30

Session 5


Repair and Mending 2

  • Marium Durrani, A Felt(-ed) Repair: Unveiling the ‘M’ of Mending

  • Anna-Maria Saar, The Fear of Disappearance

  • Wendy Ward (Sheffield Hallam University), EveryWear: Embracing Visible Wear through a Daily Hand Sewing Practice

Fashion and Sustainability

  • Maria Rojko Nisu (Estonian Academy of Arts), DIY Sneakers

  • Joelle Jackson (Indiana University), Sustainable Consumption and Expressive Practice: Perspectives from a North American Thrift Store

  • Reet Aus (Estonian Academy of Arts), UPMADE Certified Upcycled and Recycled Products: Digital Solutions

  • Maria Kristiin Peterson (Estonian Fashion Festival), Supporting Sustainability in the Fashion Industry: Models and Initiatives

Degrowth

  • Madis Vasser (Degrowth Estonia), Every Problem Does Not Need a High Tech Solution

  • Riinu Lepa (Tallinn University of Technology), Work Time Reduction As a Potential Instrument for Sustainable Communities

  • Marta Konovalov (Estonian Academy of Arts) and Jane Remm (Estonian Academy of Arts), From Sowing Confusion to Dialogical Co-Creation: Artistic and Designer Practices, and Creative Methods for Meaningful Engagement with Nature and Resilient Ways of Doing

15:30-16:00

Coffee and tea

16:00-17:30

Workshop session


Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto (University of Jyväskylä), Touching As Mediator: Embodied Knowledge of Sustainable Relationships with Things

Marium Durrani and Lucie Hernandez (Royal College of Art), Experiencing Repair: Applying a Repair Toolkit to Foster Social Innovation through Garment Mending Practices

Teele Pehk (Degrowth Estonia), Andra Jelle (Degrowth Estonia), Maria Muuk (Degrowth Estonia) and Diana Matejuk (Degrowth Estonia), Circular Economy and Degrowth: One Cannot Do Without the Other


Agnes Aljas (Estonian National Museum) and Reet Mägi (University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), Fostering Sustainable Practices in Organisations: Case Study of the Green Museum Label


Débora Paulino (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro), Workshop: Sustainable Applications of Industrial Hemp through a DIY Approach

17:45-18:45

Tours of Estonian National Museum`s permanent exhibition Encounters

19:00-00:00

Ending gala at the Estonian National Museum


02/11/2024

Tour to Public Initiatives in Tartu

11:00-15:00

Visits to public workshops, community garden and Foodsharing network in Tartu

15:00-16:30

Lunch at Aparaaditehas

17:00-18:30

Public film screening at Elektriteater

  • Rakel Jónsdóttir (University of Iceland), Empathfridges

  • Asimina Kouvara (Tallinn University of Technology), Τzoumakers: A Mountainous Community of Open Source Technologies


 Please see the ABSTRACT BOOK (PDF).


Tour of the exhibition, 30 October 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 workshops, community garden and Foodsharing network in Tartu.
Visits are organised, and information about each establishment is provided by the conference organisers.

Visits to the following initiatives and institutions are in the programme: