Bagage Cabine

The starting point of the show is personal contact between people and with places. The idea is to enliven cultural exchange, discover new creation that is linked with the locations: 

France and Estonia. The original idea was also to connect artists in the format of a sustainable international exhibition in which artists and curator come to install and open the show with their works in their hand luggage. However, the situation has changed: flights between France and Estonia have been cancelled, and the works will arrive at Kogo Gallery by courier. The situation recalls the Estonian song “Kosmos-Maa!” (Space-Earth) – communication that takes place through electromagnetic waves without meeting each other. That song was written in 1966. It is a cover of a Western song, like many of our popular songs of that time; the Baltic states were then part of the Soviet Union, behind the so-called Iron Curtain. Nevertheless, some cultural exchange still took place, feeding our curiosity, enriching our culture and keeping alive the thirst for freedom. 

But how important is cultural exchange now and how do we keep it going? How should we travel and make contact with other cultures and places? One may also ask: what is the flow of artworks, how and where are they presented, and who looks at them? How curious are we about the current contemporary creations being developed in Europe?

BAGAGE CABINE has been completely redesigned. At the last minute, the last moment. Without the possibility of going there, the exhibition no longer has the same meaning. That’s why we decided to adapt to the constraints. To question the project, without cancelling it. 

Like a world in motion.

The artist fumbles, experiments, moves forward, stops and starts again. They absorb everything that is happening around them and move forward regardless. It is in the image of creation. Move forward in spite of everything, stay engaged with artists, institutions and viewers. It is about building and thinking together the future of the exhibition.

BAGAGE CABINE is about opening up to the other, sharing a view on the world, bringing different cultures together, and discovering. It is also related to establishing links, allowing the artists to circulate their work outside their own land, approaching questions about movement and changeability – the movement of people, works of art and cultures.

BAGAGE CABINE is the first part of a cycle of exhibitions. As in a round-trip, the shows propose an artistic exchange between two countries: France and Estonia. The first exhibition takes place at Kogo Gallery in Tartu. The show will present seven works by seven French artists: Jean Baptiste Bonhomme, Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Julien Des Monstiers, Gwendoline Perrigueux, Guilhem Roubichou, Florian Viel and Thomas Wattebled. Each and every one has a unique way of working, which stands out from the others. Seven ways of looking at the world, seven ways of addressing the viewer. Seven thoughts in motion.

The next show will be “Käsipagas / Rokas bagāžā / Rankinis bagažas“, with artists from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in France, hopefully in a situation in which actual physical contact and presence are possible.

BAGAGE CABINE – as a way of approaching questions of new mobility. Mobilities of Man, mobility of ideas, mobility of works, mobility of cultures.

BAGAGE CABINE is curated by Elodie Bernard and Liina Raus, who met at ArtVilnius19 in Vilnius. Elodie Bernard with Thomas Wattebled established contact with Tartu during their Erasmus studies at Tartu Higher Art School (now Pallas) in 2011.

Kogo Gallery’s exhibition programme is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the City of Tartu. Thanks to Urmo Teekivi, Margit Lõhmus, Art Leete, Aleksandra Samulenkova (graphic design) and the sponsors, Pühaste Brewery and Peninuki Distillery.