Tartu Art Museum's 'Seniors Friday' program proves popular
Lat week, the Tartu Art Museum began new a Friday program for senior citizens, giving some of the city's older residents the chance to enjoy the museum's exhibitions and discuss them with the curator.
According to Joanna Hoffmann, director of the Tartu Art Museum, the first ever "Seniors Friday" was even more popular than expected, with around 100 people taking part.
"We thought that maybe 50 people would come and if 25 came that would be nice, but there are so many now that, unfortunately, some have had to leave already because there was not enough room," said Hoffmann.
"We were already discussing the possibility of perhaps having several parallel tours of the museum at the same time, because it was a surprise to us that there was so much demand," she said.
The idea behind "Seniors Friday" is to provide an opportunity for Tartu's more mature art enthusiasts to visit the exhibitions in the museum's with the curator before sharing their impressions in a discussion group afterwards. On this occasion, they had the opportunity to visit and discuss the museum's current exhibition "Abundant Places. Wooden Architecture of Tartu in Art."
Ira and Valli, who both came to the museum for "Seniors Friday," said that it was important for them to take time for themselves.
"I still give myself treats from time to time. It really adds some spice to the day. This is one of those events, and in between there is the cinema, some concerts and the theater," said Ira.
"We're friends, so one of us says 'let's go to the cinema' or like today, 'let's come here and take a look,'" said Valli.
Tiiu, who also visited the museum on Friday, was just as happy with the event despite the large crowd. "Three of us came. I came because I have lived in Supilinn (Tartu neighborhood containing a large number of wooden buildings – ed.) myself and wanted to see the wooden architecture in the paintings," she said.
Hoffmann firmly believes, that similar events should be held in more of Tartu's cultural institutions, to provide greater opportunities for older people in the city to gather and socialize.
"I think there are too few events for older people and I hope this will fill a gap in the cultural field," she said.
The next "Seniors Friday" at the Tartu Art Museum will take place on March 31.
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Editor: Michael Cole
