The Ajuokse community brings together all forms of alternative artists, including tattoo artists, street artists, lowbrow artists and experimental musicians. With few other opportunities to showcase their work, the community decided to open their own gallery in Tartu's Aparaaditehas.

"At the moment, we have worked mostly with Latvian, Lithuanian and Finnish artists, as well as artists from Ukraine, but we would like to expand more to those from the Nordic countries. As much as we have worked with them, we can see that there are really not so many spaces like this in the entire region, not only in Estonia," said Stina Leek, founder of the Ajuokse community and gallery.

In addition to introducing alternative artist and artworks, the gallery also aims to attract new people to experience art.

"Because we take ourselves with a pinch of salt and this is the kind of art that perhaps is a bit more accessible, so, people will be brave enough to consume this work. Hopefully we can become a small step on the way to the next art institution," said Leek.

The gallery's first exhibition visualises the essence of community through the work of artists from different countries. Exactly what it is that characterizes a community is initially explained to the viewer using visual language. The exhibition features one work by street artist Kairo in particular that speaks of human relationships.

"In the cities of today, loneliness is a really big problem, and very many people's relationships do not function that well. There are people in my circle who have somehow managed to hack it but it's a challenge to find people who share their needs widely with lots of people. I saw one of these videos and I was struck by the composition. So, I then used that idea as a basis for how people today invent relationships in ways that work while the world is burning around them," Kairo said.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!