Inspire a More Conscious Tomorrow Together!
VIVITA’s collaboration with a good next door neighbour Fotografiska Tallinn photographic art center has lasted almost a year. Despite all the obscure times in the world we still have managed to undertake several exciting projects together. To celebrate this we put together the highlights and eloquent photo material.
Fotografiska Tallinn — 1!
When Fotografiska Tallinn invited VIVITA to be part of their children’s program as a starting point for the birthday celebrations, we figured it would be proper to inspire from the letter “F” as it is on Fotografiska logo.
We reused the leftover materials from earlier Fotografiska exhibitions and made blanks with the help of the laser cutter. Children glued them together into multifaceted spatial shapes. Moreover — children used the leaflets from the previous season and turned them into collages and different decorations.
But we did not confine ourselves to that — kids also fastened up and painted over gigantic F-letters made from plywood. Those jumbos and their smaller kinsmen could be seen at the Fotografiska backyard, on the Fotografiska cafe tables and in the interior.
4x3x20
During the summer months we decided to do something totally new — we arranged four different, 3-day-long STEAM-themed summer camps in a row, each of them having 20 kids participating. The STEAM-activities were intertwined with activities in Fotografiska and through this children were able to discover the exciting world of photography and get to know the principles of zero-waste lifestyle when it comes to food. The latter meaning that the kitchen uses each and every bit of raw materials. Those parts that are not suitable to send to the table will be sent to compost that Fotografiska uses in its turn to grow food again.
Hearing about the zero-waste mindset made children look at the whole food preparation process from a totally different angle. During lunch breaks in Fotografiska cafe the kids could take as much food as they thought they would eat and take some extra when they felt like it. Kids could also meet one of the cafeteria’s best friends — besides the customers, of course — the compost machine and everyone could take home the compost from their lunch leftovers. Based on the parents’ feedback, children’s impressions from everything heard and seen were so deep that kids were very eager to start the zero-waste mindset also at home.
In addition to the yummy lunch breaks there were quite a lot other engaging activities in Fotografiska during VIVITA summer camps. For example an enormous Rube Goldberg machine got a high start from the balcony of the 6th floor of Fotografiska building. It’s not really so common that a rope is pulled down from their terrasse and it that starts a vast chain reaction machinery that covers the whole city square in Telliskivi Creative City.
There was also a fashion show in Fotografiska cafe where children had the opportunity to proudly present their own designed and made fashion collections and kids could also practise graffiti art right in the Fotografiska backyard.
Between the super active camp activities there was also a moment to sit back and enjoy an exhibition called “Waterproof heart” by Lithuanian photo artist Ignas Pavliukevičius. What made this exhibition so special was the fact that it was the first time where instead of photography art there was a projection of a 3D avatar in Fotografiska.
Fotografiska Tallinn’s exhibitions and food program curator Elo Aun commented: “Our bigger goal in Fotografiska is to inspire more conscious tomorrow and who else than children and youth who are creating and shaping the future. Children are also a very good indicator for understanding if we are doing it right as if the food is not tasty and exhibitions do not address, then there is definitely something wrong. Luckily kids liked it and we enjoyed a lot all the energy and the joy that filled our building.”
We hope that these kind of collaborations between children and organizations will become a norm. VIVITA is so happy that what children say and think is heard and taken into consideration. That means that we are on the right path with our mission. By giving children possibilities to be part of something that matters to them and hearing their voice, we can see them growing up to be confident, brave and smart future founders.
Thank you Fotografiska for inspiring collaboration and for believing in the next generation!
Text and photos by Sigrid Kägi/VIVITA Estonia
