The exhibition “Interwoven Journeys” reflects the movements born of women’s work and care responsibilities
The exhibition “Interwoven Journeys” will open at the Tallinn People’s Museum on 19 November. It maps the everyday movements that arise from women’s work and care responsibilities. The display brings together cycling mothers in Tallinn, public transport drivers in Porto, and pedestrians in Dublin, all of whom show how the urban environment shapes women’s lives and movements.
A city is made up of countless journeys. Some are visible on the map, others are not. “Interwoven Journeys” brings visitors some of these invisible routes, focusing on women’s everyday mobility as shaped by work and care responsibilities. These journeys never run in isolation. They intertwine with one another, as well as with the opportunities and obstacles of urban space. Such intersections are at the heart of ARWUM (Artistic Research on Women’s Urban Mobilities), a project exploring women’s everyday mobilities in the city. The artists and researchers involved have created a number of sound and visual works specially for this exhibition. These include video essays about women driving public vehicles in Porto, a graphic novel about mothers cycling in Tallinn, and the experiential stories of Dublin pedestrians dealing with the boundaries and limitations that define the city.
The exhibition also sets contemporary artworks in dialogue with rare images and stories from the early history of cycling in Estonia. Alongside the creative and scholarly work, interactive installations invite visitors to reflect on their own daily journeys and to consider the connections between mobility and immobility, gender, care, and urban space.
The exhibition’s curator and artist is Aleksandra Ianchenko, the designer is Jekaterina Poltavets, and the interior designer is Aleksei Kalatšov. The exhibition features works by Maria Lindmäe, Aleksandra Ianchenko, Sarah Hoover, Vanessa Rodrigues, and Carlos Lesmes.
Biographies
Maria Lindmäe is a researcher at Tallinn University whose focus is on sensory geographies and urban space and mobility cultures that fostering caring practices. Her research project VELOCARE examines Tallinn women’s cycling from the perspectives of care and affect, in order to promote sustainable everyday mobility.
Aleksandra Ianchenko (TLU) is an artist and researcher who focuses on capturing the atmospheres of public transport, combining visual and ethnographic methods with urban and mobility studies. Her practice includes drawing, performance art, film, and other art forms through which she opens up the social and spatial experiences of everyday public transport.
Carlos Lesmes (TLU/BFM) is a film director, producer, and audiovisual artist whose work focuses on documentary film, memory, identity, and intercultural dialogue.
Vanessa Ribeiro-Rodrigues is a filmmaker, independent journalist, and lecturer at Lusófona University in Porto. Her research addresses cinematic narratives and the humanization of stories at the boundary between documentary film and journalism.
Sarah Hoover is a dramaturg, lecturer, and researcher working in digital cultures and film and media at the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. Her research focuses on interactive and participatory theatre, game-based performance art, digital humanities, and new feminist material approaches.
“Interwoven Journeys” was created through collaboration between the artists and researchers participating in the ARWUM project. The project is funded by the WIRE FilmEU call for climate-neutral and smart cities. The exhibition was chosen by public vote as the winner of the Tallinn City Museum’s “Your Museum – Your
Exhibition” competition.
The exhibition will remain open at the Tallinn People’s Museum until 18 April 2027.
- 18 November, 18:00. Exhibition opening. Visit with the artists at 19:00 (Aleksandra Ianchenko, Carlos Lesmes, Vanessa Rodrigues, Sarah Hoover).
- 3 December. Workshop and guided tour of the exhibition with Maria Lindmäe and Sara Ortiz. Sara Ortiz is one of the founders of Col.lectiu Punt 6, a feminist urban planning collective in Barcelona. For more than ten years, Col.lectiu Punt 6 has worked with Barcelona and other cities in Spain and South America to promote safer urban space. The collective takes an intersectional feminist perspective and uses co-creation methods, primarily to involve women and marginalised groups in urban planning.
- 20 January. Launch of the comic book “Brave Women Cycle” and closing event of the VELOCARE project. The authors of the book are Maria Lindmäe and Aleksandra Ianchenko. The book reflects the experiences of Tallinn women cyclists gathered during the VELOCARE project and offers a brief overview of the project’s results.
- February-March: workshops.