2024

group exhibition with tõnis laurson, liina pääsuke, rebeca žukovitš @ punctum gallery, tallinn

curated by kertu rannula

___A pub in a small town, where the owner stands behind the counter and the hostess works behind the stove. Every event and problem of the day is taken home to the kitchen table, and the entire workday is relived. Every customer’s lunch and the cars they arrived in are imprinted in memory.

The core clientele consists of overall-clad workers who don’t know that “pasta” means macaroni; farmers to whom the food courier (my brother) delivers 40 meal boxes every lunchtime; and elderly locals who can no longer cook for themselves. My brother brings meals to old uncles’ doorsteps and has, at times, even had to provide social care services—administering eye drops to one lady or picking up medicine from the pharmacy for another. One summer, I was the head chef and made curry, only to receive a call from the Ukrainian construction workers’ supervisor requesting less spicy food because the builders’ alcohol-worn stomachs couldn’t handle the spice. So next time, they got simple minced meat sauce.

Working at the pub in summer, I made friends with my coworkers—usually young mothers in their 30s who laugh at meeldib.ee humor but still say that when I’m there playing the fool, the day instantly gets better.

This isn’t some Irish pub where people come to drink beer and watch football—here, an old man from the neighbour village drops by in the morning to buy a shot of vodka before carrying on with his day.

Our pub is still partly stuck in the era it was born in, both in menu and interior design. Over the years, we’ve fine-tuned both, but classics like solyanka, schnitzel, and pancakes with jam have remained. The last interior renovation happened after I built the entire pub in The Sims 4 and showed my parents how it could look. They agreed, and the pub closed for several months for renovations.

Temp ja Taar offers catering and snack platters, as well as banquet and funeral tables. I’ve photographed all of this up close over the years. My parents have asked me to take pictures of the finished dishes, but I’m more interested in the composition of ingredients on the work surface.

printed on 100x200cm rollup banners