“Be pretty, be mothers, bring joy to your men! Don’t try to prove to the world who knows what!”*
Motherhood — like love and other great topics and feelings — is difficult to interpret through art. Too often, it becomes overly sentimental on stage. And honestly, who really cares?
What we care about is how to remain credible after becoming mothers, and how to make parenthood a more compelling topic in the arts in general. If art is created through the lens of lived experience, and motherhood takes over all aspects of reality, then how do we continue creating? We have no desire to lobby for political parties whose goal is to increase birth rates. Rather, we want to figure out how not to become invisible, uninteresting masses as mothers. What would working with a child look like? Can we still be relied upon?
It feels like what Brigitta Davidjants described in her article “Motherhood is Uncomfortable.” It’s uncomfortable with and without children. In front of others and for others. Motherhood is a constant feeling of guilt on so many levels.
“It’s not like she can take part anyway, she has a kid.”
“It’s a pity I didn’t ask you to perform before you had the kid. That ship has clearly sailed.”
“Are you thinking of continuing to work as an artist after staying home with the kid?”
During the residency at Kanuti Gildi SAAL, we will conceptualize and experiment with ways of talking about parenthood that are relatable even for people who are not parents. We will experiment with elements from our everyday lives and turn them into bodily and visual works of art, without becoming overly sentimental ourselves. Or then again — becoming EXTRA sentimental. We will read and write and make plans. We will take kids to work and see whether we make it to work at all.
*Urmas Sõõrumaa, 2025, Kanal 2 “Silmast silma”
Ave Vellesalu is a contemporary artist and musician based in Tallinn. She studied photography and new media at the Estonian Academy of Arts and completed an exchange programme in the Sibelius and Visual Arts departments at the University of the Arts Helsinki.
Vellesalu’s work focuses primarily on contemporary social conflicts and environmental issues, often through robotics-based and curated kinetic spatial installations. These installations are frequently complemented by photography, video, and sound. In her practice, the artist seeks to reconcile the organic with the sterile while finding a place for herself among domesticated natural elements.
Ave Vellesalu is also a sound artist and one half of the electronic music duo Vera Vice.
Keithy Kuuspu (born 1994) is an Estonian artist working across performance art, choreography, visual art, and ceramics. Her work explores everyday structures and the influence of society on the individual, often through an ironically naive approach. A central aspect of her practice is the fusion of performance and visual art, alongside an ongoing search for connections between the body and material.
Residency is supported by Estonian Cultural Endowment.
