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BUYING FEVER: CONSUMER CULTURE IN 1990s-2000s ESTONIA
Consumer spending is such an everyday phenomenon that it sometimes seems hard to notice. And yet our consumer preferences have undergone great change in just the last few decades, when Estonia went from a deficit-based economy to an age of abundance and shopping “rallies” that incite us to spend and spend some more. The exhibition entitled “Buying fever: consumer culture in 1990s-2000s Estonia” examines these very changes.
At the exhibition, you will find objects procured, obtained, even – one might say – hoarded in the 1990s, showing what we were surrounded by in the last 10 years of the last millennium. The Christmas gifts on display help us travel back through time and think about how our dream gift ideas and possibilities have changed and how their appearance and form have now changed. The symbol of the last decades is the mobile telephone, which initially stood for affluence and freedom, but now offers ways of being distinct from the masses and helping to personalise media consumers’ habits.
We will also take a look at what the media says and highlights about consumer society. Thanks to the topics covered in the press, we see that consumer behaviour is a key to understanding much more besides shopping fevers. For instance, through our choices as consumers we express our fear of change.
Finally, we will also think about intelligent consumption and what becomes of consumer goods when we no longer need them.
Along with the exhibition, a laboratory will also open its doors, which will help in the process of completing the permanent exhibitions that will open in the Estonian National Museum’s new building. The laboratory is an environment that is never finished: some of the elements in the hall do not work or will change significantly during the exhibition. At times, a team of designers, curators or educators will be on hand in the hall simultaneously with visitors. Visitors will thus also be able to take part in the process of designing the exhibition, which ordinarily takes place behind closed doors, which are opened only when the exhibition is “finished”. The exhibition laboratory will make it possible for those interested to have a peek at what the new permanent exhibitions will look like as they take shape. Visitors are also welcome to pitch in: they can express their opinion as to how specified elements are functioning (or not), and what could be done differently, among much else.
The exhibition is accompanied by theme days, workshops and a guided programme. For more information, visit the Oma Lood (Our Own Stories) website: http://omalood.edicypages.com/ (only in Estonian?)
Curators: Pille Runnel and Ehti Järv
Designers: 3+1 Architects (Andres Ojari, Markus Kaasik, Ilmar Valdur, Toomas Adrikorn, Raul Kalvo), Margus Tamm, Marko Raat.
We would like to thank: Selver AS, AS EMT, Madis Kanarbik (Nordic Council of Ministers), Estonian Public Broadcasting, Estonian Film Archives, Rühm Pluss Null, Kirsti Jõesalu, Kert Evert, Aavo Pikkof, Reet Aus, Kristel Rattus, Ellen Värv, Reet Piiri, Riina Reinvelt, Anu Ansu, Mait Kuusik, Mae Austa, Karin Konksi, Viljar Pohhomov, Helleka Koppel, Kaie Kukk, Eve Kasearu, Jane Liiv, Sigrid Lillemäe, Silvia Toomemets.
BUYING FEVER: CONSUMER CULTURE IN 1990s-2000s ESTONIA
ESTONIA. Land, People, Culture
