26.3.2025 | Culture

Flo Kasearu exhibition redefines boundaries

Text Susanna Poikela
Photos Flo Kasearu, Krõõt Tarkmeel, 
Stanislav Stepashko, Kalev Lilleorg

“Chaos Patrol” (2021)

Flo Kasearu is one of Estonia’s most outspoken female artists, and her exhibition, “BANANA—Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone”, subtitled “Not in My Backyard”, opened at the Kai Art Centre on 22 March. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on themes of land use, inclusion, and exclusion. The exhibition is curated by Kari Conte.

The exhibition encourages visitors to delve deeper into urban and rural development, reflects upon the importance of citizen participation and the formation of local values, as well as questions related to property rights. Flo Kasearu once again gives food for thought with her exhibition and asks us all: what are the role and responsibility of local residents when construction projects begin to shape the surrounding environment, and invade our own backyards?

“For me as an artist, this is a multi-layered, controversial, and also very interesting topic. There is constant pressure on development, and we often think that everything necessary and related to it should happen somewhere else, and far away from us. At the same time, we want our everyday lives to be smoother. Sometimes everything happens so quickly that there is not enough time to assess the situation or even report on the changes, and then resistance arises,” Kasearu describes the background to the exhibition.

“People often fall into two camps when it comes to these issues: NIMBYs, or ‘Not In My Backyard’, and YIMBYs, or ‘Yes In My Backyard’. Some see development as a threat or negative change, while others see it as an opportunity that is beneficial to society, even though in reality it is not always beneficial to everyone,” says exhibition curator Kari Conte.

The exhibition has created an imaginary, yet also real world, where notices are posted on the walls, surveillance is effective, power lines are down, familiar landscapes have disappeared, gigantic buildings rise towards the clouds, and neighbours are at odds with each other and their environment.

The exhibition features over 50 works, including many created especially for this exhibition as well as some previous works that have never been exhibited in Estonia before. Installations, paintings, videos, photographs, and sculptures offer visual, auditory, and tactile experiences.

Multi-award winning Flo Kasearu (b. 1985) graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2013, and has also studied in Rebecca Horn’s studio at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. Her works are seasonal and exploratory, often with a playful undertone. Flo Kasearu boldly uses irony to address grassroots issues, such as the juxtaposition of public and private space, and the relationship between the monumental and the temporally ephemeral. Her work has also been seen at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. She often prefers to present her works outside of traditional gallery spaces, such as at the Shelter Festival (2018), and at the Pärnu Women’s Shelter.

Flo Kasearu lives in her family’s old wooden house in Pelgulinna, Tallinn. Her home also houses a home museum, which you can visit by booking an appointment here. In addition, if you are interested in enjoying the sauna in the authentic courtyard of an artist, that is also possible.

Flo Kasearu’s solo exhibition is open at the Kai Art Centre until 3 August. You can find more information about the art exhibition here.