Maryliis Teinfeldt-Grins’ solo show “Who Remembers Last, Who Remembers Better?” at Tütar gallery opens on Thursday, January 18. The focal point of the exhibition is a five-meter-long rug created as a collaborative effort by Kadrina community, telling the story of a vanished village and hill in Lääne-Virumaa in 1977.

Koplimetsa is a historical village in Kadrina parish, established in 1877. The village disappeared in 1977 when farms were replaced by collectives, and people were resettled from farm buildings to apartments. Concurrently, changes were made to the local landscape, most notably the removal of a four-kilometer-long esker wall, Niinemäe. The gravel obtained from the hill was used for nearby military objects and the construction of the Tapa-Loobu road. This episode is not unusual in Estonian history; there are many such villages that have disappeared. The lost Koplimetsa serves as an example to narrate the story of Estonia and, more broadly, our entire region.

Maryliis Teinfeldt-Grins herself hails from this vanished village and spent her childhood immersed in its landscape. Despite growing up in Koplimetsa, the artist was not aware of the rich history of the place. Upon discovering that even the older locals, as the last memory keepers, did not pass down the traditions, the artist embarked on a research journey to restore the memory of what her homeland was like before an external power reshaped it for its needs.