”Cultural Codes” by the OSA art collective

The project is a visual exploration into the depth of the subconscious mind of a modern young person. Based on the cultural experience of three young women with different backgrounds: Anastassia Šarõmova lived and worked in Hamburg, recently returned to Tallinn. Olga Makaronskaja from Pärnu, currently lives and works in Stockholm. Sonya Isupova from Kyiv, currently lives and works in Geneva. Two different countries, three different cities, all emigrated from their home countries. United by a post soviet background and a common language.

Living a life in our contemporary world, you have to live in that life, immersed in a particular culture. But what is a culture other than a collection of norms, rules, structures, taboos, rituals and values? What happens when you dive into a new culture, new norms and rituals, how does it affect your life, your work? How many layers of identity can one person have?

To truly understand culture’s role in shaping us, we must understand that culture is not just an inert repository of ideas and customs we all live with, but that it too is shaped by various factors. How does ones identity change and evolve with time?

This exhibition creates meditative space, where people become part of the experience by wandering through layers of cultural codes. With each new layer originating a different image of a different person of a different feeling, of a different point in the past.

Technical support: Stella Choi and Nuno Castro
Sound: Misha Panfilov 
Special thanks: Anna Makaronskaja and Roland Glukhov
Support: Cultural Endowment of Estonia