Understanding sense of place, pride in where you dwell. What makes one love surroundings? Are one willing to put in work to better place around? Is it sense of community? What are cultural differences between deep deep countryside of Latvia and Estonia?
This journey started from my idea to create my own fabric but to learn full cycle of how fabric is made: starting from the soil and seed, but it all became a much bigger project in understanding rural areas in Latvia and Estonia, as I am traveling between these two countries I was startled to learn how different Latvian and Estonia cultures are seemingly living similar lives and doing same things like farming, but how culture can make life-styles appear distinctive. I traveled though farm lands and farms how they are visually are set up tell this story: from colours of the buildings to choice of cattle and crop in my eyes is manifestation of culture and at the same time interaction with environment and how nature shapes them both: the way of interaction and culture itself n countryside.
Farming once pride of the region has somehow become an embarrassing life style having poverty and' ‘being backward’ connotations, often compared to Deep South of America and Redneck culture. But as more I learn about regenerative agriculture and how to deal with climate crises these are areas are the most important: food production holds key to healthier people and well as healthier environment. Changes made in farming can not only provide that but also restore damaged soil and deal with some of the pollution in other words restore some of the land, as well as biodiversity living off it. But for that people living in country-side should regain their dignity and simply be able to make living.
Below are video dairy of 350km I cycled from small town in Latvia: Preili, passed biggest lake in Latvia Lubans, through farmlands, forests and over gravel roads (serving as business card of the region) into Estonia where roads are significantly better, that gives the sense of being connected to the rest of ‘civilisation’ even if you are among deep forest, where in Latvia I had feeling of unease and some degree of fear that I am in the middle of nowhere and if my bike breaks or I get injured it will be very difficult to get to the nearest town, I imagine people living in these parts also have sense of being far from the rest of the country and being left behind maybe even forgotten.
I experienced divergence when arriving at the capital of culture and education: Tartu. Typical sense of being in the city where people are trying to forget they are fed by the farmer just outside it’s borders living very different pace of life, experiencing mostly natural cycles and less of man-made environment. And even greater dissimilitude to country-life when passing through Tallinn to Hiiumaa island. Where in countryside there is sense of ever perishing human footprint, being overtaken by nature, composting, over growing and decay vs city’s environment where on contrary places like galleries and museums, makes all the effort to preserve human intellect expression, save it for next generations, this action seams unnatural as biology in natural world recycles: from decay comes something new (but that it if we consider ourselves separate from nature, if we don’t then our tendency to materialise our inner worlds and preserve is also part of natural cycle!?)
Stay at sheep farm with Merike
Who and how is growing fashion from Hiiumaa?
The idea to travel and stay with a sheep farmer in Hiiumaa came after a scholarship at hemp farm Obelisk in Latvia/Latgale, where I learned all about growing and processing hemp plant, including making it into fibre. As would like to create my own natural fabric for use on outdoor structures like yurts I discovered that hemp fibre on it’s own would be difficult for me to make a weatherproof without undergoing heavy industrial processing, but mixing it with sheep’s wool might just do the trick (felt fabric and sheep skins itself has a long tradition in being used as covers for shelters, but i would like to be using less of the animal products and bulking up the felted material with plant fibres). To am aware of all the processes involved in raising sheep and understanding how this raising sheep for wool would fit in terms of regenerative agriculture i wanted to find out every step of the way how it is done on the very small farm run by retired forest ranger Merike. But as you might guess living with someone is not just a emotionless learning experience, it’s also getting to know person, daily life and the life story. When living in small farm like that every apple, every carrot, every tomato matters, there are no food waist it can either be eaten by sheep, cats or preserved for winter.
Textures of Hiiumaa
I had the honours to join in with elderly bus excursion around South of Hiiumaa. To my surprise discovered a weavings of traditional Estonian colours by the region done by people of the specific region for Estonia as country centenary celebration few years back (displayed at Suuremõisa manor house, now vocational school), There was regions which I traveled through on my bike. We also went to Soera farm museum, few churches including abandoned Paluküla church.
