Book a Private Art Tour for Your Team!

In September and October, we offer a special opportunity to join your group on the Route Diverse art tour! The tour “Explore the periphery!” is perfect for both companies and non-profit organisations, for example, for team events or to enrich the social part of training programs. It’s also great for larger groups looking for an exciting activity!

Who is the art tour suitable for? Adults who want to experience life and culture in Southern Estonia from a new and unexpected perspective. Children are also welcome to join the tour!
Group size: Up to 50 people. The group size is limited by the capacity of the bus.
Time: In September and the first half of October (exact time to be arranged).
Route and duration: Valga train station–Ähijärve–Hargla–Valga train station. The entire program lasts 3.5 hours.
Cost: €550 per art tour (up to 50 people).
In Southern Estonia (depending on the location), it is possible to arrange, for an additional fee, to start and/or finish the tour somewhere other than Valga.
Other possibilities: We have a good network of local caterers and, if desired, we can help organize catering as well.

What is Route Diverse?

Route Diverse is a unique art experience that is part of the main program of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024. It invites you to explore the peripheries of being human and to experience the world from a new, even surprising, perspective.

Note: At the end, you’ll find some media coverage, including video material that provides a better understanding of the art program.

Bus ride as an art experience

Latvian performing artist Laima Jaunzema has designed both the bus interior and the time spent there, so that the bus ride becomes more than just covering a distance – it becomes a unique experience. Laima’s work explores what it takes for a space to feel like home. The bus also provides a place for the audience to rest and reflect after their adventures in the periphery. But most importantly – this bus is not just a bus but also one of the storytellers in the Route Diverse art program. The time spent on the bus weaves together the experience of a tour, a performance, and an exhibition.

Ähijärve – Experience a sense of home as an insect or bird

Jane Remm’s spatial installation in Ähijärve, Karula National Park, invites you to discover what non-human beings – birds, insects, fish – consider home. The exhibition offers visitors the chance to crawl into human-sized nests and burrows and experience life as it might appear to a bird or a spider.

A great opportunity to explore ecology, interspecies relationships, and sustainable art with your team.

Hargla – Supernatural incidents of being human

The sound installation by Patrick Tubin McGinley, an artist from the USA, brings the audience to Hargla Community Culture Center, where portals to reality open for just a moment, offering our senses glimpses of the Koikküla healers (traditional healers from Southern Estonia), the spirits of ancestors hiding in Ghanaian ants, Roma grandmother stories, communication with spirits in Sri Lanka, and Cuban witch doctors. All stories have been collected from Southern Estonian people in their native languages.

An excellent opportunity to discuss the influence of cultures, talk about different languages and beliefs, and explore migration and sound art.

Valga – Heartfelt stories from strangers

Barbara Lehtna’s spatial installation explores how to live in a city where statistics suggest that no one wants to live. How do you dream of tomorrow when today seems quite bleak? The work is inspired by the artist’s long-term experience with Valga and the question of how to be happy in a seemingly random environment like an average Estonian provincial town. For the project, the artist conducted numerous interviews with strangers, approaching them on the street, at playgrounds, train stations, and cafés.

This part of the art program invites reflection on mental health, communities, and urban spaces.

Why is Route Diverse great for teams?

It’s an experiential and participatory programme. Visitors are invited to listen, watch, explore, and touch the artworks. This creates a rich and sensory experience. It’s possible to approach it playfully and experience it both individually and in small groups.

Collaboration with communities. The art programme is created in collaboration with artists and people living in Southern Estonia, including those who have lived there for generations and those who have moved to Estonia from other places (for example, from Sri Lanka, Ghana, the USA, etc.). Non-human beings have also contributed to the creation of the installations. This unique co-creative approach provides excellent topics for discussion in areas such as nature, local history, and art education. It’s an exciting view for both those familiar with Southern Estonia and those who haven’t visited much.

We customise and collaborate! We’re happy to think together with you about how to connect the art tour with your event. Feel free to reach out to us, and we’ll brainstorm together. If needed, we can also help arrange light snacks/catering.