Ecosomatic tour: Bodying with places, faces and matters
On three weekends from March to May, the artist Joanna Kalm will conduct ecosomatic tours in “They Began to Talk”, an international exhibition of contemporary art on display at the Kumu Art Museum.
An ecosomatic approach involves relating to the environment through bodily experience in order to become aware of how the body’s processes are intertwined and connected with those of the environment: plants and animals, water and air, microorganisms and land. As human organisms, we have evolved through continuous engagements within our environments, manifested today in the way our sensing, moving and thinking remain grounded in relationships to our surroundings: we feel, think and move with and in particular environments.
During the ecosomatic tours, we will explore our perceptions of the boundary between ourselves and our environment through bodily exercises and dialogue. By allowing our objective and distant gaze to soften and relax, we will bring our senses and bodies into intimate contact with the surroundings. We will experiment with increasing our receptivity and porousness and experience the flow of matter within ourselves, in built objects and architecture, and in living nature. We will look back in time and our bodies: which of the past environments and experiences are still acutely resonating within?
The tour starts in Kumu’s atrium, continues mostly outdoors in Kumu’s courtyard, and culminates at the exhibition “They Began to Speak”, preparing our bodies and minds to visit the exhibition. The tour is accessible to people with limited mobility.
Duration: 30 minutes
Due to the format of the event, tickets are limited to 12 participants per tour.
We welcome participants aged 12 and up.
Joanna Kalm (b. 1992 in Estonia) is a dance artist and anthropologist. Her work focuses on deepening somatic self-awareness, embodied sense-making and designing body-friendly spaces. She holds a bachelor’s degree in choreography from Tallinn University and a master’s degree in cultural anthropology. Since 2023, she has been a PhD student and junior researcher at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
This event is part of the public programme of the exhibition “They Began to Talk” in Kumu Art Museum. “They Began to Talk” is an international group exhibition exploring the intertwinement of the body and the environment in an era marked by rapid environmental change and inequality. Sudden changes in the physical environment, often caused by human activity, can evoke mental suffering in land-based communities. Stored in the body, this trauma is passed on to future generations, who perceive it as an interruption in their relationship with their surroundings. The exhibition brings together the practices of artists working in this region with those from Indigenous communities in the Nordic countries, exploring the possibility of recovering and cultivating a sense of connection between body and land.
