Marge Monko: A Human is Born 06/10/2026 – 04/04/2027

The exhibition takes as its starting point themes related to family planning and their visual representation during the Soviet period. The widely held saying “There is no sex in the USSR” aptly characterises the attitudes of the time towards both discussing intimate relationships and bringing up children.

Born in 1976, Marge Monko is part of a generation raised according to the principles set out in Benjamin Spock’s handbook Your Baby. This work by the American paediatrician, first published in 1946 and translated into Estonian in 1976 (originally titled Baby and Child Care) encouraged parents to trust themselves and take into account the individual needs of the child. Both this book and the handbook Frankly About Marriage (by Martti Paloheimo, Mauri Rouhunkoski and Mirja Rutanen), translated from Finnish a couple of years earlier, provided readers with up-to-date information and helped to break down taboos surrounding family life.

Monko’s installation, comprised of wall graphics and photographs, presents viewers with images found in archives and handbooks that characterise intimate life and the strict medicalisation associated with it in the Soviet Union.

Curator: Eda Tuulberg
Graphic design: Tuuli Aule
Coordinator: Magdaleena Maasik