EXHIBITION // Audiovisual installation “äftekas” by Trevor Kinna and Silver Tsäko

You’ve reached the afters. Tired and sluggish, you find yourself listening to friends recount their night. They’re all plants and they’re talking a little weird. You are a plant too, so you don’t mind. The memories are fragmented and it’s hard to remember how you got here.

The installation explores various facets of nightlife. Themes of belonging, vulnerability, and escapism intertwine to create an environment that is simultaneously liberating and performative, public and anonymous, safe and unsafe.

As dusk falls, the greenhouse transforms into a vibrant party space where three plant characters—the central figures of the installation—attempt to piece together their memories. These characters are species under Estonian natural conservation laws: the alpine butterwort, the lady's-slipper orchid, and the Siberian iris. Much like these plants, nightlife requires favorable conditions, communities, and symbiotic relationships to truly flourish.

Texts and poetry collected through an open call were incorporated into the voices and fragmented memories of the plant characters.

As part of the exhibition, a panel discussion on nightlife, its safety and responsibility will take place on September 12th at 19:00, in collaboration with the Estonian Centre for Anthropology.

Further information coming soon!

Special thanks for your support and assistance: Aparaaditehas, Andreas Tukmann, Estonian Centre for Anthropology, EKA Department of New Media and Animation. Voices of the plant characters: Gertrud Kinna, Kreete Kõster, Silver Tsäko. Authors of the texts: Brina (fekonja), Grete Kaio, hedy, hedvig, helo, Kairi Joasaar, lilla lukács, Lyza Jarvis, musthabe, Pruudel, Sigrid Salundo

The installation can be viewed from the outside and is free for everyone to visit. English subtitles are available. The exhibition is part of the open culture platform of Aparaaditehas.

-Silver Tsäko is a young sculptor, an alumnus of the Sculpture Department at Pallas University of Applied Sciences, and—starting this autumn—a first-year student of Contemporary Art MA at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Silver’s sculptural practice explores themes of longing, the passage of time, identity, and youth culture through a queer lens.

-Trevor Kinna is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice combines animation, sound and digital media with installative forms. His work engages with questions of power, participation and belonging within social and ecological systems, often bringing queer and posthuman perspectives into tension with structures of control, vulnerability and care. His work has been presented in group exhibitions and artistic residencies.

Opening 4.09 at 19:00                          4.09 - 24.09.2026                            The exhibition activates every day after sunset              Aparaaditehas courtyard, white greenhouse, Kastani 42, Tartu