Panel discussion at Annika Haas’ exhibition Greenhouse Effect
Annika Haas. Sarah and Ella. From the art project Greenhouse Effect. 2019
The Documentary Photo Centre is presenting an audiovisual art project Greenhouse Effect based on a long-term photographic study by photographer Annika Haas. It portrays the younger generation of Estonia, destined to resolve in the future the many hardships related to overconsumption, senseless waste and the hostile exploitation of nature. The young people involved in the exhibition are concerned with the future of planet Earth and are trying to point out to the older generation that a world oriented towards endless consumption culture and economic growth cannot be sustainable.
For three years, the photographer has captured representatives of the younger generation of Estonia and interviewed them on environmental issues to highlight their views and their awareness concerning consumption, nature conservation and personal contributions on how to reduce our ecological footprint. Haas decided to take the photographs in a landscape on the outskirts of Tallinn – a former gardening cooperative, where an apocalyptic atmosphere is created by many abandoned and disintegrating greenhouses.
The exhibition experience starts already from the square next to the Documentary Photo Centre where Elo Liiv and Uko-Aija Heintalu have built a greenhouse made of recyclable materials according to Annika Haas’ vision and where on the glass panels are exhibited portraits of the young environmentalists. The portraits form a symbiotic relationship with the plants in the greenhouse.