Inherited Absence

The embroidery on these six long pieces of fabric depicts lands that once belonged to Maria Kapajeva’s family in the Narvataguse region. Kapajeva based part of the imagery on a map drawn in the 1930s, originally attached to documents proving ownership of the plots of land. During the Soviet era, the properties were nationalised. After the restoration of the Republic of Estonia, the same documents later enabled members of the family to obtain Estonian citizenship. The plans of the house and garden were copied from drawings most likely made by Kapajeva’s grandfather when he put the property up for sale.

According to Maria, when she first looked at these drawings, the lost house came vividly to life in her imagination, down to the smallest detail. Many of the photographs she has of her late grandmother were taken there, against the backdrop of the apple trees growing in the garden. Handicrafts often depict places, events, or people that hold significance within a family’s history. In their form, these fabrics also resemble kitchen or hand towels, traditionally included in a woman’s dowry. But what should such textiles depict when the place no longer exists, one’s ancestors remain unknown, and the idea of a dowry has lost its meaning?