Mas õs uibu manu lätsi, nii kui armsa imä manu. Uibust pudõsi valgõ häierm, minul sattõ silmävesi...
In the folkloric orphan songs the motherless child goes underneath the apple tree to lament, looking for comfort and protection. The sentence above says: I went underneath the apple tree, just like I would have gone to my lovely mother. I shed my tears, the apple tree shed its blossoms...
The content of ‘Underneath the Apple Tree’ was developed from my family’s past in South- Eastern Estonia; specifically near Izborsk in Kossolka village, which is now on the other side of Estonian border, in Russia. Although the concept of this work exemplifies the valuable and solemn nature of heritage and ethnographic material, it highlights above all the deeper principle of being human. It is inspired by life in Stalin-era Setomaa, which challenged centuries-old heritage culture, the desire for self-governance and the most humane of feelings that led many to sacrifice a lot or even everything to care for their loved ones. The search for form was based on powerful Seto necklaces with silver coins and the combination of older long-sleeved and newer fluffy-sleeved patterns of women’s shirts, so the older version became the base and the newer became the top layer. ‘Underneath the Apple Tree’ is a tribute to care and humanity in its most mundane form. The piece is about the paradoxicality of my great-grandmother’s life and how she managed to maintain her humanity. The maiden name of my great- grandmother was Ubinapuu, which in English would be an Apple tree. Apple tree is also a folkloric symbol of motherhood. To keep her children alive she had to exchange and sell all of her hõpõkraam - a set of silver coins worn as jewellery considered to be the source of a Seto woman’s pride and protection. Giving away pieces of her protection in order to safeguard the children. Spoons symbolise the missed meals in whose name she exchanged all of material goods.