Flo Kasearu, Riina Maidre, Marianne Männik, Oksana Tralla-Anger: Holy Night 2

The performance “Holy Night 2” is part of the accompanying programme for Kumu Art Museum’s international exhibition “Who’s Afraid of Motherhood?” (curated by Eda Tuulberg). In Estonia’s performing arts scene, “Holy Night” is a rare long-term project. The first version of the performance premiered in 2013, and its sequel will be staged in 2027. Fourteen years lie between them—almost an entire adolescence. While the first performance centred on the question of how to remain an artist alongside motherhood, the focus now shifts to relationships with teenagers and crumbling support structures. How can we support teenagers as they search for themselves without overshadowing them with our expectations? How can we give them space when the world offers them no place? And what happens when, over the years, independence does not grow but dependence and the burden of care increase instead? The Ministry of Education, social welfare, the family doctor, the Estonian state, the cancer treatment fund, the child’s father, the care home for the elderly—could you please answer my call this time when I ring you? Or will you put me on hold again?

Flo Kasearu is an artist who lives and works in Tallinn and runs Flo Kasearu House Museum. Her works are seasonal and research-based in nature, and often have a playful starting point. Flo uses irony boldly to examine problems at grassroots level and engage with themes such as the contrasts and connections between public and private space, and between what remains monumental and what disappears with time. Mother of two.

Riina Maidre is a freelance actor, performing artist and special education teacher. She studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre’s drama school, the Estonian Academy of Arts, Amsterdam theatre school DasArts and the University of Tartu, and has worked at the Estonian Drama Theatre, Von Krahl Theatre and Tallinn French Lyceum. Her practice centres on long-term observation of people and nature, and on ways of supporting and intervening that stem from attentiveness and weave together artistic and pedagogical thinking. Class teacher and mother of one.

Marianne Männi is an artist with a diverse creative background whose path has led from ballet to visual art, music, performance and film. She has also worked as a barmaid and taxidermist, giving her experience a distinctive dimension. Alongside motherhood, tattoo art and pole dancing have entered her life, bringing together physical expression, precision and creativity. She currently teaches ballet to young gymnasts, bringing her varied experience to the movement education of the next generation. Mother of two.

Oksana Tralla-Anger is an Estonian dancer, choreographer, director and dance teacher whose work ranges from classical dance to interdisciplinary performance art. She has created performances at the Estonian National Opera and Ballet, Vanemuine Theatre, Kanuti Gildi SAAL and other venues, and has collaborated with various creative groups in Estonia and internationally. She currently works as head of the choreography programmes and associate professor of dance at Tallinn University’s Baltic Film, Media and Arts School. She is a three-time recipient of the Estonian Theatre Award and a mother of two.

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Directors and performers: Flo Kasearu, Riina Maidre, Marianne Männi, Oksana Tralla-Anger
Close family members involved in the performance: Iip, Emilia, Jakob, Mehis, Pääsu, Rafael, Vint
Artist and technical design: Tõnu Narro
Lighting designer: Anton Kulagin
Project manager: Kerly Ritval (Kanuti Gildi SAAL)
Project coordinator: Magdaleena Maasik (Estonian Art Museum – Kumu Art Museum)
Supported by: Cultural Endowment of Estonia
Co-producers: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Kumu Art Museum, Flo Kasearu, Riina Maidre, Marianne Männi, Oksana Tralla-Anger

Thanks to all former and current husbands and grandparents.