25.04-17.05.2026
“If Clothes Could Talk…” is a photo series that brings to light the untold stories of people with life
experience and creates a new dialogue between generations and cultures. The exhibition’s title is
a symbol of quiet memories and an unspoken promise that the story behind every old coat, dress,
or hat is worth hearing. In the wardrobes of many elderly people hang garments – such as a
wedding dress from their youth or a woolen sweater knitted by an aunt – that hold a lifetime’s worth
of memories.
“If Clothes Could Talk…” is a joint visual narrative from Finland and Estonia that brings these
memories to life through photographs, sound and text. In the exhibition, representatives from the
two neighboring countries share their stories through clothing or accessories that hold special
meaning for them.
The exhibition is traveling from the Museum of New Art in Pärnu to Oulu as part of the European
Capital of Culture program, and to Canada next year.
I see clothes as vessels carrying messages through time. They hold memories, emotions, and lives
within them. These days I’m wearing sweaters that belonged to my mother and father, which they
wore when they were my age. A part of their history is woven into the yarn of these sweaters, and it
is now intertwining with my own. I love and cherish these items all the more for it, and to me, they
are much more than just pieces of clothing.
I feel how important it is to preserve memories and stories from people’s lives. As this idea has
taken shape, several people have passed away whose stories I would have liked to capture.
Sometimes, the driving force is the realization that the layers of human life in this world are not
endless and that time is limited.
Concept creator for the exhibition, Alli-Liis Vandel
Supporters: Eesti-Soome Kultuurifond, Oulu Culture Foundation, Eesti Rahvuskultuuri Fond
