A Barren Tree

After selling the house that had remained on the eastern bank of the Narva River, across the Russian border, the family bought a summer cottage near Narva. In its garden stood a barren plum tree that remained untouched for many years. A few years ago, after Kapajeva’s father died, her mother decided to have the tree cut down. The matter suddenly felt urgent, but Kapajeva still managed to be there with a camera as the tree was felled. In the video, we see her brother sawing the tree, followed later by her mother raking up the branches and leaves.
We do not know what drove or motivated the mother, and in the end, this may not be the most important question. Fruit trees are among the exhibition’s central motifs, referring not only to the family tree but also more broadly to fertility and reproduction. Maria Kapajeva is voluntarily childfree and, following the preventive removal of her breasts and ovaries due to cancer risk, also infertile. Watching the gradual disappearance of the old plum tree, one may begin to empathetically imagine what she herself sees in it. Does a person’s value lie primarily in their ability to reproduce? Does kinship ultimately outweigh companionship?