You Will Change Your Mind

In preparation for the exhibition, Maria Kapajeva conducted several interviews with women who, for one reason or another, have decided not to have children. The audio installation “You Will Change Your Mind” consists of sentences by the interviewees, which have been used almost daily to pressure them to have children. Is it really that bad, you might think, to get asked at a wedding or a family reunion, “When will you have kids then?”

Yet, over the months and years, such individual remarks accumulate into a flood. Even if no-one says anything, these accusations still hammer in your head. Considering the local context, the installation also includes sentences by Estonian politicians added here and there between anonymous quotations. The work features men and women speaking Estonian, English and Russian to illustrate that all people in every cultural space have to withstand similar pressure.