The Indian contemporary artist Pankaj Tiwari brings a tent school to the Kumu courtyard, where participants will learn about solidarity over 12 days
In keeping with the motto of the Kumu Art Museum’s 20th anniversary, Kumu Brings People Together, the artist Pankaj Tiwari’s TENT: School for Performative Practices will take place in Kumu’s courtyard from 9–20 May. The programme Rehearsals for Solidarity, taking place in and around the tent school, teaches participants about togetherness and collaboration.
Pankaj Tiwari is an artist, writer and curator from Balrampur, India, who works primarily in the field of performing arts. He is based in Amsterdam and holds a master’s degree in theatre and curating from the DAS Theatre School in Amsterdam. Since 2026, he has been working at the international art centre CAMPO in Ghent.
TENT: School for Performative Practices is a wall-less institution created by Pankaj Tiwari, and its architectural form inherently supports inclusivity. The tent school programme includes performances, workshops, reading circles, lectures and much more. Each event contributes in its own way to the development of collaborative skills. Cooking and eating together also play an important role at the tent school, which is why food and warm drinks accompany nearly every activity.
“The global challenges affecting our lives have become so great that we need to collaborate to address them. At the same time, we are facing an increasingly polarised society, which in turn reduces our ability to cooperate. This is precisely what the programme Rehearsals for Solidarity addresses – seeking common ground in an era when finding it seems increasingly difficult,” said the programme curator, Frederik Klanberg.
The tent school opens on Saturday, 9 May, at 3 pm. The opening will be followed by a dinner. During the evening, Pankaj Tiwari will present his artistic practice and the programme Rehearsals for Solidarity.
Among other events, the programme will feature the artist Ming Zhu’s performance OOOcarina on Monday, 11 May, at 4 pm., which invites participants to slow down and become aware of their breathing, their bodies and the ground beneath them.
On Saturday, 16 May, during Museum Night, the tent school will be part of the Kumu Art Museum’s programme. In addition to discussions on cultural education, the Belgian choreographer Michiel Vandevelde will perform in the Kumu courtyard with a piece created in collaboration with local dancers and other movement enthusiasts. Anyone wishing to participate in the dance Infinite Dances can pre-register via the Kumu website until 11 May. On Sunday, 17 May, at 12 pm, an open-air cinema screening will take place in collaboration with the volunteer non-profit organisation Lasnaidee.
The programme also includes a satellite programme titled TENTative Practices, designed for students of the Estonian Academy of Arts. The satellite is led by the artists Jake Shepherd and Yvette Bathgate, who, as part of their master’s thesis final project last academic year, built a greenhouse for the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia.
All events in the Rehearsals for Solidarity programme are free of charge. The full schedule for the tent school can be found on the Kumu website.
The twelve-day Rehearsals for Solidarity programme is a collaboration between the artist Pankaj Tiwari, the Kumu Art Museum, the Kumu Youth Club, Lasnaidee and students from the Estonian Academy of Arts. The initiative is supported by the City of Tallinn.
Participating artists and partners: Pankaj Tiwari, Michiel Vandevelde, Jake Shepherd, Yvette Bathgate, Sarah Riley, Ming Zhu, Ronja Siitonen, Hanna Vinter, Éric-Olivier Thériault, Yvonne Schlageter, Lotta Karolina Räsänen, Nora Lember, Berit Jaamul, Elis Kannik, Margret Lina Kesa, Sandra Sinimets, Mart Vainre and Polina Ljaseva.