In an old dilapidated guardhouse, water drips from the ceiling and paint peels from the walls. And so it appears that Tartu's street art is in its element. There's no gallery space lined with white walls here, but instead the ragged glory of life carries on all around it.

"What I like about this building is that there are no really fixed trajectories, we want visitors to walk around and explore. To discover the things that the artists didn't put here themselves, but have been put here over time – all those peeling walls and the calendar that's on the wall, or the rust on the clock that's been left standing there. All these things are also part of the exhibition," said Sirla, one of the exhibition's curators.

According to the curators, 'Hello Mister Police Officer' is an exhibition of 'wandering,' so to speak, with works of street art hidden in the corners of the building, and visible to visitors as they keep moving forward.

The exhibition tells the story of the street art scene in Tartu as a small town. Curator Kadri Linn said that the charm of Tartu street art lies in its collective spirit.

"What unites all street artists is that they have all missed something or wondered what would happen if the police came and asked for explanations. Hence the general concept and name of the exhibition, 'Hello Mister Police Officer.' Everyone in Tartu also has these stories about how you have to behave and prepare yourself mentally," Lind said.

Therefore, the walls contain a number of stories about the encounters Tartu's street artists have had with the police and the thoughts and feelings those meetings evoked.

The street art exhibition "Hello Mister Police Officer" is on display until June 2. More information is available here.

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