Estonian art news: February/March 2019

CCA, Estonia publishes a newsletter on contemporary art news in Estonia in every two months. February/March 2019 newsletter in full length can be found here.

TOP PICKS

“vomiting and crying vomiting and crying: you are my sister you are my sister”
@ Tartu Art Museum
18.01. – 28.04.2019

The duo exhibition features new works by Kadi Estland and Netti Nüganen. Curator Marika Agu (Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia) said that the exhibition came from a recognition of how economic pressure works to condition and favour the art which veers towards the anonymous, pseudo-radical and regulated forms of expression. Kadi Estland has shaped the Estonian contemporary art field with her feminist approach since the beginning of 2000s. Netti Nüganen, works with the tension points of eclecticism and specificity, and exhibits video works that address issues like alienation and self-exposure, and plays with different female tropes, without taking them too seriously.

“Liina Siib. Politics of Paradise”

@Tallinn Art Hall
16.02 – 14.04

Bringing together new productions and a selection of older works by Siib, the exhibition mediates intergenerational conversations between individual lives and complex gendered histories of privilege and power. Recently Siib has looked at the ongoing regional economic migration through the eyes of Estonian women working in Finland. This contemporary polyphony of personal stories, desires and realities is reflected against new installations focused on the tragic yet deviant historical local female characters. Liina Siib is known for her photography, video and installation works based on extensive research, archive material, interviews and collaborations. Recent exhibitions include Riga Biennial 2018 and Sinne, Helsinki. Siib represented Estonia at the Venice Biennial 2011. Curator of the show is Taru Elfving.

Terje Ojaver “What Happened to the Little Red Riding Hood?”
@Vaal gallery
31.01 – 02.03

Terje Ojaver presents her new installation “The Beast” and her video work from 2009 “Bride of Sisyphos”. The artists deals with trust issues: who can a woman trust if not herself and why is it so? Terje Ojaver has exhibited since 1982 in Estonia and internationally. Ojaver is mostly know for installations and sculptures, often depicting autobiographical stories. She is author of numerous public art pieces.

“Chatty Matter”

@Kogo gallery
09.02 – 23.03

Artists Kati Saarits and Nora Mertes present an exhibition that looks at the material culture and the stories, meanings, and transformations that lie in it. There has been a long tradition in society to admire objects of tangible culture from the past, but how do we connect with objects in our contemporary society that surrounds us daily? The exhibition is curated by Brigita Reinert.

“Dark Matter”

@Hobusepea gallery
27.02 – 18.03

Estonian artists Lilli-Krõõt Repnau and Helen Tago-Mullaste concentrate around the topic of dark matter which helps to theoretically understand the irrational, unstable world. The exhibition features an immersive printed installation, a dialogue between two artists where fragile and ephemeral objects play an important role. Both Lilli-Krõõt Repnau and Helen Tago-Mullaste are Estonian artists and printmakers.

Zoia Lebedeva solo show

@Tartu Art House
14.03 – 07.04

Zoia Lebedeva came to Estonia 3 years ago from Udmurtia’s village Buranovo where Eurovision’s star ethno-pop band was born. In Russia she was a rebel artist who had a successful career in folk and contemporary art, she moved to Estonia to marry the most stunning man of her life, who gave her inspiration for changing her art. At her first curated exhibition in Estonia Zoia is talking honestly about extremely eventful life using irony and folk art: sex life and entering university at 61, loss of love of her life, struggles of artists in Russian province, scandals in village with pop star babushkas and many other witty topics. Julia Polujanenkova from Tartu Art Museum is working on this exposition with the artist.

See the full list of recommended art events in the newsletter here.