Tartu exhibition revisits art after Estonia regained independence

An exhibition at the Tartu Art Museum looks at the development of art and capitalism after Estonia regained independence, ERR reported. It brings together works preserved from 30 years ago and new pieces by the artists.

The exhibition focuses on a group that emerged around Peeter Linnap, a professor in the photography department at the Estonian Academy of Arts. The group introduced Western-style photography and installation art to Estonia’s art scene. Young artists of the newly independent country were finding their voices amid the collapse of the Soviet system and the rise of capitalism.

Exhibition coordinator Rene Kriisa said the students’ work played an important role. Though they were not necessarily the first in Estonia to work in photography or installation art, he said, they helped bring these forms to public attention.

Without a permanent exhibition space, the group improvised in different settings and tested the limits of artistic freedom. Artist Mart Viljus described the period as interesting and, in some ways, wild. He said artists could make projects that would be difficult to produce today, as they began filling newly opened space with different symbols after restrictions from the Soviet era fell away.

Armo Sepandi, a former student of Linnap, said the exhibition includes photographs in which Linnap climbed onto a monument and portrayed himself as a hero. After statues of Lenin were taken down, their pedestals stood empty, Sepandi said, and Linnap used the opportunity to present himself as a new hero in Lenin’s place.

The exhibition is on view at the Tartu Art Museum’s slanted building until the end of January.