Urmas Viik brings Foam Princess to Kumu’s atrium

Artist Urmas Viik’s installation Foam Princess is on display in the atrium of Kumu Art Museum through the end of the year, ERR reports.

Viik created the installation for the Estonian Museum of Architecture’s anniversary exhibition Phenomenon of the Salt Storage. Back to the Future, held at the Rotermann Salt Storage. It is based on his now-destroyed work Ruth Breathes. Anna Breathes, created in 2000.

Foam Princess looks back to the 1990s and 2000s, bringing together the experimental spirit of the art scene at the time, its engagement with history, theatre, commercial and advertising culture, and practical craft skills. Viik’s daughters and his wife, Mari Viik, also took part in the 2000 project. She led the making of the body casts used for the figures, made many of the cuts and devised technical solutions.

Three Estonian art institutions are marking anniversaries this year. Kumu’s building was completed 20 years ago, the same amount of time has passed since the Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art was founded, and 30 years ago the Estonian Museum of Architecture and an exhibition hall of the Art Museum of Estonia began operating at the Rotermann Salt Storage.

Kumu’s atrium is also becoming a venue for contemporary art and works from museum collections. Its permanent displays include Villu Jaanisoo’s oversized car-tyre sculptures Chairs I-II (2001) and Erki Kasemets’s installation Life-File (1989-2024). The museum plans to present works by sculptor Jass Kaselaan after Viik’s installation leaves at the end of the year.