
<p><strong>Kaarin Kivirähk</strong> is the editor-in-chief of A Shade Colder.</p>


Kaarin Kivirähk


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Kai Kaljo</h2>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/kai-kaljo.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/kai-kaljo-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/kai-kaljo-300x205.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/kai-kaljo-1024x700.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/kai-kaljo-1152x788.jpg 1152w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/kai-kaljo.jpg 1155w" data-sizes="auto" width="1155" height="790" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption><br><em>Kai Kaljo giving a talk at CCA Estonia in 1999</em></figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-details-block details">Kai Kaljo studied monumental painting in 1983–1990. Kaljo’s themes are inspired by her personal and everyday life extending into existential and social statements. Using black humour and irony, she often questions power relations in the art world.<br><br>She has held solo exhibitions in Estonia as well as elsewhere in Europe. Kaljo has also participated in group exhibitions and film and video festivals all over the world. Her works belong to the collections of Moderna Museet, the Art Museum of Estonia and Sprengel Museum, among others. She has been awarded the Kristjan Raud Prize (2006), the Annual Award of Estonian Cultural Endowment (2000,) and the Award of the Annual Exhibition of the Soros Centre for Contemporary Arts, Estonia (1994, 1998).<br></div>



<p>During my studies at the art academy, I felt we had little awareness of the art that was being made elsewhere in the world, and how Estonia could relate to it. Today, it’s hard to imagine life without the internet, but in the 1980s there weren’t even many art books available that featured colour images, you could only look at those in libraries. In the State Art Institute of Estonia (ERKI), lectures on Western art history concluded with the 1950s. Yet, despite this lack of information, I at least felt an unconscious wish to do something that had not been done before.</p>



<p>I’ve always felt it limiting to express myself in just one genre, and so the freedom of the 1990s suited me marvellously. This was the most liberal era, even compared to now: no idea seemed too strange or improper.</p>



<p>The establishment of the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia (now CCA) provided the opportunity to get funding to produce works for the annual exhibition, which back then was something new. Many things we take for granted today were then cosmically expensive, and great ideas would have otherwise remained unrealised.</p>



<p>I was conceptually influenced by the life around me, which was rapidly transforming and full of hope. Everything was new, the borders were opening, and I created several video works at residencies in Germany, the US, London and elsewhere. No one suggested that I should engage with Eastern European topics, and to my knowledge I really haven’t either. Even my work <em>Loser</em> (“Luuser”, video, 1997) was thematically just as understandable in the West.</p>



<p>I would still gladly work with monumental painting today, if I were commissioned.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jaan Toomik</h2>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/toomik-jt.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/toomik-jt-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/toomik-jt-300x171.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/toomik-jt-1024x583.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/toomik-jt.jpg 1171w" data-sizes="auto" width="1171" height="667" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption><br><em>Jaan Toomik (on the right) with art writer Ants</em> <em>Juske and artist Kiwa in Düsseldorf in 2000</em></figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-details-block details">Jaan Toomik is a painter, video installation and performance artist, whose work stems from a metaphysical, biocentric and shamanist outlook on the world. His work, mostly nature-poetic and autobiographical, focuses on eternal themes like life and death, religion and spirituality, that tie the human body to the cyclical processes in nature. He has taken part in numerous large-scale international exhibitions and biennales like São Paulo Biennial (1994), Manifesta Biennial (1996), Site Santa Fe Biennial (1997), Venice Biennale (1997, 2003) and Berlin Biennale (2006). He graduated from the Estonian Academy of Art in 1991. </div>



<p>My studies took place during a tumultuous time and this had a great impact on me. Even before I began my diploma work, I was boldly experimenting with the possibilities of painting. By the late 1980s, it was possible to experiment like this. The old faculty didn’t dare intervene, and were uncertain about showing any opposition themselves. And so it happened that already before my graduation work I had lost all interest in painting. Everything else, performative practices, land art and other things just seemed more interesting. I transitioned smoothly into the international trends.</p>



<p>I graduated from the art academy in the spring of 1991, when they hadn’t yet declared the independent Republic of Estonia – by autumn this had already happened. The Soros Center for Conteporary Arts, Estonia was established in 1992, and it happened to be during this time that they first began selecting Eastern European artists to take part in the São Paulo Biennial (1994). This gave me the opportunity to step into the international arena, which was a success, providing me with a series of exhibitions around the world. The Soros Center provided support in organising all of this. At first, communication with the outside world went through fax; we sent in visual materials via post.</p>



<p>Since we didn’t have to go through all of the various developments of art in our re-independent Estonia, we could jump straight into the new era, and with a fresh perspective because there was no information about what had been studied in the West. Everything we did was based on enthusiasm, and often without knowing what had already been done. This gave us creative freedom. Oddly enough, us young artists got the hang of the wider field quite fast. I attended the legendary documenta 9 exhibition in 1992 and immediately understood it, even though I hadn’t seen many of the exhibited works nor even heard about the themes. Integrating into the broader art scene happened very quickly.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Anu Juurak</h2>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-details-block details">Anu Juurak graduated from the printmaking department of the State Art Institute of Estonia (ERKI) in 1985. She mainly works with video and spatial installations, interactive environments, and collaborates with technical experts and programmers. Among other themes, her art practice deals with depicting the undefined and the unknown, and the conceptualisation of death in our cultural context.<br><br>She has received the Cultural Endowment of Estonia’s annual award (1998, 2008), the main prize for the annual exhibitions of the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia (1996, 1997), and several accolades from graphic and poster art biennials.<br></div>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-225x300.jpg 225w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-591x788.jpg 591w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-760x1013.jpg 760w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-844x1125.jpg 844w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-1013x1350.jpg 1013w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-1350x1800.jpg 1350w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding-1477x1969.jpg 1477w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1997-Anu-Juurak-interaktiivne-ruumiinstallatsioon-Lift-Interstanding.jpg 1536w" data-sizes="auto" width="1536" height="2048" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption><br><em>Anu Juurak with her interactive spacial installation The Elevator in 1997</em></figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>For me, the transition to new media that happened in the 1990s was both ground-breaking and smooth, since at the time I was an emerging artist, and happy to experiment with new means of expression. I think the most impactful paradigm shifts happen in moments of crisis.</p>



<p>Estonia had well-established traditions in printmaking, especially intaglio printing. Already during the Soviet era, an experimental printmaking studio operated under the Estonian Artists’ Union. Skilled masters worked there, prints were made on relatively high-quality paper and essential colours – black and brown – were readily available. In contrast, working with new media meant acquiring everything by yourself and learning from scratch. Where could you borrow a video camera and projectors? Who knew how to make a quality soundtrack for a video piece? Who would lend a suitable graphics card? Who could program? In most cases, the necessary equipment had to be borrowed, and at times it felt like you were more of a project manager than an artist.</p>



<p>In 1996, I held my second solo exhibition, which featured only video installations. I presented a group of works together as a spatial installation: <em>Train</em> (“Rong”), which indeed rode through the various seasons; <em>Picture</em> (“Pilt”), a flickering video image in an old picture frame; and <em>Water</em> (“Vesi”), with video monitors arranged like containers of water. The entire space was immersed in a reflective installation, <em>Clouds </em>(“Pilved”). People told me that this was certainly not an exhibition appropriate for a woman. The art scene at the time had become increasingly polarised. The established artists who had enjoyed much attention and support during the Soviet period were now outraged. I experienced this first-hand when my otherwise sympathetic and friendly colleagues explained to me single-mindedly that photography and video art could not be taken seriously as genres, and that bringing interactivity to art exhibitions was inappropriate. They considered this a pathology that would soon pass.</p>



<p>And still – for me there was no other choice but to start working in new media, which was exciting, uncertain, in its early stages, much like the country we were living in. This new situation had to be supported in every way imaginable.</p>


kai kaljo

Uncertain Territories

Looking back

kollaaž 9-2

Stuck in the vicious circle of words

kollaaž veebi

The Many Faces of You

Art and solidarity


<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-295x300.jpg 295w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-1006x1024.jpg 1006w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-774x788.jpg 774w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-995x1013.jpg 995w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-1105x1125.jpg 1105w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-1326x1350.jpg 1326w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar-1768x1800.jpg 1768w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mohar.jpg 1907w" data-sizes="auto" width="1907" height="1941" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Mohar Kalra</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>In this issue we are focusing on the art scene in the Southern part of Estonia which is known for its mixed cultural heritage and long history, not to mention the beautiful and extraordinary nature of the area which inspired many Estonian artists in the early 20th century.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Tartu as the centre of the region is the university town which is well known for its classical architecture and historical art school Pallas which dominated the Estonian art scene in the first half of 20th century. Pallas University of Applied Sciences still functions today. Nowadays Tartu is also known for its young and vibrant queer scene and street art festivals.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Smaller towns, such as Võru or Viljandi have become interesting cultural spots for contemporary art. In Viljandi there is a new art residency, run by the Rüki gallery, and a unique museum of Estonian outsider art. Besides a museum with an art gallery, there is also a new studio house for local artists in Võru.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>The coastline of Lake Peipus is home for the Old Believers (starovéry) and the South eastern part is the land of the Seto people who have their own language and customs.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mohar Kalra, artist</h2>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-300x209.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-1024x713.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-1131x788.jpg 1131w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-1454x1013.jpg 1454w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-1615x1125.jpg 1615w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-1938x1350.jpg 1938w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-2584x1800.jpg 2584w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/john-scaled.jpg 2560w" data-sizes="auto" width="2560" height="1783" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>John Grzinich</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>Every August, for one day, the residents of the Tammelinn neighbourhood in Tartu set up small cafes in their backyards and offer drinks, pastries, music and a space to float around for an afternoon – known as the Tammelinna Kodukohvikutepäev (The Tammelinn Home Café Day). Among the lush gardens that one can usually only glimpse from afar, it makes for a wonderfully intimate way to understand what &#8220;home&#8221; means in Tartu.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">John Grzinich, artist&nbsp;</h2>



<p>From 29 April to 10 May, I will be coordinating a series of events in Põlvamaa under the title &#8216;Koidukoor&#8217; to celebrate the &#8216;dawn chorus&#8217; phenomenon. This will include a series of early morning guided listening walks during the week and a &#8216;sound camp&#8217; live audio streaming session on the weekend as a contribution to the 24-hour International Dawn Chorus Day global radio program. For this period, we will be hosting several artists from the Soundcamp cooperative in London. They are excited to visit, as the richness of bird song in south Estonia is always a highlight for them.</p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-251x300.jpg 251w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-858x1024.jpg 858w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-660x788.jpg 660w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-848x1013.jpg 848w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-942x1125.jpg 942w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-1131x1350.jpg 1131w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana-1507x1800.jpg 1507w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/jana.jpg 1644w" data-sizes="auto" width="1644" height="1963" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Jana Huul</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jana Huul, gallerist</h2>



<p>I admire sacred groves and one such site, Tammetsõõr, is located in Kütiorg, on the estate previously owned by the Estonian folklorist Mikk Sarv, whose parents managed to safeguard it throughout the Soviet period. On the other side of Kütiorg, the artist Peeter Laurits also has a house. Tammetsõõr is a place where many cultural events have started and an area where people involved in art and culture live. This year, the 5th Uma Pido, a festival focused on elevating the slowly disappearing local Võru language will be held in Intsikurmu, Põlva. I would also like to highlight Vana-Võromaa Kultuurikoda, where solo exhibitions by Evi Tihemets and Aimur Takk will be taking place in the summer and at the end of the summer, a curatorial project by Margit Säde and Johanna Ulfsak will open as well.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Šelda Puķīte, curator</h2>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-300x198.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-1024x676.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-1193x788.jpg 1193w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-1534x1013.jpg 1534w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-1704x1125.jpg 1704w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-2044x1350.jpg 2044w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-2726x1800.jpg 2726w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/selda-scaled.jpg 2560w" data-sizes="auto" width="2560" height="1691" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Šelda Puķīte</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>The Tartu2024 programme will no doubt promise a rich diversity of events throughout the year in the larger cities of south Estonia, and for culture-thirsty crowds there will be a lot to experience. Still, sometimes the most exciting gems are not found in the cities, but out in the countryside where amazingly enthusiastic people have built small islands. Two of them are the Voronya Gallery in Varnja village located on the Onion Route near Lake Peipus, and the Maajaam Art and Technology Farm located in Otepää parish. The fishing village of Varnja is a charming summer destination in any year, with locals selling fresh produce from their gardens as well as delicious smoked fish. At the same time, Voronya Gallery offers a versatile cultural programme complemented by its famous waffles and moonshine. For those who want to combine their love of nature, art, and science, the Maajaam outdoor exhibition Wild Bits scattered through the meadows, forests and swamps will provide an opportunity to do just that and hopefully also meet the ‘boss’ of the property, the smiling Dalmatian dog.</p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-300x239.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-1024x816.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-989x788.jpg 989w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-1271x1013.jpg 1271w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-1412x1125.jpg 1412w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-1694x1350.jpg 1694w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-2259x1800.jpg 2259w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3-2471x1969.jpg 2471w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kaart3.jpg 2520w" data-sizes="auto" width="2520" height="2008" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Map of Southern Estonia</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">1 TARTU</h2>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">4 exhibitions celebrating Surrealism 100th birthday</h3><div class="location01"><p>Various <a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/naitus-surrealism-100-praha-tartu-ja-teised-lood-1/">dates</a></p><p>Estonian National Museum, Tartu Art Museum, Pallas Gallery</p></div><div class="description01"></div></div><div><h3 class="title">Street art festival Stencibility </h3><div class="location02"><p>4 – 7 July</p><p><a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/stencibility-tanavakunsti-festival-2024-1/">Tartu urban space</a></p></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">Tartu Art Week</h3><div class="location01"><p>Every second week of the month</p></div><div class="description01"></div></div><div><h3 class="title">Estonian Fashion Festival</h3><div class="location02"><p>6 &#8211; 9 <a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/estonian-fashion-festival-1/">June</a></p></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">Krista Dzudzilo’s all the possibilities that existed</h3><div class="location01"><p>28.3.2024 — 4.5.2024</p><p>Kogo gallery in collaboration with Kim? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga</p></div><div class="description01"></div></div><div><h3 class="title">Tartu Pride Art Programme</h3><div class="location02"><p>12–18 August</p><p><a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/tartu-2024-pride-1/">City of Tartu</a></p></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">Ajuokse V</h3><div class="location01"><p>31 August</p><p>Ajuokse avangaar</p></div><div class="description01"><p>birthday festival featuring alternative art market, punk bands, exhibition openings etc.</p></div></div><div><h3 class="title">International group exhibition Look into my Ice on climate crisis</h3><div class="location02"><p><a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/grupinaitus-look-into-my-ice-1/">5 July – 18 August</a></p><p>Tartu Art House</p></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">International technological art exhibition Enter Woodland Spirits</h3><div class="location01"><p><a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/naitus-metsavaimud-masinas-1/">28 June – 25 August</a></p><p>Estonian Literary Museum, University of Tartu Natural History Museum</p></div><div class="description01"></div></div><div><h3 class="title">St. John’s Church</h3><div class="location02"><p>Open throughout the year</p></div><div class="description02"><p>A 14 th century church exhibiting a unique gallery of Medieval terracotta heads.</p></div></div></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2 VILJANDI</h2>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">Hidden Worlds Expanding. Eastern European Outsider Art</h3><div class="location01"><p><a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/naitus-kolmes-linnas-varjatud-maailmade-avardumine-1/">29 May – 29 September</a></p><p>Kondas Centre (Viljandi), Valga Museum (Valga), University of Tartu Museum (Tartu)</p></div><div class="description01"></div></div><div><h3 class="title">Survival arts by Toomik, Ole and Mäetamm</h3><div class="location02"><p>9 October 2024 – 25 January 2025</p><p>Kondas Centre</p></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">3 OTEPÄÄ</h2>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">MAAJAAM</h3><div class="location01"><p>25 May – 15 September</p><p>Otepää county, Maajaam</p></div><div class="description01"><p>Open air <a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/tehnoloogilise-kunsti-vabaohunaitus-metsikud-bitid-1/">exhibition</a> Wild Bits</p></div></div><div><div class="location02"></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">4 VARNJA</h2>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">Voronja XI summer exhibition: Views of the Future by Kaili Kask and Raul Oreškin</h3><div class="location01"><p>22 June – 25 August</p><p>Voronja gallery</p></div><div class="description01"></div></div><div><div class="location02"></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">5 VALGA</h2>



<div class="event-info" class="wp-block-www-blocks-event-info-block"><div><h3 class="title">Vares international interdisciplinary residency for spatial practice</h3><div class="location01"><p>VARES Architecture Residency</p></div><div class="description01"><p><em>Every month of 2024, there will be at least one <a href="https://tartu2024.ee/programm/varese-residentide-avalikud-esitlused-1/">public event </a>in the town of Valga, in the framework of which Vares residents will present their work and activities to both locals and a wider audience.</em></p></div></div><div><div class="location02"></div><div class="description02"></div></div></div>


kaart3

Discovering the Southern part of Estonia


<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-300x263.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-1024x899.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-898x788.jpg 898w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-1154x1013.jpg 1154w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-1281x1125.jpg 1281w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-1538x1350.jpg 1538w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-2050x1800.jpg 2050w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-2243x1969.jpg 2243w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/asc6-scaled.jpg 2560w" data-sizes="auto" width="2560" height="2247" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Illustration: Martina Gofman &amp; Johanna Ruukholm, <em>The Shapes of Language</em>, 2023</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>For art writers or magazine publishers, language is a day-to-day business. We use it to describe and mediate artists’ works, find new ways to formulate ideas or argue over clichéd art vocabulary. In this issue, we look at the relationship between language and art from a multitude of perspectives. An interview with curator <strong>Cecilia Alemani</strong>, who recently visited Tallinn, focuses on the role text plays in her curatorial approach and her views on writing and literature in general. While Alemani highlights some of her favourite contemporary and historical artists who have engaged with language, Vilnius-based artist <strong>Ieva Rojute</strong>’s contribution brings together text and visual language, which takes everyday folklore as a starting point.</p>



<p>Meanwhile, performance artist and writer <strong>Gregor Kulla</strong> read <strong>McKenzie Wark</strong>’s book <em>Raving </em>(2023) and had a chance to talk to the author and discuss the role of language in shaping identities and as a tool of power. In the short Q&amp;A, curator and museum director <strong>Kadi Polli</strong> talks about the decision to use four different languages that are or have been spoken in what is now known as Estonia at the new permanent exhibition at Kumu Art Museum. <strong>Keiu Krikmann</strong>’s article stems from her experience as a translator who primarily focuses on translating art texts between Estonian and English. What is the role of English in shaping the development of a small nation’s art discourse? Is the influence of the English language only connected to the desire to orientate one’s art scene towards the centre?</p>



<p>Sometimes, the particular language that is used in the art world also needs to function in other contexts; for example, when it lands on a politician’s table. In this context, four art organisations from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania share how they have been fighting for art workers’ rights and what goals they deem achievable in the near future. The words they use to pass information about artists’ struggles to the general public play an important role here.</p>



<p>As always, the issue ends with a short guide covering art events in Estonia and beyond for autumn and winter 2023/2024. It includes numerous exhibitions that focus on bringing artists from the Baltics together to create a shared narrative, although these stories may initially have been told in different languages. Sometimes, exhibitions like these aim to introduce Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian artists outside the region, but sometimes, the mediation process is aimed internally to point to the common histories and knowledge that we sometimes didn&#8217;t even know we shared.</p>


asc6 veebi

The Shapes of Language

Editorial. The Shapes of Language

kollaaz

Organising against precarity

Architects Arvi Anderson, Mari Möldre and Aet Ader. Photo_ Kertin Vasser copy1

Flesh in Tension

From home sweet home to an object of speculation: Interview with architects Aet Ader, Arvi Anderson and Mari Möldre

Zhanna2 100 hele

Shifting Timelines

Timelines in Transit. Where Do We Go from Here?


<p></p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-185x300.jpg 185w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-632x1024.jpg 632w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-487x788.jpg 487w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-626x1013.jpg 626w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-695x1125.jpg 695w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-834x1350.jpg 834w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-1112x1800.jpg 1112w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-1216x1969.jpg 1216w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hermen-Rode-workshop.-VEEBI1-scaled.jpg 1581w" data-sizes="auto" width="1581" height="2560" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Hermen Rode workshop. Saint Jerome, detail from the predella of the retable of the high altar of St. Nicholas Church, Tallinn. Ca 1478-1481. Tempera, oil on wood. Estonian Art Museum.<br></figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>In recent years we can notice an ongoing fascination among contemporary artists with different creatures: human-animal hybrids, monsters, animals. Something definitely seems to be in the air, even if we start from the more obvious examples, such as the 59th International Art Exhibition in Venice titled <em>The Milk of Dreams</em> and curated by Cecilia Alemani, where the depiction of non-human forms varied from surrealist images to mythological beings and futuristic forms. However, here I would like to look at the region of the Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea and the works of two Estonian and one Polish artist to see how these artists have been depicting non-human creatures. How are they linked to historical visual culture or to contemporary ideas of the coexistence of species? And most importantly, what is their relationship to <em>the Other</em>, whether the fantastical creatures of faraway lands or hybrid visions of the future?</p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-240x300.jpg 240w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-630x788.jpg 630w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-810x1013.jpg 810w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-900x1125.jpg 900w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-1080x1350.jpg 1080w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-1439x1800.jpg 1439w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-1575x1969.jpg 1575w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rauna-church-photo_-Stanislav-Stepasko-copy-scaled.jpg 2047w" data-sizes="auto" width="2047" height="2560" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Snake with a woman’s head on a carved stone depicting the fall of man in Rauna church, early 16th century. Photo: Stanislav Stepaško</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Fantastic vs real</strong></h2>



<p>Things might often seem blurry and hard to grasp when looking from the distance and with limited knowledge. In medieval and early modern Europe, knowledge about the area of modern day Estonia and the surrounding countries was relatively vague, based often on antique or medieval descriptions. Until the 17th century, maps depicting the territory of Estonia as we know it today were usually drawn somewhere else – mostly in Western or Southern Europe and full of misconceptions. This is probably the reason why at the end of 11th century, the German clergyman Adam of Bremen described Estonia as an island by the name of Aestland, where people ”worship dragons and birds to whom they sacrifice people.” Eight centuries later, in 1854, the German traveller Johann von Hahn described different types of <em>human tails</em> found in Albania, another remote outpost of Europe. The belief that monstrous races and fantastic creatures lived on the edges of the known world was rather widespread from medieval times to the modern period and creatures and phenomena we now know how to explain, were often considered fantastical. For example, the famous 13th century traveller Marco Polo described a unicorn, however, we can now almost certainly claim the creature he saw was a rhinoceros.</p>



<p>It would be easy to feel superior to the ancient travellers who witnessed fantastical creatures (including humans-hybrids) in faraway lands, such as Estonia or Albania. However, as the example of Marco Polo demonstrates, sometimes the fantastical creatures were, in fact, physically very real. At the same time, magical qualities were often attributed to known animals, such as dogs, lions or horses. In this sense, all <em>known</em> animals could also be considered magical or fantastical creatures. Anu Mänd, professor of art history at Tartu University writes about the depiction of animals and other creatures in medieval Livonia (the historical name of territory on present day Estonia and Latvia), where the images of non-human creatures had religious and allegorical meaning. The hybrid creature of a snake with a woman’s head, symbolising Satan, on the stone craving in Rauna church in Latvia tells the Christian story of original sin. The two lions in Padise monastery in northern Estonia were meant to be read as an allegory for the ongoing fight between virtue and evil.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Contemporary <em>memento mori</em></strong></h2>



<p>Tallinn-based artist Edith Karlson has been working with the figures of animals, creatures and hybrid forms from the very beginning of her artistic career. Some of her works, such as <em>Vox Populi </em>(2016), an impressive installation of animal heads, connected with a chain of rabbit poop, evoke Christian iconography. Here, the animals represent human existence, a bit like contemporary <em>memento mori</em>, although the reminder of death is replaced by the reminder of human stupidity and absurdity. However, one could also draw parallels between Karlson’s world of weird creatures and strange animals with pre-Christian Estonian mythology. Estonia was Christianised in the 13th century, but many pagan beliefs have since existed alongside or merged with Christian tradition. Spirits and even diabolical creatures were living alongside people, sometimes they could be tricked by humans and deals could be made with them. Similarly, Edith Karlson has placed a huge dinosaur in the public urban space in Tallinn (<em>Good Old Times</em>, 2021) or brought ghostly human figures to a busy art fair, with snakes inside their bodies (<em>Good, Bad, Ugly</em>, 2021, made for Art Basel). Life alongside various supernatural creatures is not something overly romantic, neither is it horrible but rather mundane, a practical business with diabolical beings.</p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-two-images-block"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-200x300.jpg 200w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-525x788.jpg 525w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-675x1013.jpg 675w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-750x1125.jpg 750w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-900x1350.jpg 900w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-1200x1800.jpg 1200w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele-1313x1969.jpg 1313w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/edith-detail-hele.jpg 1340w" data-sizes="auto" width="1340" height="2010" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption1>Edith Karlson, <em>Vox Popouli</em>, detail, 2016, Photo: Anu Vahtra</figcaption1><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-200x300.jpg 200w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-525x788.jpg 525w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-675x1013.jpg 675w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-750x1125.jpg 750w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-900x1350.jpg 900w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-1200x1800.jpg 1200w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-1313x1969.jpg 1313w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/7_MG_3088-VEEBI-scaled.jpg 1706w" data-sizes="auto" width="1706" height="2560" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Edith Karlson, <em>Vox Popouli</em>, exhibition view, 2016, Photo: Anu Vahtra</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Imagining the future</strong></h2>



<p>Finding ways to exist alongside other species was not an uncommon topic even in the Christian medieval world: Anu Mänd describes how the Christian stories of saints preached cooperation between animals and humans. For example, Saint Jerome, depicted on the famous high altar retable in Niguliste church in Tallinn, is part of the well-known story where the saint healed a lion, after which the lion lived with him and other monks as their pet. However, these stories not only preached kindness towards animals but also often fixed the status of humans as superior to animals and enforced an attitude, where the role of the animal was to serve humans.</p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-300x200.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-1182x788.jpg 1182w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-1520x1013.jpg 1520w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-1688x1125.jpg 1688w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-2025x1350.jpg 2025w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-2700x1800.jpg 2700w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-2954x1969.jpg 2954w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20-Xarcadia-exhibition-view-2022-photo-Roman-Sten-Tonissoo-VEEBI-scaled.jpg 2560w" data-sizes="auto" width="2560" height="1706" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Kadri-Liis Rääk, <em>Xarcadia</em>, exhibition view, 2022, Photo: Roman-Sten Tõnissoo</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>Contemporary post-humanism tries to overcome this notion of human superiority. Polish artist Wiktoria Walendzik creates uncanny, sensual compositions of humans and other creatures. A dark monstruous octopus sits in a bath covered in seashells, together with a human figure or, in another work, a giant horse swallows a tiny human, and in yet another, a female character sits on top of a pine-man. Her works flicker on the edge of erotica but also show the potential for empathy with the unknown. In the catalogue for the 59th International Art Exhibition <em>The Milk of Dreams</em>, Rosi Braidotti writes about the importance of including feminist thought in post-humanist theory: ”A sort of intergalactic Alliance of feminists and LGBTQ+ with aliens and monsters lies at the heart of the science fiction horror genre […]. It supports the composition of an assemblage between women and LGBTQ+ as the others of <em>Man</em> and the other <em>others</em> in the form of non-whites […], non-anthropomorphic organisms […] and so forth.” It brings forward possible alternative views of the world and shows empathy and compassion which goes further from human-centred thinking. Estonian artist Kadri-Liis Rääk has worked with possible visions of futuristic life forms. Rather than cold and machine-like, her works show these creatures as soft and touchable. At her exhibition <em>Xarcadia</em> in 2022 (Hiob Gallery, Tallinn) she furnished a possible home for a nameless creature in the future. The artist writes: ”An empathic creature, reliant and dependent on its surroundings is born, synthesising impulses from a lost world.”</p>



<p>In this way, imagining non-human creatures inhabiting the unknown territory of the future, is in some way similar to the medieval travellers who were describing unknown lands and the creatures they either found or imagined living there. Although the distance of the travellers was only limited by space, not time, the level of mystery was probably similar to today’s interpretations of the future. The difference might be, however, that these new imaginations could also include empathy towards the weird creatures inhabiting the faraway future, and not only cultivate fear and misunderstanding.</p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-300x200.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-1182x788.jpg 1182w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-1520x1013.jpg 1520w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-1688x1125.jpg 1688w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-2025x1350.jpg 2025w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-2700x1800.jpg 2700w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-2954x1969.jpg 2954w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Wiktoria-Walendzick.-Bathtub-with-an-Octopus-2022.-Mixed-media.-Installation-view-at-Zacheta-Gallery-Warsaw.-Photo_-Tytus-Szabelski-scaled.jpg 2560w" data-sizes="auto" width="2560" height="1707" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Wiktoria Walendzik, <em>Bathtub with an Octopus</em>, 2022, mixed media. Installation view at Zachęta Gallery, Warsaw. Photo: Tytus Szabelski</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>


13 Xarcadia, exhibition view, 2022, photo Roman-Sten Tõnissoo VEEBI

Unknown Creatures of Faraway Lands


<p><em>the girliness of the wasteland, the maddening mäda</em><em><br></em><em>curling around our</em><em><br></em><em>fingers and vocal folds folding into us&nbsp;</em></p>



<p>&#8230;writes young Estonian poet Vaim Sarv, sounding like an opening rhyme to the latest issue of A Shade Colder, <em>Whispers in the Landscape</em>.&nbsp;</p>



<div class="wp-block-www-blocks-image-block alignleft"><figure class="is-zoomable"><img data-src="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--scaled.jpg" data-srcset="https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--150x150.jpg 150w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--300x300.jpg 300w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--788x788.jpg 788w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--1013x1013.jpg 1013w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--1125x1125.jpg 1125w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--1350x1350.jpg 1350w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--1800x1800.jpg 1800w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--1969x1969.jpg 1969w, https://admin.ashadecolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/illu_nr3-vaike--scaled.jpg 2560w" data-sizes="auto" width="2560" height="2560" alt="" class="lazyload"/><figcaption>Illustration: Martina Gofman and Johanna Ruukholm, <em>Whispers in the Landscape</em>, 2022</figcaption><button class="zoom m-image" aria-label="View fullscreen"></button></figure></div>



<p>The last issue for 2022 is published in late November, a few weeks after many people in the world celebrate their adaptations of the Day of the Dead. In Estonian mythology, the months of October and November have been known as the time of the souls when the spirits of dead relatives would come to visit the families they once had. Nowadays, the pagan tradition has modestly shrunk to just lighting up a candle on the window, so the dead can find their way. However, the time of the souls still marks the beginning of the darkest and coldest time of the year. It is a grim reminder that the natural conditions in which we live have more power over us than maybe we would like to acknowledge. The mild whispers in the landscape are moulding the culture, the subconsciousness and the identity of the people that inhabit the land.</p>



<p>This is even more apparent in the growing energy crisis, which threatens to or already has left us in an even deeper darkness this winter. In her article, Eglė Rindzevičiūtė draws attention to the shared experience of the vulnerability and instability of the technological infrastructure in the region, from the Baltics to Ukraine, where the fragility of the once progress-oriented power networks and transport infrastructure has become awfully apparent after Russia’s invasion in February.&nbsp;</p>



<p>On another note, Natalia Sielewicz and Alison M. Gingeras summarise the Eastern European understanding of nature and landscape, where mythical sirens, small devils, spirited animals and skeletons wander the magical forests and demonic marshes. They offer a revisionist reading of Symbolist art from Poland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states, where artists have engaged with specific regional landscapes and common mythologies.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Vaida Stepanovaite writes about artists Sandra Kosorotova, Marija Nemcenko and Anna Ceipe, who have been working with plants in their recent work. Nemcenko and Kosorotova have both made works in connection with fireweed, which carries many cultural meanings and identities. The cultural identity formed by nature and landscape is explored in Keiu Krikmann’s essay on Estonian design and applied arts, while Kärt Ojavee introduces the impact of algae in the local culture and her artistic practice. What might designers and artists use as their materials in the unpredictable future?&nbsp;</p>



<p>The newest addition to A Shade Colder is the podcast <em>Majickk Sound, </em>hosted by Marika Agu, on contemporary sound art. The first podcast tackles the landscape of Estonian sound art together with artist John Grzinich. </p>



<p>Estonian painter Kristi Kongi, who is having a show in November at the Tartu Art House, has often stressed her affection for the dark time of the year. This fact is peculiar as Kongi is known for her very colourful paintings and immersive installations, which are anything but dark and grey. However, she states that darkness provides her mental space to ponder and analyse her thoughts. If anything, the upcoming winter provides us all with this much-needed space for reflection, and this issue provokes some ideas that may have been waiting to be processed during the darker seasons.</p>


illu_nr3 väike

Whispers in the Landscape

Editorial. Whispers in the Landscape

A Shade Colder is a platform for discussions about and around art in Estonia and beyond.

A Shade Colder

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Tiina Tammetalu, Untitled. 1995. Third annual exhibition of the Soros Center of Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Biotopia copy2

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Graafikatriennaal: Algirdas Jakas.Reverse engineering. Photo: Laurynas Skeisgiela

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Kaarin Kivirähk Kaarin Kivirähk is the editor-in-chief of A Shade Colder.

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Stuck in the vicious circle of words

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The Shapes of Language

Organising against precarity

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From home sweet home to an object of speculation: Interview with architects Aet Ader, Arvi Anderson and Mari Möldre

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Timelines in Transit. Where Do We Go from Here?

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Unknown Creatures of Faraway Lands

Whispers in the Landscape

Editorial. Whispers in the Landscape

Kaarin Kivirähk

Kaarin Kivirähk is the editor-in-chief of A Shade Colder.