In the framework of the Tallinn Photomonth an international urban space exhibition will take place in six locations around the Kaubamaja department store’s intersection from 5 September to 31 October. In an urban environment saturated with an overwhelming amount of stimuli, the project seeks ways in which art can offer moments of relief and open new perspectives on what we see and experience daily.
Artists participating in the urban space exhibition: Elo Vahtrik (EE), Eva Stenram (SE/GB), Giovanna Petrocchi (IT), Mare Tralla (EE), Mia Dudek (PL) and Sigrid Viir (EE). The exhibition is curated by: Kati Ots (EE) and Trine Stephensen (NO).
“It all started with the location which set the scale and the themes to work with. The intersection at the Kaubamaja department store is a visually and historically charged area where layers of different eras as well as important landmarks of Tallinn meet,” said the curator Kati Ots.
“On one side there is the Kaubamaja department store, on the other the Viru Centre – two symbols of commercial architecture from different eras. A new skyscraper is being built on the site of the former Estonian Academy of Arts. Then there is the statue Dusk located on the terrace of the Viru Centre. Around all of this, a constant flow of people, both underground and on the ground. This is a monumental environment – not just in terms of scale, but also in terms of meaning and visual intensity,” added Ots.
Six site-specific works will be placed around the intersection of the Kaubamaja department store, where they intervene with the urban space on multiple levels, turning up both on the usual walking paths as well as in places that tend to be often overlooked. The selection of artists is similarly diverse.
“It was a deliberate choice to engage with a smaller number of artists, allowing us to work in depth and in a site-specific manner. All the artworks have been created specifically for the Kaubamaja intersection, and the artists from different generations and nationalities endow the exhibition with their unique perspectives and ways of relating to the space,” said the curator Trine Stephensen.
Among the Estonian artists participating in the exhibition are Elo Vahtrik who examines power structures and ways of social functioning through kitsch and irony, Mare Tralla who introduces a queer-feminist perspective and focuses on social issues as well as questions related to identity, and Sigrid Viir who tackles the established norms and assumptions of human life, analysing them through humour and the absurd.
Among the international artists, the Swedish-British author Eva Stenram examines ways bodies are represented and concealed by digitally manipulating historical erotic photographs. The Italian artist Giovanna Petrocchi creates landscapes that combine futuristic and primitive worlds, as well as history and fiction, while the Polish artist Mia Dudek focuses on the relationship between bodies and architecture, drawing inspiration from the large-panel-system architecture of Eastern Europe.
“The exhibition approaches photography across disciplines – all artworks are based in photography, yet their modes of expression range from installations and digital collages to sculptural objects. We want to explore how photography can operate not only as a visual image but as a sculptural element that shapes space and intervenes in our experience of it,” added Stephensen.
The international contemporary art biennial Tallinn Photomonth will be held this year for the eighth time, from 5 September to 31 October. Programme info will be updated within the coming months. Tallinn Photomonth is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the City of Tallinn. The main organizer of the biennial is the Estonian Union of Photography Artists (FOKU).