The first children-oriented exhibition at Kumu

Starting on Friday, 17 October, Kumu will host the exhibition Tu and Whozzy, created especially for children. This playful exhibition expands on the permanent exhibition of older Estonian art, Landscapes of Identity: Estonian Art 1700–1945, and invites visitors to join the characters Tu and Whozzy in discovering how art reflects who we are, helping them to understand themselves and others better.

The exhibition features over 30 works, including paintings by the renowned masters Johann Köler, Paul Raud, Karl Pärsimägi, Konrad Mägi, Olga Terri and many others. It also showcases sculptures by Jaan Koort and Ferdi Sannamees, greats of Estonian sculpture, as well as the contemporary sculptor Edith Karlsson. The children of the Kumu Art Studio helped in the selection of the works.

“The Kumu Education Centre has organised hundreds of museum lessons and public events in Kumu over the past 20 years, along with creating numerous hands-on spaces and activity sheets to accompany exhibitions. However, an exhibition specifically for children had yet to be realised. Now this big dream has come true,” said Anu Lüsi, one of the curators of the exhibition and the curator of the Kumu Education Centre educational programmes.

“While the exhibition has been designed with younger schoolchildren in mind, we warmly welcome visitors of all ages, including adults. We are delighted to present several exciting works brought out from the storerooms of the Art Museum of Estonia,” added Darja Andrejeva, a curator of the exhibition and the keeper of the Painting Collection of the Art Museum of Estonia.

The entire exhibition is designed at a child’s eye level, inviting young visitors to look, listen and discover. The multi-level space provides opportunities to explore art from various perspectives: high and low, up close and far away, standing or lying down.

In addition, visitors can complete a MyPASSPORT activity sheet with tasks that explain the works and themes of the exhibition.

During the first week of the exhibition, 18–26 October, which is also a school break, various family activities will be held every day: exhibition introductions, joint tours with MyPASSPORT, and themed workshops at the Kumu Education Centre, where children can make their own crowns, draw self-portraits and much more.

The exhibition Tu and Whozzy will remain open in the project space of the permanent exhibition Landscapes of Identity until autumn 2027. The exhibition was compiled in anticipation of Kumu’s 20th anniversary in 2026, to celebrate the jubilee together with children.

The project received support from the Estonian National Heritage Board’s accelerator programme for museums.

Curators: Darja Andrejeva and Anu Lüsi
Exhibition design: Valge Kuup
Graphic design: Asko Künnap

Additional info on the exhibition: https://kunstimuuseum.ekm.ee/en/syndmus/tu-and-whozzy/

Additional info on the school break programme: https://kunstimuuseum.ekm.ee/en/syndmus/discover-art-with-tu-and-whozzy-school-break-programme/