2021 issue of the Proceedings of the Art Museum of Estonia, Women Artists in Baltic and Nordic Museums, published

The starting point of the current issue of the Proceedings was the conference Women Artists in Baltic and Nordic Museums, which took place on 5 and 6 March 2020 in the Kumu Art Museum in connection with the exhibition Creating the Self: Emancipating Woman in Estonian and Finnish Art (19 December 2019 – 26 April 2020).

While Creating the Self showed the works of Estonian and Finnish (including Baltic German and Finnish Swedish) women artists, stressing the regional, not the national aspect of art history, the conference extended its focus to all Baltic and Nordic countries. The aim of the conference was to discuss how museums participate in the debate on women artists, and what the specific opportunities, limitations and responsibilities of museums are.

When dealing with historical women artists, it often becomes clear that they not only existed, but were also accepted in their own time, and were sometimes even successful. Often it was not only historical conditions that pushed women artists aside but also the more recent narrative of art historical writing, which highlighted the male artist as the true, autonomous and ingenious author. The study of women artists makes us question the approach to art history as a parade of geniuses and masterpieces, thus reflecting back on male artists, among whom we find many who were similarly disregarded because of certain social conditions or attitudes. Highlighting women artists not only brings up gender issues in art history but also makes us take a critical look at this history as a whole.

The editor of the current issue is Anu Allas (Estonian Academy of Arts). The texts are by Ulla Angkjær Jørgensen, Agnė Narušytė, Baiba Vanaga, Linda Hinners, Jana Kukaine, Ingrid Ruudi, Katrin Kivimaa, Joanna Hoffmann, Julia Polujanenkova, Kadi Polli and Kristiina Tiideberg.

A more detailed introduction to this issue here

The Proceedings are on sale in the museum shops and the online shop of the Art Museum of Estonia.