Adapting Modernity: Classics of Estonian Art in the First Half of the 20th Century
In the National Museum in Warsaw, two exhibitions showcasing Estonian art will be opened; „Adapting Modernity: Classics of Estonian Art in the First Half of the 20th Century” and „Provocations and Confrontations“. The two exhibitions are united under the joint title „Art from Estonia“.
According to Tiina Abel, the curator of the exhibition „Adapting Modernity: Classics of Estonian Art in the First Half of the 20th Century”, the aim in putting together the exhibition was to give an overview of the arrival and taking root of modern art in the Estonian cultural space. The exhibition is aimed for a Polish audience and in its creation a foundation was provided by the universals of the history of modernism in Europe – various style terms, the avantgarde, the birth of the modern society, the return to the natural and to the figure during the interwar period, as well as the rise of nationalism.
„A special emphasis is set on the creations of Konrad Mägi, Eduard Wiiralt and the members of the Group of Estonian Artists (EKR), who have always emerged as the leading cross-border ambassadors of Estonian art in the foreign exhibitions organised by the Art Museum of Estonia,“ affirmed Tiina Abel.
Along with the opening of the exhibition comes an extensive culture program, which introduces the Estonian-Polish art relations, literature and ethnography. Various lectures, music events, film screenings and family events will be taking place.
The Estonian art themed exhibitions will be accompanied by exhibition catalogues with texts in both Polish and English.
The exhibitions were organised in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Warsaw, Poland.
The two exhibitions are a continuation of the collaboration between the Art Museum of Estonia and Polish art institutions that began in 2007, when the exceptionally successful exhibition „Metaphore and Myth. Literary and Historical Motifs in Polish Art at the Turn of the 19th Century“, put together by the National Museum in Szczecin. was exhibited in Estonia.
See also: „Provocations and Confrontations” .
