Cancelled! Curator’s tour of Kumu’s new exhibition Guardians of Morality and Women of Passion 13/06/2024 | 18:00

The curator Magdaleena Maasik leads a tour of the exhibition “Guardians of Morality and Women of Passion: The Image of Sex Work in Estonian Art in the First Half of the 20th Century” in Kumu’s Project Space 2.

While sex work remains a controversial subject today, the sale of sexual services has always been a source of livelihood, and has provided inspiration for artists throughout the ages. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, there was a growing interest in sexuality throughout Europe, which was also reflected in visual culture. Through the modern art movements spreading in Germany, especially Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), the theme of sex work soon made its way into Estonian art. How did the Estonian artists portray sex work and how did their work reflect the attitudes prevalent in society at the time? How did male and female artists differ in their approach to this controversial subject? Part of the permanent exhibition “Landscapes of Identity: Estonian Art 1700–1945”, the new project space exhibition delves into a less explored chapter in Estonian art history, taking a contemporary look at the ways in which sex work was portrayed in the art of the first half of the 20th century.

Gallery

1 / 6

1 / 6

The event is part of the public programme of the exhibition “Guardians of Morality and Women of Passion: The Image of Sex Work in Estonian Art in the First Half of the 20th Century”. The exhibition forms part of Kumu’s permanent exhibition “Landscapes of Identity: Estonian Art 1700–1945”.