Kumu 19
The Kumu Art Museum is celebrating its 19th birthday amidst Estonian art!
The brightest pearls of Estonian art are at the centre of Kumu’s birthday programme on 15‒16 February. The programme will focus on the museum’s unique permanent exhibitions of Estonian art and on stories about the birth of the Estonian bourgeoisie, unfolding on the last weekend of the hit exhibition “The Life and Death of Mr. N: Bourgeois Spaces by Urmas Lüüs”.
The programme on Saturday, 15 February, will focus on the exhibition “The Life and Death of Mr. N”. This is the last opportunity to discover the exhibition, with the artist Urmas Lüüs and the curator Eero Epner, and to experience sculptures brought out from the depositories of the Art Museum of Estonia under the guidance of the keeper of the sculpture collection, Juta Kivimäe. You can also listen to a discussion of bourgeois and decadent phenomena in Estonian art and literature in the 1920s‒1930s. In addition, visitors of all age groups are invited to participate in an open workshop inspired by Urmas Lüüs’s oeuvre, where small souvenirs or accessories will be crafted from various found objects, thus giving second-hand materials new life.
On Sunday, 16 February, we invite all art connoisseurs to rediscover Estonian art classics, works from the Soviet period and from the 1990s at the permanent exhibitions of Kumu. There will be new art on display in the atrium, too: Erki Kasemets’s “LIFE-FILE” (1989–2024), made of overpainted beverage containers. You can listen to a short presentation on the works every hour on the hour, and children and families are welcome to participate in an open workshop inspired by it. In addition, families with children are invited to attend the family morning “Party of Faces”, linked to Enn Põldroos’s comprehensive solo exhibition, where special attention is paid to portraits and self-portraits.
The tour taking place on Monday, 17 February, will offer insights into the architecture of Kumu and unveil things happening behind the scenes: fascinating facts about the origins and history of Kumu, the vision of the architect and the architectural history of the surrounding area will be shared.
Discounts
On 15–16 February, tickets will be available at a special birthday price of 9 € for all visitors; the price of a family ticket will be 19 €, and all Kumu souvenirs and books in the museum’s shop or e-shop will be available at a special offer of -15%. The Kumu annual pass will be available at a special price of 45 € to purchase a new card and 43 € to extend an existing card.
Programme
Would you like to discover the permanent exhibitions of Kumu on your own? The Friend Tour Map will take you on a journey either with a friend or alone. The map is available at the ticket office and on the Kumu website.
Saturday, 15 February
11:00 Children’s programme “Tasapisi”: An Artist Inspiring an Artist, in Estonian
12:00 Thematic tour: Sculptures in Mr. N’s House Museum, Juta Kivimäe, in Estonian
13:00 Guided tour led by the artist and the curator of the exhibition “The Life and Death of Mr. N: Bourgeois Spaces by Urmas Lüüs”, Urmas Lüüs and Eero Epner, in Estonian
14:00‒16:00 Open workshop: Give new life to a found object
16:00 Discussion: “Bourgeoisie and Decadence”, Tiina Abel, Tiit Hennoste, Eneken Laanes and Lola Annabel Kass. The discussion will be moderated by Eero Epner, in Estonian
Sunday, 16 February
12:00‒17:00 Every hour on the hour a short introduction of Erki Kasemets’s installation “LIFE-FILE” (1989–2024) in the Kumu atrium.
12:00 Family Morning: Party of Faces, in Russian
13:00–15:00 Open workshop for children and families: Painting milk cartons
13:00 Guided tour of the permanent exhibition “Landscapes of Identity”, Kadi Polli, in Estonian
14:00 Guided tour of the permanent exhibition “Conflicts and Adaptations”, Darja Andrejeva, in Estonian
14:00 Family Morning: Party of Faces, in Estonian
15:00 Guide tour of the permanent exhibition “The Future is in One Hour”, Brigita Reinert, in Estonian
15:00 ArtWalk at the exhibition “Enn Põldroos: Museum of Obsessions”, Robin Koljak, in English
Monday, 17 February
16:00 Discover the architecture of Kumu: a birthday special! 18:00 Discover the architecture of Kumu: a birthday special! NB! Tickets granting access to the guided tours on Monday, 17 February are available only in museum’s e-shop and not at the ticket office. This event is in Estonian.
