The annual exhibition of the Estonian Painters Union tells unprecedented stories
Text Susanna Poikela
Photos Marie Virta
The Estonian Painters Union’s annual exhibition “Rääkimata lood” (Untold Stories) is on display at Pärnu’s Museum of New Art. A total of 81 artists from the union are participating in the exhibition.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the history of occupation, memories of foreign abuses against individuals and groups, experiences of loss of freedom, and uncertainty about existence resurfaced from the nation’s subconscious. Now, collective trauma has been given the right to exist.
“Despite the oppressive threat of war and the crazy economic situation, there is new breath in the air, a new sense of freedom, the courage to call things by their right names. The phrase ‘unspoken story’ refers to something that has not been talked about before, or that no one has wanted to talk about,” writes Jaan Elken in the exhibition’s introductory text.
The artists of the Estonian Painters Union are not a herd, as the curator of the exhibition writes, but individuals, each with an untold story. In this exhibition, everyone tells their own unique story. There are no categories of joy, sadness, anger or love. The viewer can interpret the stories freely.
