An Art Exhibition That Challenges the Norms of Womanhood
Text Susanna Poikela Photos Roman-Sten Tõnissoo
The group exhibition “Old Venus” opened on Wednesday, 3 September at Punctum Gallery, drawing a large crowd of art enthusiasts, well-known collectors, and artists. Curated by Lilian Hiob-Küttis, the exhibition explores different aspects of womanhood while simultaneously challenging conventional norms. It investigates the ideal of the female body as a cultural construct.
Featured artists include Sirje Runge, Terje Ojaver, Kate Cooper, Cloe Jancis, Maarja Mäemets, and Johanna Mudist.
“The artists explore different dimensions of womanhood as a feminist mood-breaker—as described by writer and scholar Sara Ahmed—a figure who disrupts norms through her bare presence,” says Hiob-Küttis.
The exhibition’s title piece, Old Venus by Sirje Runge, is a photograph depicting the archetypal ideal of a mature woman. The entire exhibition addresses the arc of human development, marked by contradictions, rejection, learning, care, cruelty, sisterhood, and joy.
The exhibition draws inspiration from N.K. Jemisin’s sci-fi trilogy “Broken Earth”, in which the main character Essun, a middle-aged woman with seismic powers, fights to survive in a crumbling world while searching for her daughter. The narrative intertwines with her younger selves, Damaya and Syenite, progressing through violence, control, and ultimately, the breaking of societal norms.
“In Jemisin’s world—as in ours—the Earth and female characters rebel against systematic oppression,” Hiob-Küttis adds.
The group exhibition will be on view until 2 November, 2025, at Punctum Gallery, and is part of the Tallinn Photomonth 2025 festival programme.
More information about the exhibition is available here.
Punctum Gallery, located in Noblessner, focuses on contemporary art—especially photography—but is open to all art forms. The gallery highlights relevant artists and phenomena and acts as a voice for the art world within society.
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