21.10.2025 | Culture

Major Exhibition “Spiegel im Spiegel” at Kumu

Text Susanna Poikela

Otto Dix (1891–1969). “Longing. Self-Portrait” 1918/1919. Oil on canvas. © Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Photo: Ursula-Maria Hoffmann. © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

At the Kumu Art Museum, on Friday, 24 October, the grand international exhibition “Spiegel im Spiegel. Encounters Between Estonian and German Art from Lucas Cranach to Arvo Pärt and Gerhard Richter” will open. The exhibition is a joint project between the Art Museum of Estonia and the Dresden State Art Collections. After being displayed in Germany during the summer, it now arrives in Tallinn. It is also the largest joint exhibition of Estonian art ever held in Germany.

At the core of the exhibition is a dialogue connecting Gerhard Richter and Arvo Pärt. Both artists have experienced life under socialist regimes, and explored post-war trauma, freedom, and spirituality in their work. For the first time, alongside Richter’s paintings, Pärt’s manuscripts and music journals will also be on display.

The exhibition highlights centuries of artistic connections between Estonia and Germany. Presented side by side are works by, among others, Konrad Mägi and Max Pechstein, Eduard Wiiralt and Otto Dix, as well as Ülo Sooster, Aili Vint, and Joseph Beuys. The exhibition’s curators are Kadi Polli, Marion Ackermann, and Sergey Fofanov.

According to Polli, the exhibition is built around twelve artistic “encounters” that take visitors on a journey from the 13th century to the present day—from Baltic–German nobility and the Tsarist era to Soviet Estonia and socialist Germany. Contemporary art is also included: Kristina Norman explores Hanseatic heritage, while Jaanus Samma examines Estonian and German stereotypes.

In Kumu’s atrium, the work “Hora lupi—The Time of the Wolf” by Edith Karlson, created for the Venice Biennale, will be shown in Estonia for the first time. There will also be a family activity area and screenings of Soviet-era animations featuring Pärt’s music.

Curator-led tours will take place on Saturday, 25 November, at 13:00 in Estonian, and 14:00 in English. A workshop organised by the Arvo Pärt Centre will also be open.