New exhibitions in Tallinn's museums
13.10.2021
visittallinn.ee
As the leaves fall, the evenings quickly fade and the first frosts arrive, the time for cosy indoor activities is upon us. Tallinn's museums feature new exhibitions showcasing living classics in painting, photography and applied arts, addressing the impact of the 2000's on art and contemplating what kind of natural and urban environment we truly desire and how we can shape our future. The new Kalamaja Museum invites you to get to know the local community.
Did you know that the Tallinn Card provides free access to all the museums mentioned in this article? The card also lets you use public transport and offers several other discounts. One adult card will allow you to take two children under the age of seven with you for free. Buying online saves you €1 on every card.
History
Estonian History Museum and Vabamu
This year is the 30th anniversary of the Restoration of Independence of Estonia (20 August). Take some time off and visit the permanent exhibition of the Estonian History Museum in Maarjamäe Palace or the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom at the foot of Toompea Castle. The substantial permanent exhibitions help visitors remember, better understand and interpret Estonia’s long and often very difficult road to its restoration of independence. Freedom is fragile and should never be taken for granted.
Good to know: Maarjamäe Palace features an exhibition for children – The Children’s Republic – where children can learn how a state functions through a variety of games and activities.
Tallinn City Museum: Indecent Tallinn
The City Museum’s new exhibition peeks into the bedrooms and behind the closed doors of the capital. The focus of the exhibition is on desires, sexual behaviour and prostitution from the 15th century until World War II. Visitors are presented with the various aspects of Tallinn’s ‘indecent’ life, eroticism and pornography. The exhibition invites you to understand and rethink the taboos related to sexuality.
The exhibition is open until 2 April 2022.
Seaplane Harbour: Hell on the Baltic Sea. Juminda Maritime Tragedy 1941
Did you know that one of the greatest maritime tragedies in history took place in Estonian coastal waters on 27 August 1941 when the evacuation of Red Army troops from the German invasion began in Tallinn? The mine battle of Juminda that followed ended in an estimated 15,000 casualties – several times more than Pearl Harbour or Dunkirk. Still, the tragic event is undeservedly little known.
The Seaplane Harbour’s new exhibition ‘Hell on the Baltic Sea’ reveals, through audiovisual installations, the grim background and dramatic events of the catastrophe that took place 80 years ago and the stories of the people and ships caught up in the inferno.
The exhibition is open from 28 August 2021 to 15 January 2022.
Kalamaja Museum: A Village in the Middle of the City. Stories from Kalamaja
The museum's permanent exhibition depicts local life through the composite portraits of six Kalamaja residents. The museum hopes to reveal the essence of Tallinn's oldest suburb to its visitors by showcasing unique stories and fascinating artefacts from its residents.
Architecture
Estonian Museum of Architecture: The Houses We Need
The Estonian Museum of Architecture celebrates its 30th anniversary with a group exhibition, the theme of which is not only ambitious but also extremely relevant to current times: the future of mankind. The architects and artists taking part in the exhibition were tasked with designing a notional house with the aim of ensuring a secure and peaceful future on planet Earth. In other words: To design the houses that we need tomorrow.
The exhibition is open until 21 November 2021.
Museum of Estonian Architecture: OASIS
The interactive exhibition presents a series of micro-environments conceptualised by artists, architects, and designers that act as oases - safe havens of caring in the midst of an increasingly challenging modern world.
This exhibition will run until 9 January 2022.
Photography
Museum of Photography: Peeter Langovits ½ century
The historical rooms of the town jail host an overview of the past 50 years of the creative path of one of Estonia’s most prominent photographers: Peeter Langovits. The exhibition displays the artist’s most important series and projects accompanied by Langovits’ own stories of his development as an artist.
The exhibition will run until 23 January 2022.
Fotografiska: Nick Brandt: This Empty World. Inherit the Dust
Nick Brandt's powerful exhibit looks at the ever-expanding destruction of Africa's wildlife at the hands of humans: wild animals escaping human impact no longer have enough room to survive on the earth. The internationally renowned artist hopes his work will raise awareness, inspire compassion and prompt people to think about what small or big actions could be taken to stop the mass destruction of nature. Nick Brandt was born in London but currently resides in California.
This exhibition will run until 20 February 2022.
Fotografiska: Arno Rafael Minkkinen: Two Hundred Seasons
The Finnish-born American photographer focuses on capturing the deepest essence of the human being. This exhibition brings together works by Arno Rafael Minkkinen from the past 50 years cap-tured in 30 different countries, yet it does not feel like a historical retrospective, as his style is time-less and aesthetic. This exhibition will immerse you in a sensory journey - it features swaying birch-es, owl calls, birdsong and croaking bullfrogs. More than 75 prominent museums have the photogra-pher's work in their collections.
This exhibition will run until 30 January 2022.
Fotografiska: Elina Simonen: From word to image
The exhibition of Elina Simonen, an Estonian-based Finnish photographer, features the collections of young fashion designers from Estonia, Latvia and Finland. The photographs are inspired by the writings of young Estonian, Latvian and Finnish poets.
This exhibition will run until 11 November 2021.
Art and design
Kadriorg Art Museum: From Memling to Rubens. The Golden Age of Flanders
You still have a few weeks to see the works of art history superstars like Hans Memling, Catharina van Hemessen, Frans Floris, Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. The works give an overview of life in 15th- to 17th-century Belgium and the wealth and curiosity of the era.
The exhibition is open until 28 November 2021.
Mikkel Museum: Young Jüri Arrak. Storms and Forms
The Mikkel Museum displays infrequently exhibited and never-before-seen works from Estonian artist Jüri Arrak’s early creative period. Coming from the private collections of Estonian art collectors, the works dating back to the 1960s to 1970s show the development of the artist’s style. A true pearl for admirers of Estonian art!
The exhibition is open from 18 September 2021 to 1 February 2022.
Kumu Art Museum: Art in the Comfort Zone? The 2000s in Estonian Art
The main keywords of the turbulent 1990s in Estonian art were ‘economic boom’, ‘professionalisation’ and ‘internationalisation’ which, in hindsight, have been collectively summarised as ‘normalisation’. This exhibition observes the artists’ main positions and themes.
The exhibition is open from 12 October 2021 to 17 April 2022.
See more: The same floor also features the large video, audio and light installation ‘Phase Shifting Index’ by Berlin-based artist Jeremy Shaw. The exhibition is open until 20 February 2022.
Kumu Art Museum: Universe of the Farmyard. Creators from Southern Estonia
Bringing warmth and colour to the coming autumn is an exhibition dedicated to southern Estonia. The most radical phenomena of early 20th-century Estonian art began there, where artists have gone searching for intimate experiences of nature and spiritual enlightenment. Kumu’s new exhibition tries to get closer to southern Estonia as a unique and rich cultural phenomenon for the first time.
The exhibition is open from 22 October 2021 to 10 April 2022.
Kai Art Centre: Gabriele Beveridge & Marge Monko: Great Pretender
The exhibition features sculpture, photography and video influenced by consumer culture and 20th century advertising materials and displays.
This exhibition will run until 28 November 2021.
Eduard Vilde Museum’s Castellan House Gallery: Ivar Kaasik: La guerre et la pax
The title of the exhibition is borrowed from L.Tolsoi's novel "War and Peace" and features paintings by Ivar Kaasik made in the last ten years. The dominant themes in the exhibition are war and peace, which express the contradictions of our world and society, and the struggle within ourselves.
This exhibition will run until 30 October 2021.
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design: Nought Mood Estonian fashion avant-garde 2000–2010
Do you remember what Estonian high-end fashion looked like 10 or 20 years ago? During the first decade of the 2000s, designers were not guided by the opinions of focus groups or world trends but rather they based their work on their own perception of the world and their need to create. The exhibition is based on the works of 19 Estonian fashion designers.
The exhibition is open from 23 October 2021 to 23 January 2022.
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design: Tarmo Luisk: Less is less
Tarmo Luisk's personal exhibition explores the contradictions of overconsumption, economic growth and the green transition. The designer expresses himself through the objects he creates, which are characterised by simplicity, ambiguity, emotionality, independence, wit and playfulness. Most of the pieces on display were created in the last few years and many are being showcased for the first time.
This exhibition will run until 23 January 2022.
Music and theatre
Estonian Theatre and Music Museum: Andrus Kivirähk: 21 memories
The museum's permanent exhibition has been expanded by a unique audio performance, in which the personal belongings of Estonian theatre and music personalities tell their stories through the texts of Andrus Kivirähk performed by 21 well-known actors. We will hear, for example, Voldemar Panso's sonnet, Ants Lauter's motorbike, David Otto Wirkhaus's cornet as well as many other personal items.
Nature
Tallinn Zoo: New themed paths
The zoo has set up three themed paths ranging from two to four kilometres in length to make visits even more exciting. The twilight (yellow), rarities (orange) and vanity (purple) paths invite you to discover inhabitants of the zoo who, depending on the chosen path, become active in the evening hours, have become truly rare or stand out for their colourful appearance or behaviour.
Tallinn Botanic Garden: Embassy of the Plant Kingdom
The Tallinn Botanic Garden celebrates its 60th anniversary internationally with the opening of The Embassy of the Plant Kingdom. Throughout the event, representatives of various foreign countries who reside in Estonia introduce plants unique to their lands. Every month focuses on a different country. Poland, Georgia and Italy are next in line this autumn while December is dedicated to Finland.
Good to know: Tallinn Zoo, the Botanic Garden, and the Estonian Museum of Natural History offer a universal ticket which is valid throughout the year. It can also be cleverly recycled: The ticket is printed on plantable seed paper which will grow beautiful wildflowers when planted!