From June 26 to August 13 Kilometre of Sculpture (KoS) featured its first outdoor sculpture exhibition in Rakvere, Estonia. Following a yearlong trajectory with an open call for artists, its outcome and with the addition of selected works, the first iteration of KoS is marked by the exhibition On the Estonian Theatre: Twelve Proposals for Rakvere, which brought together works by twelve national and international artists.
The exhibition coincided with the Baltoscandal international performing arts festival in Rakvere, and in judgingthe tremendous popularity of theatre in Estonia, the exhibition is a rise to the occasion that aims to expand the field of sculpture by seeking for its advancement through artistic practices that explore and activate sculpture in the key of theatre, performance and staging, and vice versa. On the Estonian Theatre: Twelve Proposals for Rakvere brings together works by a new generation of artists that address a certain ‘tension’ within their artistic practices: to strike a balance between the seemingly contradictory mediums of theatre, performance, staging and sculpture. Sculpture, almost per definition, is considered to be a solid and rigid object employed to give lasting form to matter, whereas theatre, performance and the act of staging are essentially fleeting and of a temporal nature.
This group exhibition puts forward twelve proposals that think through the specificities of sculpture and theatre, performance and staging, taking the shape of hybrid objects and events that respond to the nature of the site in Rakvere, inhabit and become part of the fabric of daily life, whilst questioning these mediums and modes of perception and expression simultaneously.
The responses of the participating visual artists, choreographers and stage designers vary considerably, and by being dispersed around different sites in Rakvere, the consequence is that neither medium is resting comfortably in its respective category. Instead, the works can be thought of as stages and stage setups that allow us to think about these mediums more dynamically and dimensionally; the works being loosely connected and retreated at the same time.
Participants: Patrik Aarnivaara (SE), Arthur Arula, Merike Estna (EE), Gundega Evelone (LV), Ulvi Haagensen (EE/AU), Tomi & Vesa Humalisto (fi), Flo Kasearu (EE), Anastasia Parmson (EE), Minna Pöllänen (FI), Kristin Reiman (EE), Pire Sova (EE), Triin Tamm (EE)
Curated by Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk, with Rebeka Poldsam, Merilin Talumaa and Marie Vellevoog