On April 30, 2025, the solo exhibition CONTRACT by Anita Kremm, recipient of the 2024 EKA Young Artist Award, opened at Hobusepea gallery. The exhibition is curated by Ene-Liis Semper.
Dear Aska,
When you wake up, you begin your day as Anita Kremm.
In this diary, I’ve written down everything I know about myself, passing my thoughts and knowledge on to you.
Carry this diary with you, and if you wish, feel free to add your own reflections in the notes.
Enjoy!
Anita
Anita Kremm has been working with the theme of contracts since 2021. Since then, she has conducted a series of practical experiments, entering into contracts on a wide variety of topics and in various formats: a contract signed in blood, in which participants commit to revealing the most violent act from their past. A birthday contract, wherein all guests bring the birthday person a book they are then required to read throughout the course of the evening. A debt contract, in which both parties agree to a mutual debt relationship, which can only be resolved by performing the specified act or surrendering an object as described in the contract. And so forth. All contracts are valid under current legislation and binding upon mutual agreement between the parties. According to Anita, this artistic trajectory emerged as a response to the COVID-19 era: “I felt I needed a deeper understanding of people and how they function. I felt that everything I knew was merely the surface.”
The current exhibition centres around a contract made between the artist and a volunteer, to whom she transferred her entire external identity for a 24-hour period: her apartment, clothing, eating habits, daily routines, phone, computer, and all social and familial contacts.
A video documentation of the experiment invites viewers to reflect on questions such as: What constitutes the self? What defines me? Does the self require external identity to be recognised? Or is the self formed through this external framework? What personal and general agreements define our sense of self? Etc.
When greeting my grandparents, I raise my arms wide as if giving a big hug and say:
“Ooooo, privet dedulya, ooooo, privet babulya!”
(“Oooo, hello Grandpa, hello Grandma!”)
Firstly, we hug. They have a dog named Gucci, and I usually call him Gucman (pronounced “goochman”), or sometimes I yell:
“Ooooo, Guccikaaa!”
He’s the kind of dog who growls all the time, but out of love. I let him sniff my hands for him to get used to me, and if he agrees to it, I pet him.
Grandmother starts cooking, and grandfather jokes:
“Well well, getting fed on the old folks’ tab again, huh?”
I usually ask them how they find retired life.
“Kak vasha pensionerskaya zhizn?”
At the table, I talk about what I did this week and what I plan for tomorrow.
I say something like:
“Yesterday there was a rehearsal at the Russian Theatre. The actors read through the script, then I met with the graphical designer to discuss the performance poster. A cat will be on the poster. I took a photo of the cat myself.”
In Russian:
“Vchera byla v russkom teatre repeticya. Aktery chetali tekst. Potom ya vstretilas s dizainerom i my obsuzhdali plakat predstavlenya. Na plakate budet kochka i ya yeye sfotografirovala.”
I show them the photo since grandmother likes that kind of photos.
My grandfather is a fisherman, so we often eat fish. I always give the dog a few bites from the table.
After eating, we play dominoes. Now that is a sacred ritual. No one leaves the house without playing. I hold the dominoes in my hand like grandfather does, while grandmother and mom prefer to keep theirs in the box. That’s how we play.
When it’s time to leave, I hug them again and say see you soon:
“Skoro uvidemsya!”
When leaving, it’s usually easier to order a Bolt, because I need to stop by the grocery store. I usually like going to Torupilli Selver.
When ordering a Bolt, please select payment with my company account ending in 5056.
The exhibition remains on view until May 26, 2025.Anita Kremm (1998) is an interdisciplinary artist working in photography, theatre, film, video, and performance. While engaging with various styles and mediums, her work consistently focuses on interpersonal relationships, and the boundaries between the familiar and unfamiliar, the everyday and uncanny. By disrupting daily routines and pushing beyond comfort zones, she creates extraordinary moments, provokes the everyday, and welcomes the unknown into familiar spaces. Her works have been exhibited in Tallinn, Helsinki, Moscow, Weimar, Graz, and Prague, and her experimental short films have been screened at multiple European festivals. Her master’s thesis, Me/Her – In Dialogue with Julia Kristeva, was awarded the EKA Young Artist Award in 2024.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia & COBALT Law Firm.
The artist’s gratitude goes to: Irina Kremm ja Vladislav Kremm, Ljudmilla ja Hariton Drajev, Jakob Juksaar, Mia Maria Rohumaa, Aksel Haagensen, Karin Allik, Eva Mari Mahhov, Ele Mall Vainomäe, Mihhail, Tõnu Hiielaid, Oliver Reimann, Anette Pärn, Mark Raidpere, Peeter Kutman, Kanuti Gildi Saali perekond, Still Frame OÜ, Trage OÜ, DEVIIS OÜ, EKKM.
Exhibitions in Hobusepea gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, and Liviko AS.
Hobusepea
Exhibition by Anita Kremm
Curated by Ene-Liis Semper
Title: CONTRACT
Open: 30.04.-26.05.2025
Hobusepea Gallery, Hobusepea 2, Tallinn.
Wed-Mon 11.00-18.00
Photos by Anna Mari Liivrand
