‘Exhibition as Conversation’ curated by Hanna-Liis Kont at the Tartu Art House

On 9 October at 4 PM, the opening of “Exhibition as Conversation” takes place at the Tartu Art House. The exhibition brings together works by five artists from Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Sweden: Kjell Caminha, Cloe Jancis, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Maarit Murka and Diana Tamane. An extensive public programme is part of the exhibition, featuring numerous dialogue partners, including representatives of the European Roma Forum in Estonia,  psychologists, care home residents, a student debate club, and many others. The exhibition is part of the satellite programme of the Tallinn Photomonth contemporary art biennial.

The artists engage with topics such as the self-image and social networks of Roma, the roles of women and parents in society, the transmission of ancestors’ memories, the contradiction between external influences and independent thought, and the representation of communities in public space.  With the aim of sharing thoughts on these themes, raising new questions and discovering diverse viewpoints, the curator and artists involved dialogue partners from various fields and communities.

“Exhibition as Conversation” has grown out of the Ph.D. research by curator Hanna-Liis Kont and enables experimentation with conversation as a curatorial tool:  “My wish is that artists and local communities could interact more with each other. I am convinced that art helps bring about social changes, but for these changes to involve various parties, open dialogue is needed. I propose an exhibition as a conversation to see if such interactions can be fostered by using conversation as a curatorial method.”