Echo Gone Wrong Photo reportage from the exhibition ‘Let me dream once more’ at Narva Museum Art Gallery

The exhibition ‘Let me dream once more’ is open at Narva Museum Art Gallery, which touches on dreaming, forgetting, memory and remembering, being together and reflecting on the moment.

The exhibition brings the works of five important contemporary Estonian artists – Merike Estna, Kristi Kongi, Kaarel Kurismaa, Holger Loodus and Anna Škodenko – to the Art Gallery. The older works of the artists and the works created specifically for this exhibition are exhibited side by side, which gives the viewer the opportunity to observe the artist’s work as a process that continues over time. The first higher education obtained by most artists is a painter’s education, so we could essentially label this as a painting exhibition. We see classical painting, its developments in other media as well as a highly playful attitude towards colour and light.

“This exhibition is about presence, being, remembering, recalling, memory,” painter and curator Kristi Kongi describes the exhibition. “Each artist creates an independent, individual narrative between other stories. At the same time, all of the works together form a complete story, a story about dreaming. When remembering the past, a new truth emerges every time. Perhaps it could be a person’s vision of time, constructing their own identity. Are they thinking, being, losing themselves? The connecting link of the exhibition is the phrase used in the title: let me dream once again.”

The exhibition ‘Let me dream once more’ is accompanied by a small brochure introducing the artists, published in Estonian and Russian.

The exhibition ‘Let me dream once more’ will remain open at Narva Museum Art Gallery until 21 February 2021.

Exhibition team:
Curator and designer: Kristi Kongi
Artists: Merike Estna, Kristi Kongi, Kaarel Kurismaa, Holger Loodus, Anna Škodenko
Graphic designer: Viktor Gurov
Coordinator: Rael Artel

Acknowledgements: Heldur Hammer, Härmo Härm, Mihkel Ilus, Mari Kurismaa, Ahti Lill, Tõnu Narro, Tanel Pailale, Elena Past, Elmira Škodenko

Contributors: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Academy of Arts painting department, Akzo Nobel and Indrek Naaris, Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art, Narva Art Residency and Ann Mirjam Vaikla

Anna Škodenko and Kaarel Kurismaa. Group exhibition ‘Let me dream once more’, Narva Museum Art Gallery, Narva, Estonia. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Anna Škodenko. ‘For my Mother’. 2010. Installation. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Anna Škodenko. ‘Two-tongued in both senses’. 2020. Installation. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

‘Let me dream once more’. Narva Museum Art Gallery 2020-21. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Holger Loodus. ‘Ghost Light I’. 2020. ‘Ghost Light III’. 2020. Oil on canvas. Photo: Holger Loodus

Holger Loodus. ‘Monkeyshines’. 2020. Installation. Photo: Holger Loodus

Holger Loodus. ‘Walking the Dog’. 2015. Installation. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Kaarel Kurismaa and Anna Škodenko. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Kaarel Kurismaa. ‘Muffins metronome’. 2016. ‘The Uncle of Clock’. 2020. ‘Whispering waves’ 2001-18. ‘Timer 3,4’ .2017. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Kristi Kongi. ‘Imaginary creatures at twilight’. 2020. Painting installation. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Kristi Kongi. Lost time in this Blue landscape. 2019. Kristi Kongi. I felt the clouds above my head. It was shimmering and had a deep violet sense. 2019. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

‘Let me dream once more’, Narva Museum Art Gallery 2020-2021. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Merike Estna. Forever apart. 2020. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Merike Estna. ‘Together forever’. 2020. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Merike Estna. ‘Spring’. 2020, detail. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Merike Estna. ‘Spring’. 2020. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

Merike Estna. ‘Trapped in Memory and Lost in Gaze’. 2019. ‘Double Trap’. 2019. ‘Irreversible Past and Present’. 2019. Photo: Stanislav Stepashko

IMPORTANT PRACTICAL INFORMATION:

Trains run from Tallinn to Narva four times a day, with tickets costing around 10 euros. Visit elron.ee for details and enjoy a great day in Narva!
Narva Museum Art Gallery at Vestervalli 21 is open from 11:00-20:00 on Wednesdays and from 11:00-18:00 Thursday-Sunday.