The starting point for When You Say We Belong To The Light We Belong To The Thunder – the opening exhibition of Tallinn Photomonth contemporary art biennial – is the question how psychological reactions to climate chaos are influencing real life politics. The display proposes an imaginary study of the notions of ‘owning’ and ‘belonging’ in relation to soil.
While recent decades were marked by the drive to disconnect from physical locations, ideas of place and belonging seem to have seen something of a revival, both in a renewed care for the planet but also in increasingly harsh migration policies. The inquiry focuses on how images regarding the units that we belong to – the world, the nation state, the family – have implications for our level of care.
The title is borrowed from the lyrics of the 1985 pop song We Belong by Pat Benatar. Months after We Belong towered in pop charts in the West, Mikhail Gorbachev announced Perestroika, which made it possible for Estonians to openly protest their belonging to the Soviet Union, and a large ecological movement became the catalyst for Estonian independence. Embedded in local and global research, the exhibition studies the intruding pull of nationalism in relation to ecological concerns.
When You Say We Belong To The Light We Belong To The Thunder
7 September – 20 October, 2019
Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM)
Põhja pst. 35, Tallinn
Curator: Heidi Ballet
Artists: Angela Anderson, Angela Melitopoulos, Adam Avikainen, Cian Dayrit, Jonathas de Andrade, Bram Demunter, Silje Figenschou Thoresen, James T. Hong, Edith Karlson, Ana Mendieta, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Maarten, Vanden Eynde and Musasa, Ana Vaz, Tristan Bera.
Research contributions by Marika Agu and Francisco Martinez, Konstantinos Doumpenidis, Tanel Rander.
Supported by: British Council, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Foundation for Arts Initiatives, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Estonia
Exhibition view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
We Belong, 1984, Performed by Pat Benatar, written by David Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro. Video, 3’ 37’’. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Edith Karlson, Short Story, 2019. Skeleton of a seal, greenhouse plastic. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Edith Karlson, Short Story, 2019. Skeleton of a seal, greenhouse plastic. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Edith Karlson, Short Story, 2019. Skeleton of a seal. Detail. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Jonathas de Andrade, O Peixe (The Fish), 2016. 16mm film transferred to 2K video, 37’. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Research installations by Tanel Rander (on the left) and curator Heidi Ballet (on the right).
Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Research installation Fragments of Belonging by the curator Heidi Ballet. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Adam Avikainen, Ginger Glacier, 2019. Series of 24 inkjet prints and an audio recording. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Adam Avikainen, Ginger Glacier, 2019. Series of 24 inkjet prints and an audio recording. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Adam Avikainen, Ginger Glacier, 2019. Detail. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Exhibition view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
James T. Hong, Apologies, 2012–… Video, 85’. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Silje Figenschou Thoresen, Vandret Linje (rester) / Wandering Line (remains), 2017–2019. Ink and oil pastel on paper. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Edith Karlson, Signs, 2019. Reflective fabric, wire, glue. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Exhibition view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Exhibition view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Maarten Vanden Eynde & Musasa, Material Matters (Zn30, Ag47, Au79, Pb82, U92), 2018–2019. Series of paintings, acrylic on linen canvas. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Cian Dayrit, Tree Of Life In The State Of Decay And Rebirth, 2019. Embroidery on textile (in collaboration With Henry Caceres. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Marika Agu & Francisco Martínez, Greetings from Another Land and Another Time, 2019. Research installation. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Marika Agu & Francisco Martínez, Greetings from Another Land and Another Time, 2019. Detail of research installation. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Konstantinos Doumpenidis, Government of Things, 2015–… Research installation. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Konstantinos Doumpenidis, Government of Things, 2015–… Detail of the research installation. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Ana Vaz & Tristan Bera, A Film, Reclaimed, 2015. HD video, 19’. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Exhibition view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
Angela Anderson & Angela Melitopoulos, Unearthing Disaster I, 2013. Video installation, 36’. Installation view at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. Photo: Paul Kuimet.
The exterior of Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM). Photo: Paul Kuimet.