Tartmus’s exhibition “The Eloquent Body” creates a dialogue between bodies and language.
On 23 March at 18:00 Tartu Art Museum will open the exhibition “The Eloquent Body. Works from the Collections of Tartu Art Museum”, which focuses on corporeal communication and the depiction of the body as a means of articulation throughout art history, emphasising the non-verbal component of self-expression.
The exhibition includes works by the following artists:
Adamson-Eric, Jüri Arrak, Eerik Haamer, Kristiina Hansen, Oskar Kallis, Alice Kask, Karin Luts, Friedrich Ludwig von Maydell, Herkki-Erich Merila, Marge Monko, Erik Obermann, Kristjan Raud, Johannes Saal, Ene-Liis Semper, Ülo Sooster, Anton Starkopf, Olev Subbi, Nikolai Triik, Ado Vabbe, Carl Sigismund Walther, Eduard Wiiralt et al.
Curator: Tiina Abel
The exhibition “The Eloquent Body” introduces the rich collections of Tartmus and has been compiled by the art historian Tiina Abel, who worked for a number of years at the Art Museum of Estonia. Due to its expressiveness, the human figure has been used by artists for centuries as an important object of depiction and as a channel for communicating their messages. The curator uses this understanding to emphasise the aspect of physical beauty that is evident in nude figures, as well as the special place that the body holds in people’s self-determination, in relations of power and in expressions of emotion.
“The artistic interpretations of the body provoke us to discuss the methods of depicting and viewing high and low art, to examine the political, ideological and gender aspects of the representation of the body,” says Abel. “I have chosen aspects of the depiction of the body that allowed me to bring together works that have been created in very different political atmosphere and periods of art history over the course of two centuries.”
The seven-month-long exhibition uses the themes “The Eloquent Body”, “Power and Violence”, “Metamorphoses” and “Instrument of Beauty and Yearning” to open up different possibilities of artistic depiction of the body.
Tartmus has also published a book containing reproductions of exhibited works and short articles about the themes of the exhibition by Tiina Abel and the curator Anu Allas from the Art Museum of Estonia.
Compiler: Tiina Abel
Design: Tuuli Aule
Authors: Tiina Abel and Anu Allas (Kumu Art Museum)
Translators: Darja Andrejeva, Julia Polujanenkova and Peeter Talvistu
Editors: Dana Karjatse, Richard Adang, Dan Rotar and Olesja Rotar
The publication is in Estonian, English and Russian.
The exhibition is accompanied by an education programme for primary and secondary school students that focuses on the expression of different emotions in art and on what emotions can be caused by the visual language of exhibited works. More information: Kristel Sibul, education programmes, kristel@tartmus.ee.
Exhibition team: Nele Ambos, Rael Artel, Karl Feigenbaum, Joanna Hoffmann, Mare Joonsalu, Margus Joonsalu, Hanna-Liis Kont, Heiti Kulmar, Kadri Mägi, Julia Polujanenkova, Peeter Talvistu, Ago Teedemaa, Urmo Teekivi and Piia Õunpuu.
We thank the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the University of Tartu Art Museum.
Additional information:
Hanna-Liis Kont
Manager of Exhibitions Department
Phone: 58817801
Email: hannaliis@tartmus.ee
