Exhibition “Keeping things in the dark, again”

Join us for the exhibition “Keeping things in the dark, again” opening on September 22, 5 pm!
 
Anna Škodenko, Darja Popolitova, Viktor Gurov and Francisco Martínez 
22.09—25.10.2023
Opening: 22.09 at 5 pm

“Keeping things in the dark again” is a collectively curated art project, based on ethnographic research. The exhibition at the EKA gallery is the final part of a trilogy, which reflects on the correlation between public secrets and shadow spaces in Ida-Virumaa. Over the past three years, we have visited 37 basements, exploring the underground material culture of this post-industrial, Russian-speaking, ecologically devastated region. A four-artist installation has been the first outcome of our collective work, which was exhibited in the Riga Art Space (2022) and at the Sillamäe Museum (2023).

What had been concealed and kept in the dark has a particular efficacy while resurfacing and being on display. This exhibition presents different instances of this, reflecting on material hoarding, messages for the future, existentialist aesthetics and shelters where to test different sides of the self. People need hideouts and places to store things in the dark. The main installation deals with this issue and is composed of 4 parts: the ‘Cellar Door’ video installation in which Jelena guides us around her cellar in Kohtla-Järve; the audio-visual sculpture titled ‘Баю-бай’ introduces a surreal video located in a sculpture in the form of a stroller; the visual representation ‘Sartre downstairs’ of various existential messages found in local basements; and ‘Subterranean biographies’, which displays a series of extracted objects alongside personal stories.

Anna Škodenko (b. 1986) is a multidisciplinary artist and guest lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her work is characterized by a lyrical and analytical approach to the medium and the visual image.

Darja Popolitova (b. 1989) is a multidisciplinary artist, guest lecturer and doctoral student at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Darja creates jewellery and video installations on the topic of digital culture, mixing it with pseudo-magical aesthetics.

Viktor Gurov (b. 1989) is an artist and graphic designer interested in urban landscapes and decommissioned places. He works as creative director of the Estonian National Library.

Francisco Martínez (b. 1982) is an anthropologist of Tampere University dealing with contemporary issues of material culture through ethnographic experiments. In 2018, he was awarded with the Early Career Prize of the European Association of Social Anthropologists.

Additional information:
EKA Gallery
Põhja puiestee 7, Tallinn 10412
Tue–Sat 12.00–18.00
www.artun.ee/ekagalerii