Group exhibition “Under Pressure”

You are invited to the opening of the group exhibition Under Pressure on Friday, September 12th at 6:00 PM at Lasnamäe Pavilion. Under Pressure explores how societal norms and expectations shape human life, health, and identity, revealing both visible and hidden tensions.
 
The exhibition features works by Karl Joonas Alamaa, Charles Borchardt, Jessie Bullivant, Erik Hõim, Linda Mai Kari, Flo Kasearu, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, Mall Paris, Arle Saar, Inari Sandell, and Rimaldas Vikšraitis. The exhibition is curated by Siim Preiman.
 
Once upon a time, there was a completely normal person. More than anything in the world, they loved to sleep at least seven hours a night and consume approximately 2,000 kilocalories per day. They spent a quarter of their life in various educational institutions, where, alongside hundreds, if not thousands, of other normal people, they learned all sorts of things. Not necessarily things that particularly interested them or that they were exceptionally good at, but rather those dictated by the curriculum. As an adult, after finishing school, they spent a third of their time – which means about half of their waking hours – working for someone else. To ensure they performed well at their job, they regularly visited doctors who measured, examined, and, when necessary, fine-tuned them. Thanks to this, the work capacity of this normal person remained at a fairly high level for several decades. At some point, they met another normal person of the opposite sex, and they had up to three normal children together. And so, they learned and worked until the end of their days, never once stopping to think that things could be or should be different. Do you know this person?
 
Under Pressure grows out of the idea that just as a growing plant does not know whether it is a flower or a weed, a human being at birth cannot foresee what forces and conditions will begin to shape them. The paintings, sculptures, photographs, and videos displayed in the clockwise-moving exhibition within the pink circle of the Art Hall building in Lasnamäe address power, mental health, neurodiversity, gender roles, and family.
 
According to the social model of disability, the issue is not that an individual is lacking something, but rather that society lacks the necessary support for those who differ in one way or another. The real problem, then, is the existing system, which, with its narrow definition of normality, burdens an inherently diverse humanity and, in doing so, effectively produces more and more people with serious health issues and disabilities each year. The key to the exhibition lies in accepting the fact that the prevailing norm can always be poked, expanded, and questioned. 
 
The exhibition will be open until 23 November 2025 at the Lasnamäe Pavilion.

Additional information:
Madli Ljutjuk
Tel: +372  5621 8422
E-mail madli@kunstihoone.ee

Tallinna Art Hall
Jaan Koorti 24, Tallinn
Wed–Sun 12.00–19.00

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