Busytinsnips Blog
DANCE OF DEATH & THE SEAGULL. TALLINN, ESTONIA
Dance of Death
The Seagull
Kumu — Art Museum of Estonia
I was lucky enough to visit Tallinn, Estonia last week. Amongst many fascinating things that I experienced, a visit to the extraordinary Kumu, was one of the most thrilling. Kumu is the headquarters of the Art Museum of Estonia and houses both classical and contemporary art.
The complex itself is a work of art — a modern architectural masterpiece. Curves and sharp edges mark out a copper and limestone structure, which is built into the side of a limestone cliff set within Kadriorg Park. It is simply breath taking!
Of the art on display, The Soviet era exhibition (Conflicts and Adaptations. Estonian Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991) was particularly engrossing. However, The Seagull by Villu Jaanisoo, an installation, featuring 87 sculpted heads from children to Joseph Stalin via Estonian folk heroes was utterly compelling. There were archive recordings of interviews with the subjects played simultaneously for a maximum, metaphor-heavy cacophony! It was a strange experience to sit in the room alone with heads and voices.
Finally, St. Nicholas' Church, which houses the Niguliste Museum and the famous Danse Macabre, (painted by Bernt Notke at the end of the 15th century) made an equal impression on me.
The Dance of Death theme is often encountered in late medieval art and literature. One impetus for this was the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the middle of the 14th century. Skeletal figures personifying Death dance alternately to mortals, as a memento mori (reminder of earthly perishability). Mortals are ranked in a hierarchy, starting with the worlds mighty — pope and emperors — and ending with the peasants, the fool or the infant. It was a sobering and humbling moment to stand before it!
The complex itself is a work of art — a modern architectural masterpiece. Curves and sharp edges mark out a copper and limestone structure, which is built into the side of a limestone cliff set within Kadriorg Park. It is simply breath taking!
Of the art on display, The Soviet era exhibition (Conflicts and Adaptations. Estonian Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991) was particularly engrossing. However, The Seagull by Villu Jaanisoo, an installation, featuring 87 sculpted heads from children to Joseph Stalin via Estonian folk heroes was utterly compelling. There were archive recordings of interviews with the subjects played simultaneously for a maximum, metaphor-heavy cacophony! It was a strange experience to sit in the room alone with heads and voices.
Finally, St. Nicholas' Church, which houses the Niguliste Museum and the famous Danse Macabre, (painted by Bernt Notke at the end of the 15th century) made an equal impression on me.
The Dance of Death theme is often encountered in late medieval art and literature. One impetus for this was the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the middle of the 14th century. Skeletal figures personifying Death dance alternately to mortals, as a memento mori (reminder of earthly perishability). Mortals are ranked in a hierarchy, starting with the worlds mighty — pope and emperors — and ending with the peasants, the fool or the infant. It was a sobering and humbling moment to stand before it!
Tallinn was a visual joy :))
