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NOBA Nordic Baltic contemporary art platform

You are cordially invited to the opening of group exhibition “Arcadia”, on January 9 at 7pm, in Infinite life gallery and LVLup! Museum, at ARS House. The exhibition will remain open until February 9.

The thematic and conceptual starting point of the exhibition “Arcadia” is the traditional image of Arcadia – an unattainable, even mythical concept of nature as a beautiful and harmless place, in its midst a human living an idyllic life. Given the impending climate catastrophe, the idealism of Arcadia and nature may seem at first glance naive and absurd. In contemporary art, narratives of dystopia and catastrophe predominate the relationship between nature and humans. However, perhaps the desire for the Arcadia could spur us toward effective action, which could instead prevent the constantly proclaimed end of the world. Taking a contemporary look at the myth of Arcadia, the exhibition calls for a greater emphasis on the relationship between human and nature. The exhibition contemplates the forms in which the Arcadian ideal landscape still lives on today. Are we able to visualize an ideal landscape that meets the expectations, dreams, and needs of today’s person in relation to the landscape? To what extent are we influenced by the cultural representations we’ve experienced while perceiving and imagining landscapes? Considering the ambivalent relationship between human and nature, the exhibition “Arcadia” looks at how to depict the modern ideal landscape and what are the ways of interacting with the landscape that affect this depiction.

The programme of events accompanying the exhibition examines how Arcadia manifests today. A sound art evening “Arcadia in Sounds” takes place on January 17th at 7pm, during which various soundscapes can be experienced. In addition, a foraging workshop will be held by Metsik Toit and an environmental protection themed evening will be organized in cooperation with representatives of Estonian Forest Aid. The exact dates of the events will be announced soon. To conclude the exhibition, an excursion to Lilleorg titled “Exploring the inner world by drawing”, conducted by Kadri Kangilaski and Toomas Tõnissoo, will take place on February 9th. Those interested will have the opportunity to explore the ecovillage there as an example of modern day Arcadia. Information about the excursion will also be announced soon.

Participating artists: Bita Razavi, Johanna Ruukholm & Katarina Kruus, Helle Ly Tomberg, Kristen Rästas, Moonika Maidre, Anna Kaarma, Bruno Quast & Jose Aldemar Muñoz, Sarah Elizabeth Johnston.

Curators: Brigit Arop, Kleer Keret Tali, Laura Elisabeth Konsand, Magdaleena Maasik, Maria Ravaev, Olesja Semenkova.

Graphic design: Elisabeth Juusu, Mikk Oja

Supported by: LVLup! museum, Estonian Academy of Arts, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Nobenaps

We want to thank: Anders Härm, EKKM, Camille Laurelli, Sigrid Liira, Andrejs Rusinovskis, Indrek Sirkel, Aksel Haagensen, Risto Rõõmus, Patrick Zavadskis, Tiit Konsand, Herko-Rasmus Servet, Mihkel Peterson

The group exhibition “Arcadia” is a joint project of the curatorial students of the Estonian Academy of Arts, supervised by Anders Härm.

Gallery name: Infinite life gallery

Address: Pärnu mnt 154 - inside ARS House, Tallinn

Opening hours: Tue-Thu 15:00 - 20:00, Fri-Sat 15:00 - 22:00, Sun 15:00 - 18:00

Open: 09.01.2020 - 09.02.2020