Last weekend, we decided to take advantage of being in Tallinn to visit the Kunsti Museum better known as “KUMU”. The building itself is one of the most interesting architechturally speaking, among the city’s modern constructions. A part of it is below ground, but the entrance has a sharp end stiking out in the air. Suprisingly, even in the rooms below the surface, there is a lot of natural light. A perfect showcase for estonian’s modern art, which has followed its own development, marked by soviet times. Whereas some artists tried to copy western ones as a form of protestation, other artists, seperated (physicaly and idiologicaly) with the occidental representations of modern art, found their own original definition. Though we’re not art gallery fanatics, ethnologically, it was interesting to explore how estonian artists have found means of expression throughout the years. There were also some more classic paintings, with portaits of young ladies by the river, peasants ploughing fields, but these too differed from the ones we knew, for the dresses they wore and the sceneries, reminded us the costumes we saw and the landscapes which we passed on our trips around Estonia (I tried to show this quickly in the movie clip). It was not the best museum ever, but we certainly had a nice time and appreciated it better I think, after having spent some time here, knowing a bit more about the history and the people.
