May You Be Loved and Protected

“The story of every exhibition begins with the artists that resonate with you. If there happens to be more than one, they indeed have to be excellent artists, so that their simultaneous speech does not become a hammering cacophony in your head. The experience of viewing the works by Dénes Farkas, Tõnis Saadoja and Jevgeni Zolotko has been more powerful than speech. Rather, it resembles a flood where you have to keep your mouth shut to stay afloat. ‘Our own’ Hungarian Dénes Farkas, ‘our own’ Russian Jevgeni Zolotko and ‘our own’ Estonian Tõnis Saadoja present a powerful cross-section of the modest potential of the diversity of Estonian society. In speaking about themselves, the three solitary creators also manage to speak about something much greater,” says Tamara Luuk, curator of the exhibition.

The meaning and symbolism of works on display is deeply rooted in emotional memory. They stubbornly resist all ideological connotations and the moving sands of changing interpretations. The foundation of human condition – childhood memories, feelings of fear, faith and doubt, longing for wholeness and sanity are lived by everyone, even if they are hidden in the background or in the grey areas of pragmatic, philosophical or political thought. Art is often the only place where these messages from deep inside can be expressed and where the perceived weakness becomes strength.