A book accompanying the Kumu Art Museum’s new permanent exhibition is now available in Estonian and English

The book introduces the Kumu Art Museum’s new permanent exhibition Landscapes of Identity: Estonian Art 1700–1945, opened in February 2021 on the 3rd floor of the museum.

This exhibition guide helps the reader understand Estonia’s multi-ethnic history and heritage, which combines Estonian, Baltic German and Russian traditions. It explores various identity-forming symbols employed by artists throughout the centuries, from the Baltic German and Russian Imperial era to the interwar Republic of Estonia and the Soviet period. The themes featured include the connections between Baltic German and Estonian visual culture, the meanings of artworks in the young Estonian nation state, visions of modern life in the 1920s and 1930s, the voices of women artists, and art in the authoritarian era of the 1930s and during the Second World War. Special prominence is given to the emergence of local “landscapes of identity”. The exhibition also looks at how the visual construction of identities has been influenced by professional and amateur artists, by design and graphic design and by the development of professional art education. The book presents over 40 landmark artworks from Estonian art history.

Edited and written by Linda Kaljundi and Kadi Polli

Graphic design and image editing by Tuuli Aule

The books are available for purchase at the Kumu museum shop and the Art Museum of Estonia’s online shop.