Home of Good Thoughts

The corona crisis forced a lot of us to spend weeks stuck inside our homes. Being in a small and isolated space 24/7 became our reality, a tiny world of our own. Being confined made us anxious and the only way out was the computer screen or our imagination. In social media, jokes about holiday trips to the balcony, gourmet trips to the kitchen or spa-weekends in the bathroom circulated widely. The intimate and limited space became so familiar and so thoroughly felt that being in it acquired a new kind of depth. Just like we can travel in our minds, we can sit on our sofas and imagine that the flat is, indeed, our home town: the living room table is like a city square with busy family members around it, the square is framed by facades of various buildings, convenient roads lead to the residential suburb, restaurant, spa…

The first corona spring has passed and been forgotten, the long and dark corona winter is most likely still ahead. We will once again travel in our minds, lounge in the living room-main square and take walks in the hallway-park… The artists participating in the exhibition “Home of Good Thoughts” have taken time to think about their isolation experience and look for parallels in their home and the city space.

Text by Rael Artel

Artists: Art Allmägi, Eike Eplik, Edith Karlson, Anna Mari Liivrand, Johannes Luik
Curated by Rael Artel
Cast moulding by Bruno Kadak (Tormis Disain OÜ)
Graphic design by Aleksandra Samulenkova
Language editors and translators: Ann Viisileht, Re:finer
Supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the City of Tartu, Pühaste Brewery, Punch Drinks
Kogo Gallery is located at Kastani 42 at the Widget Factory in Tartu and is open Mon – Fri 13–19, Sat 13–18

Rael Artel (1980) is an EKA-educated art historian, who has also studied curating of contemporary art at De Appel. She has curated exhibitions since 2000. Artel has run her own project space (2004–2008), organised the event series Public Preparation (2007–2011, with Airi Triisberg), initiated the contemporary art festival ART IST KUKU NU UT (2010–2014, with Kaisa Eiche) and worked as the director of Tartu Art Museum (2013–2017). She is currently working at the Narva Museum Art Gallery and art production complex Naked Island.

Artists: Art Allmägi, Eike Eplik, Edith Karlson, Anna Mari Liivrand, Johannes Luik; Curated by Rael Artel