Laura Põld, Katrin Väli / “Denial”

The Canadian artist Lou Sheppard has written: “Though wonderful and strange objects and ideas emerge from her studio, Põld’s practice is not, necessarily, about doing. Instead it seems to be about becoming a participant in a larger process and her works inquire how we could participate within the networks and systems that surround us.”The authors add: “The world is full of diverse life that is valuable and important. This is not made valuable by us, the people, but the value is contained within itself. The forms that are presumed natural to the human hand by the sensibilities of the artist have proliferated among other species long before humans and hands. This makes maintaining biodiversity an even more pressing question in today’s Estonia where the habitats that have stood for hundreds of years are being thoughtlessly destroyed. Humans should have more empathy towards other beings!”his exhibition is a continuation of two earlier joint projects of Põld and Väli: “Natural Shelter” (2019, Fiskars Village Art and Design Biennial, curator Jenni Nurmenniemi) and “Burrows. Flights” (2019, Hobusepea Gallery, Tallinn).The exhibition has been curated by Peeter Talvistu.The poet and translator Katrin Väli (b 1956, real name Katrin Hallas) lives and works in Tallinn. She has graduated from the Gorki Literature Institute in Moscow and has published twelve collections of poems. Her first collection “Eluase” was published in 1978 and the latest thus far, “Sugulane” in 2018. Her texts have been translated to Russian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, English and Finnish. Väli herself has translated fiction, mainly poetry. Since 1994 she works as a proofreader at the weekly newspaper “Eesti Ekspress”.Laura Põld (b 1984) has studied ceramics at the Estonian Academy of Arts, painting at the University of Tartu and sculptural conceptions and ceramics at the University of Art and Design Linz. Besides Estonia, she has presented her oeuvre, that brings together various media, in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Japan, Lithuania, Russia and the United States. Her work has been recognized by the Visual and Applied Art Endowment of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (annual award 2014, main prize 2018) and Köler Prize (grand prix 2016). Põld’s last exhibition in Tartu took place in 2016 in the Tartu Art Museum.Additional information:Tanel AsmerTartu Art House producerprodutsent@kunstimaja.ee5562 1192www.kunstimaja.eefacebook.com/kunstimajaTartu Art House (Vanemuise 26, Tartu, Estonia) is open Wed–Mon 12–18. Exhibitions are free of charge.The exhibitions of the Tartu Art House are supported by the Tartu Town Government and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.