“Planet Earth is hurtling towards the abyss, and instead of hitting the brakes, people are stepping on the gas and throwing the speedometer out the window. The climate catastrophe that has hit us is certainly one of humanity’s greatest challenges, but many believe it has not yet arrived,” explains the artist.
Hey, love! Come sit with me for a moment. Are you good? I’d like to tell you something; it won’t take long. Something to drink? Take a look around. This is all thanks to us. We have worked our butts off for you to have a future. Your life should be better than ours; otherwise, what’s the point. Bread on the table, clothes on your back and a roof over your head. A bit of money in the bank. No need to live in poverty and darkness. Thanks to us, you have the internet, planes and credit cards. Thanks to us, you don’t have to walk, or worry about having water to drink, because you can just wipe your soul clean with the swipe of a plastic card. And I don’t wanna hear no fucking hipster shit about turning off the lights or using less gas! What am I, an idiot? Forgive me, love. I guess I crossed the line. Sometimes it just feels like you’re not appreciating our effort enough. Look around! We will leave all of this to you. No need to thank me, but from now on, you’re on your own. We can’t always be there to advise you about what to do next; the torch has to be passed to the next generation at some point. Because youth is our future!
A new photo series and five large-format pencil drawings will be presented at the exhibition. There will also be an installation in one of the smaller halls, and the exhibition will be accompanied by a sound background.
Heikki Leis (b.1973) is a freelance artist living and working in Tartu; he is a sculptor by education, but is known for his photorealistic drawings and photographs. He has worked as a photographer for over 20 years. His greatest passion is analogue photography, and most of his artistic projects are shot on film, as is the case with this project. He has published two photo books: Afterlife in 2017 and Estonian champion in 2018. Leis has held dozens of personal exhibitions and has participated in many group exhibitions both at home and abroad. He has also received several photo awards and in 2019 he received the Addo Vabbe award for the “Ringvaade” exhibition at the Tartu Art House.
The exhibition is supported by: the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, City of Tartu, Pühaste Brewery, Plantarium, Karl Bilder OÜ, Raamikoda OÜ, Seri Disain OÜ and Saviukumaja OÜ.
The artist thanks: Kristin Leis, Evelin Zoltotko, Christer Veide, Margus Sootla, Tristan Priimägi, Magnus Andre and all of the children who participated in the project.
Audience programme:
On 10 February at 4:00 p.m. there will be a conversation evening, “Is there a cafe at the end of the world”. Heikki Leis, Peeter Laurits and Aveliina Helm will take part in the conversation.
