The exhibition “Quiet Memory” brings together artists of different generations whose works reflect the relationship between humans and technology, and its development from the 1980s to the present day. The exhibition explores how both a changing world and the innovative evolution of creative tools have offered artists opportunities to tell personal stories – at times remaining affectingly human precisely through systematic, machinic qualities.
The artists of older generations, whose exhibited works were born in the early years of the digital age, saw how novel machines and technical systems began to spread themselves more into everyday life. Early computer graphics and digital installations were not merely new tools of work and expression, but also new realities in themselves. These works reflect an attempt to capture impressions of that era and a desire to position oneself as an artist in it.
Alongside are works by contemporary younger generation artists, who approach the theme through intimate experience and blurred memories. While earlier attempts were made to tame these modern working tools and visualise a speculative future from the position of a bystander, younger artists now perceive the digital environment as a natural, even innate part of their childhoods. In a present that is chronically online, their works find meaning in the bodily, the mundane, and the past.
The exhibition features artists Anu Jakobson, Siiri Jüris, Raivo Kelomees, Renee Kelomees, Samuel Lehikoinen, Raul Meel, Mall Nukke, Marta Stratskas, and Ruth Tulving.
Curated by Kelli Gedvil and Kristen Rästas.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
