WHERE ARE YOU GOING NEXT?
“Where Are You Going Next?” is a people- and history-centred look at the alumni of Tartu Art School and the paths they have taken after leaving the school. What kind of mark have they left on Estonian art and culture – and, more broadly, on the environment of our everyday lives?
The exhibition focuses on what came after graduation: paintings, sculptures, photographs, illustrations, graphic art, furniture, textiles, jewellery, ceramics and leatherwork, as well as architecture, design, music and other fields, spanning different decades.
The names of every graduate of Tartu Art School are displayed on the gallery windows, making visible a network of people that has developed over 75 years and whose influence extends far beyond the exhibition space.
BORDERLESS PATTERN
The exhibition of student works on the basement floor explores the theme of “unlimited spaces in limited times.” The works were created at a time when none of the artists yet knew the answer to the question: “Where are you going next?”
The exhibition is dedicated above all to those who did not complete their studies, as well as to those who, for one reason or another, have remained anonymous until now. The blank labels in the exhibition offer an opportunity to bring these missing names back into view. Because the history of art can never be fully written.
7 1/2 STILL LIFES
The exhibition on the second floor presents 7 1/2 still lifes created by students between 1957 and 2026 have been selected from the school’s collection. Chosen from approximately five hundred still lifes, each work represents a decade in the school’s history, offering a glimpse of its time – its spirit, aspirations and atmosphere – through the objects depicted and the artistic choices made.
As Tartu Art School celebrates its 75th rather than its 80th anniversary in 2026, the current decade is not yet complete. It is therefore represented by an unfinished work – we do not yet know where this period will lead or how it will remain in our memory.
