Exhibition virtual tour:
Exhibition musical composition:
Artist: Edward von Lõngus
Musical composition: Taavi Tulev
Curator: Andra Orn
Technical solution: Reio Raudsepp, Dreamcrew meeskond
Lighting solution: Olev Luhaäär, E & T Valgus
“Danse Macabre”, painted by Bernt Notke*, speaks of people struggling with death. Regardless of their origin or earthly status, death drags everyone into the same dance. However, the people in the painting in St. Nicholas Church stand as if overwhelmed from the moment they encountered death and do not seem to have a special enthusiasm to dance along with the man with the scythe. Today’s Danse Macabre is different. Today’s Danse Macabre is a fanatical rave where a person hovers in a crazy swinging dance hand in hand with death.
Man and death have proved to be great partners. Death now cuts with a larger arc than ever before, but instead of a scythe, it has much more modern tools. Modern death has been industrialized, mechanized, calculated, transformed into factories, machines, numbers, and efficiencies. Death is packaged and marketed, bought, sold and brokered.
The main exhibition for the Tallinn Biennial – “Doomsday Cathedral” – is dedicated to the only universal religion that unites all countries and peoples, regardless of cultural background, skin colour or creed. The only agreed imaginary value for which we all share a common understanding is MONEY. We all worship the god of money in the same way. A banknote is a religious unit whose power is recognized by all.
Faith is, in fact, the only value that gives the banknote its guarantee. Without faith, it would just be a piece of paper. However, our belief in the value of this piece of paper is so firm and unwavering that we are ready to follow it, even to the ends of the earth. Money created our world. Money is also destroying it.
Edward von Lõngus’ major exhibition “Doomsday Cathedral” is open Mon–Fri from 3 pm to 8 pm in Ülemiste City at Sepapaja 10 until 30 July.
Check out the work of Edward von Lõngus on the NOBA.ac art platform.
Tallinn Biennale
2–30 July – Tallinn Biennial is a major art event, within the framework of which many different events introducing the work of artists from Estonia and neighboring countries will take place in the capital and surroundings. The Biennial programme is available at the Solaris Center information point and at www.tallinnabiennaal.ee.
The biennial is organized by the Nordic Baltic Art Center NOBA NGO.
Sponsors: NOBA.ac, Solaris, Ülemiste City, Akzo Nobel, Nordic Hotel Forum, Folger Art, GoBus, E&T, DL Desinfitseerimislahendused and Frank.
Supporters: European Regional Fund via Enterprise Estonia, Republic of Estonia Ministry of Culture, Tallinn Culture Agency, Tallinn City Government, Viinistu Art Museum, Estonian Artists Association and Rae parish.
* “Danse Macabre” by the late medieval German master Bernt Notke represents a painting and graphic motif dating from the 14th century, depicting death, who invites people with it in its dance steps. The original Lübeck version of the painting has not been preserved, but a reproduction can be found in St. Nicholas Church Museum – a branch of the Estonian Art Museum. Originally up to 30 m long, a fragment with 13 figures still exists. “Danse Macabre”, located among medieval tombstones and unique altars, is definitely Tallinn’s most famous work of art.
