A show of the oldest Estonian artists' collective in Kaunas

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Meno parkas Gallery together with the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts Gallery are pleased to invite you to the exhibition of Kursi Koolkond, the oldest group of artists in Estonia.

The opening will take place on October 11  (Friday):
At 5 pm at Vilnius Academy of Arts, Kaunas Faculty of Arts (Mutinės g. 2, 2nd floor).
At 6.30 pm Meno Parkas Gallery (27 Rotušės a., 3rd floor). 

"This exhibition is like a small miracle," says Kaunas-based artist Reiu Tüür, who has been an active member of Kursi Koolkond for 31 years.
"Kursi Koolkond is Estonia's longest-running artist group, founded in 1988 by four artists from Tartu. Since then, its members have held 94 collective and hundreds of solo exhibitions. Today, Kursi Koolkond has eight members - Albert Gulk, Ilmar Kruusamäe, Marko Mäetamm, Priit Pajos, Priit Pangsepp, Külli Suitso, Imat Suumann, Reiu Tüür - who live in various cities in Estonia, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania.

Is the community of artists an exceptional phenomenon?

"I think what unites us is that we like each other's work. We also support each other humanly. Sometimes I think that I am still an artist only because of Kursi Koolkond. Ilmar calls and says: Reiu, I need new works, there's an exhibition in six months' time," smiles Tüür.

Belonging to the same Kursi Koolkond is far from indicating a common ideology among its members; on the contrary, it is a communion of exceptionally individual masters. Each of them has a distinct style and mode of expression - from hyperrealism, surrealism, conceptualism to neopop.

According to R. Tüür, who lives in Kaunas, although it may seem that such a communion of artists is a rather exceptional phenomenon, it is not historically new: "After all, Van Gogh also wanted to be friends with Gauguin, and this is not the only case of such a creative friendship."

The Estonian artist thinks that perhaps the most surprising fact is that artists who are usually considered egocentric have been working as a group for more than 30 years. "It's just unbelievable that artists would do something together. And that's in Estonia, a country where disliking each other is a common practice," jokes the Estonian artist from Kaunas.

According to R. Tüür, belonging to a group gives more strength to each member - it is easier to organise exhibitions, publish monographs and albums, as the work and funds are shared. The artists in the group also support each other morally, coping with the creative and life crises that happen to everyone. He equates Kursi Koolkond to an old rock band - the members grow old, change, some unfortunately move on to the next world, but the work remains influential.

The exhibition in Kaunas is an important event

"Meno Parkas" and VAA Kaunas Faculty will exhibit the latest works of the members of Kursi Koolkond, with a few exceptions. According to R. Tüür, the artists organising the exhibition aim to present the best of their recent work.

"Unfortunately, we lost Peeter Allik, one of Estonia's most talented artists, a few years ago, and there are no new works by him. In addition, works by Andrus Kasemaa, a Tartu artist who was a great influence on some of the group members, will also be exhibited. Ilmar's portrait of me is also not new, but we have included it because the exhibition is taking place in Kaunas," says R. Tüür.

"The last international Kursi Koolkond exhibition took place in Riga a decade ago, when the city was the European Capital of Culture. This year, Tartu is celebrating this title. Our exhibition is like a symbolic greeting to Kaunas, where the echoes of the European Capital of Culture events can still be heard," says the Estonian artist, who has lived in Kaunas for almost eight years.

"Kursi Koolkond artists have exhibited their work in major group exhibitions in Italy (Venice, 2007), South Korea (Seoul, 1996), the United States (New York, 2010), Finland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway. The artists' works are in many museums and private collections in Estonia and around the world.

Text by Aldona Steponavičiūtė

The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Support Foundation Eesti Kultuurkapital.

The exhibition is partly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Lithuanian Artists' Association.