During the city's European Capital of Culture year, Tartu will host a total of four exhibitions on surrealism.

"Not all art movements have proved as powerful over time as surrealism. Today, a hundred years later, there is great interest in surrealism around the world, as demonstrated not only by the European Capital of Culture program in Tartu but also by the numerous exhibitions dedicated to surrealism elsewhere in Europe," said Torp.

The first three exhibitions dedicated to the centenary of the Surrealist Manifesto have now opened at the Tartu Art Museum. Among them is Kris Lemsalu's solo exhibition "DONATELLA. Spiral of Life," which features an interpretation of Tartu's famous fountain frozen in a perpetual kiss along with a selection of new drawings and familiar installations.

Lemsalu said that "DONATELLA. Spiral of Life" is about friendship, sadness and love. "There will also be a premiere of the film 'Old Piano,' which is a collaboration with Johanna Ulfsak," Lemsalu added.

Also on display at the Tartu Art Museum is the exhibition "Initiative from Below. Estonian Caricatures in the 1980s," which explores how Estonian surrealism was born out of the absurdity of Soviet-era reality.

Special emphasis is placed on an exhibition hosted by the museum back in 1986, featuring cartoonists who came together under the name the "Tallinnfilm Surrealists." It also highlights the work of the collective NAKS, a group of young caricaturists who gathered at the University of Tartu in the early 1970s.

The third exhibition in the series, is "Ilmar Malin. The Glow of Eternity," which brings together a selection of works by Estonia's pre-eminent surrealist. In addition to some of the artist's best-known paintings, the exhibition also offers the opportunity to see works that have never before been on public display.

According to Joanna Hoffmann, director of the Tartu Art Museum, the celebrations marking the centenary of the Surrealist Manifesto are set to culminate with an international show at the Estonian National Museum (ERM) and organized in collaboration with the National Museum Prague, entitled "Surrealism 100. Prague, Tartu and other stories..."

More information about Kris Lemsalu's exhibition "DONATELLA. Spiral of Life" is available here.

More information about the exhibition "Initiative from Below: Estonian Caricatures in the 1980s" is available here.

More information about "Ilmar Malin. The Glow of Eternity" is available here.

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