Elīna Vītola's new exhibition asks "What if the past and its memories are hiding or silenced, contradictory, unknowable, and in the end, difficult and dark? How to think and talk about it when, despite the data and facts discovered, there is no direct evidence or material? How can an art exhibition help to reopen and talk about this past?"

By examining the dark aspects of her family history, Vītola connects reflections on art and life, the past and the present, the personal and the collective, the known and the unspoken.

The artist wanted to know more about her great-uncle, whom she never met because he disappeared during the Second World War. He too was a painter. Through archival and other research, and hearing stories from unexpectedly found relatives in different parts of the world, the artist uncovered the twists and turns of her great-uncle's life but also the contradictions and silences about him in the family memories.

These sources disclosed not only the biography of her lost relative but also the unpleasant and difficult memories of the Second World War and post-war era and the silences that still accompany them in society at large.

According to curator Ieva Astahovska, the idea was to show that in every family there are still traces of choices made in the past, whether they were forced or made of someone's own accord, that people have long been afraid of or unwilling to talk about.

"She was brave enough not to continue with the silence that has prevailed for years. This exhibition is more about today and about the artist herself. That's why there's a hole in the wall that she created here. She is willing to explore history and reveal its darker layers," Astahovska said.

Elīna Vītola's solo exhibition "To Pay an Arm and a Leg" opened on Friday, December 6 at 6 p.m. at Tartu's Kogo Gallery. The exhibition will remain on display until February 8, 2025. The show is curated by art scholar and curator Ieva Astahovska.

On Saturday, December 7 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., a public discussion at the Kogo Gallery, also took place, exploring the questions addressed in the exhibition.

The participants in the discussion were artist Elīna Vītola, art scholar and curator Ieva Astahovska, literary scholar Eneken Laanes and artist Ulla Juske.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!