Silence. Darkness

Today’s nationalist and conservative political developments force us to think about the future and to check the credibility of our decisions already as we make them. Can the past be used as a model for predicting? If so, which signs should we interpret as significant? The passing of time is unmerciful, often forcing us to reassess, forget or in our memories to distort decisions we have made in the past.

When thinking about the future we use metaphors of sight: the future is before us and to reach it a clear panorama should unfold before our eyes. In this case sight is like an analogy for clarity, and imagination is the ability to create images of what does not yet exist. The image of the future is always accompanied by a deeply ideological pathos. The exhibition Silence – Darkness is not so much about fantasy-filled fiction, as ideological utopian visions or reflections upon the past, which have great potential to become once again models for a future scenario.

The works, some produced over the last ten years, and others newly commissioned, reach out into various ideologies and work within the different layers of recent history from 19th century Helsinki stage sets that imitate Arcadia, propaganda paintings from the 1940s and 50s to the shattered illusions of Marxist lecturers in East-Berlin, and the expectation of the birth of the new capitalist saviour.

We thank: Culture Ireland, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Ministry of Culture, Kuu Stuudio, Tallinn Department of Culture, Sadolin, Veinisõber