My Poland. On Recalling and Forgetting

Curator Rael Artel talking in front of the installation "Greeting from the Jerusalem Avenue" by Polish artist Joanna Rajkowska

My Poland. On Recalling and Forgetting is the first Holocaust-themed art exhibition in Estonia, taking place at Tartu Art Museum in early 2015,[1][2] seventy years after the end of World War II and the liberation of the Nazi extermination camps.[3] The exhibition, curated by museum's director Rael Artel, received a lot of attention from Estonian society and from both Estonian and international media. It brough out the differences of opinion and initiated a public debate about the reflection of Holocaust and freedom of speech, censorship and self-censorship in art. Originally, eight contemporary artworks were exhibited, one of them by an Estonian artist and seven from Polish artists (incl. one Polish–Israeli and one American with Polish Jewish roots). Soon after the opening of the exhibition the museum limited access to two works of art because of public criticism. Later, both of them were removed from the exhibition.[1]

The name of the exhibition My Poland emphasizes curators personal perspective to Polish contemporary art where Holocaust and the Second World War is a distinctive theme. The name refers to a popular Estonian books series ("My Estonia", "My Mexico", "My St. Petersburg", etc.) which also focuses on authors' personal impressions of different countries.

The works selected for the exhibition in Tartu Art Museum are made by well-known Polish artists most of whom have participated in the Venice Biennale.[1] Curator Rael Artel has said that although she tried to find comparable works from Estonian art, the only Holocaust themed work was John Smith's painting Holocaust.[3]

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication put together by Rael Artel and designed by Mikk Heinsoo. The exhibition was supported by The Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Estonian Ministry of Culture. My Poland is curated by the director of Tartu Art Museum Rael Artel and exhibition's coordinator is Julia Polujanenkova, museums' keeper of the contemporary art.[1]

Removal of videos from the exhibition

My Poland was opened on Saturday, 7 February.[1] On Tuesday, Tartu Art Museum announced that access to two most criticized videos was being limited. Visitors could only see those videos by stating a direct request and after being introduced to curator's written explanation. Museum's director Artel made a full apology to everyone the display offended.[4] Estonian Ministry of Culture held a discussion which was attended by Minister of Culture Urve Tiidus and the representatives of Jewish community in Estonia. After the discussion Tiidus called the videos offending and Tartu Art Museum removed them from the exhibition entirely.[5]

As the museum was closed on Monday and Tuesday and the videos were already removed by Wednesday afternoon, the videos in question were introduced only to a small part of exhibition visitors. Therefore, majority of people who have participated in the debate have not been familiar with the content of the videos or knew them only on the basis of clips shown in the news and on the basis of written summaries.[6]

The removal of videos has been evaluated differently. For example, journalist Kadri Veermäe from major Estonian daily Postimees interpreted it as a censorship or self-censorship.[7] On the other hand, Kaarel Tarand, former editor-in-chief of Estonian main cultural newspaper Sirp, did not consider this as a result of censorship.[8] Estonian artist Kiwa regarded it as the criminalization of art.[9]

After videos were removed, the museum decided to use that room do present the documentation about the public discussion about the exhibition on both traditional and social media, considering the themes of censure and self-censorship.[10]

Works and artists

Public response

On the opening day, Eesti Televisioon's news program Aktuaalne kaamera asked the chairwoman of Tartu Jewish Community Ilona Smuškina to visit the exhibition My Poland. She found it to be emotionally uncomfortable: ˮI couldn't watch the video of the gas chamber for more than three seconds. But the old man who was tortured in Auschwitz, now he is tortured by the young man who did this artwork."[16] Afterwards, the chairwoman of Estonian Jewish Community, Alla Jakobson, spoke out in the media. She announced that she feels insulted, she does not consider Artur Żmijewski's videos to be art at all and insists they should be removed from the exhibition: ˮIt is unacceptable and inappropriate to exhibit videos like this in a Holocaust art exhibition."[17] On 10 February, a public statement to Estonian state leaders by Estonian Jewish Community was made, saying: "It would be unthinkable to show nudity in an exhibition dedicated to Soviet deportations from Estonia. Why is Holocaust an exception justified with the artistic freedom?"[4] Statement made after the opening of the exhibition found supporters by many organisations, politicians and cultural figures: Estonian member of European Parliament Urmas Paet, Foreign Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, Minister of Culture Urve Tiidus, Minister of Defence Sven Mikser, former Minister of Regional Affairs Vallo Reimaa, Chairman of Estonian Parliament Eiki Nestor, former Minister of Culture Laine Randjärv, former Mayor of Tallinn Jüri Ratas, Estonian Islamic Congregation, Tartu City Council's Commission of Culture, art historian Krista Piirimäe, etc.[5][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Criticism directed to My Poland also escalated quickly in the international press, particularly in Russia and Israel. Among others, the Wiesenthal Center's director Efraim Zuroff criticized the exhibition,[25] stating that it is not enough to remove two videos as the whole exhibition should be shut down.[26]

Main critical arguments include joking about Holocaust, mocking,[20] lack of empathy amongst the artists and the authors of the exhibition,[19] and the need to identify the boundaries of art. "I think that there should be ethical boundaries of freedom of speech and freedom of expression of art that should not be prescribed by law but should be in the hearts of people," said Laine Randjärv. "Organizers of the exhibition have been ignoring the principles of good practices and the principles of respecting other people and nations," found Jüri Ratas.[21] "The reaction and the triggered debate in the society leads us to ask again where are the boundaries of art," said Urve Tiidus.[27]

A couple of days later, first statements supporting the curator and Tartu Art Museum started to appear, mostly made by people of art and culture. The criticism was also disputed by the interview to Eesti Televisioon by the author of the most criticized videos, Artur Żmijewski, who said: "We recall the past events and it is not a passive recalling but an active one. My purpose is not to provoke anyone. There are always those who feel provoked but it wasn't my intention."[13] Among the supporters of the exhibition have been a board member of the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia Anders Härm, artist Kiwa, artist Jaan Elken, semiotician Mihhail Lotman, artist Marko Mäetamm (the single Estonian artist represented on the exhibition), former Minister of Culture Rein Lang, journalist Kadri Veermäe, artist Marge Monko, etc.[7][9][28][29][30]

On ETV morning show Terevisioon, Sirje Helme, the director of Estonian Art Museum Kumu, commented the situation as follows: ˮThis debate can't be about whether it is art or not. The question is, how far can an artwork go in its freedom to sharply touch this or that subject. /.../ I think that there are almost no limits in democratic freedom but some things are agreed upon not to be touched, and Holocaust is certainly one of those things. So the question is not whether it is a good or bad work of art, the problem is that it has touched a subject which is declared to be taboo in Europe and America. /.../ This is a political world, not a world of art. I think this subject does not belong to the art world." Anders Härm responded: ˮI think that there is no such rule. There is no theme more mediated than Holocaust if we talk about the horrors during the Second World War. The work by John Smith referred to this – commercialization of Holocaust. Jean Baudrillard and Umberto Eco have also talked about how Hollywood wouldn't let Jews to forgive and Germans to be forgiven." Sirje Helme said: ˮFor me, this question is in black and white. I will stick to my opinion that it is not about art with its aesthetical criteria and sensitivities. The question here is that the topic is sacred and only certain people can engage in it."[28]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 My Poland on the homepage of Tartu Art Museum
  2. ↑ "SEL LAUPÄEVAL AVATAKSE EESTI ESIMENE HOLOKAUSTITEEMALINE KUNSTINÄITUS" Müürileht, 3 February 2015
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Näituse kataloog (PDF)
  4. 1 2 "Tartu kunstimuuseumi direktor: palume vabandust kõigilt, keda väljapanek on riivanud" Postimees, 10 February 2015
  5. 1 2 "Ministeeriumis toimunud arutelul leiti, et holokaustiteemaline näitus on solvav" Postimees, 11 February 2015
  6. ↑ "Terevisioon" ERR, 19 February 2015
  7. 1 2 "Holokausti näitusele päitsete pähe panemine kurvastas Eesti kultuuriinimesi" ERR, 15. veebruar
  8. ↑ Siim Randla "Kaarel Tarand ei näe holokausti näituselt teoste eemaldamises tsensuuri", 16 February 2015
  9. 1 2 "Kiwa manifest: tagasi keskaega" ERR, 12 February 2015
  10. ↑ Raimu Hanson "Rael Artel: näitustel võiks käia kunsti, aga mitte skandaali pärast" Postimees, 19 February 2015
  11. 1 2 3 Indrek Grigor "Veel kord holokaustinäitusest: Neil seal Poolas" Postimees, 17 February 2015
  12. ↑ "Saksa meedia kirjutas «Kullimängu» keelamise puhul tsensuurist, mitte šokist" Postimees, 10 February 2015
  13. 1 2 3 "Holokaustivideote autor AK intervjuus: minu tööd on valesti mõistetud" ERR, 11.02.2015
  14. ↑ Kadri Veermäe "Kullimäng gaasikambris" Postimees, 12 February 2015
  15. 1 2 Mihhail Lotman "Meie väike holokaustiskandaal" Mihhail Lotman's blog, 11 February 2015
  16. ↑ Tartus avatud holokaustinäitusel "Minu Poola" näidatakse ka Saksamaal keelatud töid ERR, 6 February 2015
  17. ↑ Kaarel Kressa "Tartu näitus solvab juute" EPL, 11 February 2015
  18. ↑ "Pentus-Rosimannus: pean õigeks, et muuseum solvavad eksponaadid eemaldas" ERR, 12.02.2015
  19. 1 2 "Tiidus holokausti-näitusest: siin on küsimus empaatiavõimes" ERR, 10 February 2015
  20. 1 2 "Mikser: inimsusevastane kuritegu ei peaks olema naljategemise objektiks" Delfi, 12 February 2015
  21. 1 2 Epp-Mare Kukemelk "Nestor holokausti teemalist näitust kohe maha võtma ei hakkaks, Ratas soovitab korraldajatel ebasobivad teosed näituselt eemaldada ja vabandada" Delfi, 10 February 2015
  22. ↑ "Eesti Islami Kogudus toetab juudi kogukonna protesti Tartu Kunstimuuseumi näituse vastu" ERR, 11 February 2015
  23. ↑ Aune Rumm "Volikogu kultuurikomisjon taunib holokaustiteema käsitlemisviisi Tartu Kunstimuuseumi näitusel" Tartu Linnavolikogu pressiteade, 12 February 2015
  24. ↑ Krista Piirimäe "Kunstiajaloolane Krista Piirimäe kritiseerib teravalt holokausti-teemalist näitust" Postimees, 10 February 2015
  25. ↑ "Zuroff: Tartus avatud näitus on haiglane irvitamine juutide massimõrva üle" ERR, 9 February 2015
  26. ↑ Sam Sokol Estonian museum apologizes for exhibit making light of Holocaust The Jerusalem Post, 16 February 2015
  27. ↑ "Tiidus juute solvanud näitusest: minu jaoks on küsimus empaatiavõimes" Postimees, 10 February 2015
  28. 1 2 Anders Härm: tõlgendada ilusaid poeetilisi kujundeid antisemiitlikena on absoluutne liialdus ERR, 12 February 2015
  29. ↑ "Kultuuritegelased hindavad holokausti teema kunstis lubatavaks erinevalt pornograafiast" ERR, 10 February 2015
  30. ↑ Marge Monko "Kunstniku lavastatud kullimäng, trauma ja mäletamine" EPL, 20 February 2015

Further reading

Public response in Estonia

International media

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