How to Reframe Monuments – artists’ interventions

The architectural part of the Tehumardi memorial, the field of squares, has currently been removed and is stored by the Saare local municipality. It is important to find a sensitive and clever way to re-establish this impressive piece of architecture in a new setting and role in the landscape.

A monument is a hallmark of historical memory. It is an art form in public space through which the political gaze manifests itself – the more biased and manipulative, the more powerful and disturbing. This gives rise to the need to remove the signs of colonialist violence, foreign ideology and disinformation. The act of removal seeks a liberating and cleansing effect, a practice that has been used by well-known liberation movements, such as Black Lives Matter in America. Estonia’s Soviet-era monuments, which only recently made us smile and laugh, have taken on a different meaning after the attack on Ukraine. History, which seemed irreversible, has proven inevitable.

It is easy to destroy objects. It is much more difficult to confront them with memory and memories.

Problematic monuments require critical transformation – which can be done most vividly by the artist’s gaze. By involving artists and curators, we hope to initiate an open dialogue, find creative solutions and create opportunities for new conceptual developments.

The sculptural nature of the Tehumardi memorial, its landscape, architectural structure and masterful execution testify to the originality, professionalism and aesthetics of the authors of the time. The Battle of Tehumardi was undoubtedly a tragic event. As a memorial to historical trauma, the preservation of the monument is still justified today. How, however, should we relate to the traumatic rhetoric of the occupation, which is why the monument is currently disturbing?

The project “How to Reframe Monuments” (MUR) aims to provide analytical support to visitors to the Tehumardi complex, the local municipality and the authors of the monument. The information leaflet-object introduces viewers to the visions of the artists who participated in the idea collection for the Tehumardi monument in spring 2024.

Feedback from visitors is important for the authors and the research team. How would it be best to change the meaning of the Tehumardi monument? Which artistic solution seems most convincing? We look forward to your thoughts in the inbox that accompanies the exhibition.

Kirke Kangro, curator of art projects at MUR

Art Projects – Tehumardi Memorial

Artistic projections for Estonian monuments proposed at the international workshop “How to Reframe Monuments: Case Studies for Thinking Through Dissonant Heritage” held in Narva

31.08 – 05.09.2024 an international workshop was held in Narva, which focused on learning from case studies. The lectures, seminars and workshops brought together expertise and knowledge from different fields and contexts to explore solutions that aim not to dismantle dissonant heritage but to place it in a new, critical framework. During the three days, students and metors discussed the broader conceptualisations and histories of reframing monuments and heritage, as well as focussed on concrete cases. The cases included various artistic interventions as well as other means of reframing, ranging from educational programs and museology to community engagement.