A research project by the Estonian Academy of Arts and Tallinn University explores how to deal with complex heritage while creating new qualities in public space and preserving the important role of controversial heritage as a carrier of history. The first case study of the project is the Tehumardi Memorial in Saaremaa.
Dedicated to the night battle of Tehumardi, the memorial was a joint creation of sculptors Riho Kuld and Matti Varik and architect Allan Murdmaa in 1966, while the cemetery next to the memorial was built in 1975. The Tehumardi memorial was brought to the public’s attention in 2022, when, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the appropriateness of Soviet-era war monuments in the Estonian public space was called into question. In 2024, the War Graves Commission granted an application by Saaremaa municipality to open the war graves and reburial of the presumed remains of the Tehumardi Memorial Complex, which inevitably raises the problem of the preservation and conservation of a modernist memorial complex of high artistic and landscape architectural value.
The project will be accompanied by a contemporary art programme, where artists Anna-Mari Liivrand, Taavi Piibemann, Johannes Säre and Kirke Kangro offered a creative solution for the conceptual reinterpretation of the Tehumardi memorial.
Text compiled by: Gregor Taul
Battle of Tehumardi
The night battle of Tehumardi between units of the Red Army’s Estonian Rifle Corps and a retreating German battalion in the late evening of 8 October 1944 was a casual and strategically insignificant encounter – it was bloody, but without major military results. The battle took place in the final phase of the war here, when the Red Army had already conquered mainland Estonia and had just advanced across the Strait of Finland to Saaremaa.
News and stories connected to this object:
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Public discussion on the Tehumardi Memorial and surrounding area
We invite all interested parties to participate in the public discussion, which will take place on 7 October at 18.00… – keep on reading
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An exhibition dedicated to the Tehumardi Memorial was opened in Kuivastu Harbour
On 23 July, a pop-up exhibition “New frames for the monument: the Tehumardi Memorial” was opened in the dock area… – keep on reading
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The value of the Tehumardi as a historic site today
During the Soviet era, the Battle of Tehumardi and the monument were the subject of official, ideologically “correct” stories constructed… – keep on reading
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Tehumardi as a place of memory of Soviet Estonia
The myth of the Tehumardi was cast in concrete in 1967 – the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution –… – keep on reading
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Removal of grave markers of Red Army soldiers in Tehumardi began
At the end of June, the removal of the grave markers of the Red Army soldiers buried in Tehumardi in… – keep on reading
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Adaptation or surrender?
We publish Karin Paulus’s review of the debate on the Tehumardi Monument, published in the weekly journal Sirp on 24… – keep on reading
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How to Reframe Monuments – Tehumardi debate
Discussion of the research project “How to Reframe Monuments” at the Estonian Academy of Arts On 7 May at 18.00,… – keep on reading
Tehumardi memorial art projects
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Taavi Piibemann. A further development of the Tehumardi Monument
How can this monument be less Soviet, but instead more contemporary, and become so without the reluctant feeling that we… – keep on reading
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Anna Mari Liivrand. Tehumardi Night Battle Memorial. Design Concept “Straws”
Straws The design concept entitled “Straws”, proposes a solution to preserve the integrity of the memorial by covering the grave… – keep on reading
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Kirke Kangro. Tehumardi – Alternative Information Space
The thirty slabs of the Tehumardi memorial will be covered with tiles similar to the existing ones. Instead of Soviet… – keep on reading
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John Säre. Proposal for the revamping of the Tehumardi Night Battle Memorial
If the elements referring to the Soviets are neutralised, the memorial should either remove the textual part in its entirety… – keep on reading