The industrial landscape of Ida-Virumaa has fascinated Estonian artists since the day the first plumes of smoke rose into the sky.
The apartment exhibition is not a random choice for the Museum Night, the theme of which is "There are voices in the night". One home in Sillamäe's 1940s-1950s neoclassical architectural ensemble opens its doors for the exhibition - it was completed in the years when apartment exhibitions took place more often than once a year and for one night.
During the Soviet occupation, the apartments were the places where art that the censors did not like could breathe — where guests arrived upon invitation, the door was closed and the works on the walls said what was not allowed in public. We don't long for those days. But the tradition of apartment exhibitions.
And to be honest: industrial art is kind of an underground genre these days. Not prestigious. Not trendy. Ida-Viru's industry is not a topic that curators would queue up for solo exhibitions of depicted artists, the voices of these artists cannot be heard. So — where else but in the apartment?
At night there are voices of artists from different eras
The graphic artist Arkadio Laigo - a master who studied in Pallas and completed his studies in Paris, whose short creative career ended tragically in 1944 - devoted the last years of his work to the creation of a graphic series for the Estonian oil shale industry, the first page of which "View of the oil industry building" was completed in 1943. Laigo's woodcuts are special in Estonian graphics - they cannot be confused with the works of any other artist. The present Soans also represent our early tradition of industrial art - artists who saw value where others saw only production.
Evi Tihemets, a living classic, has cultivated a wide variety of techniques, created both natural and industrial landscapes. His works in the exhibition are a testament to how the industrial world can be transformed into something poetic and timeless.
The voices of the younger generation resonate alongside these acclaimed artists - for example, Selene Tauri's latest works from 2025, which explore what remains of this landscape and what has changed.
The exact address of the apartment exhibition will be sent to ticket buyers by e-mail.
Tickets on sale in Fienta.