est eng

FRESH KUNST.EE 1/2024 OUT NOW!

 

Tracing A Media Scandal: One Flew To The East, One Flew To The West And One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Andreas Trossek (1/2015)

Andreas Trossek gives a brief overview of the media coverage of the group show "My Poland. On Recalling and Forgetting" that caused a stir in Estonia in February 2015.

 

7. II–29. III 2015
Tartu Art Museum
Artists: Yael Bartana, Zbigniew Libera, Joanna Rajkowska, John Smith (Marko Mäetamm and Kaido Ole), Wilhelm Sasnal, Art Spiegelman, Artur Żmijewski.
Curator: Rael Artel.

 

It all began with a press release by the Tartu Art Museum. "This is the first art exhibition in Estonia that addresses the topic of the Holocaust," the press release proudly announced, "in addition to focusing on a complex and painful issue, the exhibition features many scandalous and controversial works including Artur Żmijewski's video "Berek (The Game of Tag)" (1999) that has been prohibited from display in Germany." Ergo – in Estonia this work can be exhibited, since the Tartu Art Museum is under the administration of the Ministry of Culture and the constitution of Estonia states that no censorship is allowed.

On the opening day, Estonian Television came to the museum to prepare a story on the show that would run on the news the same evening. When dealing with a conflict, the journalists have to hear from all sides, so the journalist, sensing the story could cause a scandal, decides to include comments from people other than the curator. As asked by the news programme Aktuaalne Kaamera (AK), a representative of the Tartu Jewish community visits the exhibition and states later on that it was an emotionally very unpleasant experience ("I could not watch the video for more than three seconds") and goes on to make negative remarks about another video by Żmijewski titled "80064" (2004). Next, a representative of the Estonian Jewish Community from Tallinn addresses the media and says that, even without visiting the exhibition in Tartu she feels offended, that she does not consider Żmijewski's works as art and will not be satisfied until the videos are removed from the exhibition. Ergo – if something is banned in Germany, it should also be banned in Estonia.

Within the next two or three days the issue caused an avalanche in the media, which could probably be best summarised as "our own little holocaust scandal" – a phrase used by known opinion leader Mikhail Lotman, who, among other things, is the son of Juri Lotman, a literary scholar of Jewish origin and the founder of the Tallinn-Moscow school of semiotics. In reply to a statement from the Estonian Jewish Community, the ministers of culture, defence and foreign affairs (sic!) and many other politicians quickly suggested – more or less directly – that the controversial videos should be removed from the show. However, Lotman stated in his blog that even though he does not care much for Żmijewski's videos, he sees no reason for politicians to get involved in matters of culture either: this "scandal" was a result of an over-reaction, "and besides, has no one got anything better to do?". Meanwhile Kadri Veermäe, a journalist at the Postimees newspaper managed to disprove the curator's statement that Żmijewski's "80064" is unequivocally banned in Germany – it was actually recently shown at the 7th Berlin Biennale. Ergo – much ado about nothing, or the story of a small miscommunication. But it was already too late.

The same day Rael Artel removes the two videos by Żmijewski from the exhibition, the artist explains to AK in an interview conducted over the phone that his works have been misunderstood: "With both of the videos I wanted to open up the past, to truly open it up, not just to commemorate, but to jump into that moment in the past when the tattoo was made and when the people were in that gas chamber." This interview with the Polish artist became the first headline story in the evening news. But meanwhile the story had transformed from soft "art news" into something else and the whole process had long ceased being an innocent "art scandal". The Holocaust is no laughing matter.

When Jaan Elken, a professor in the painting department at the University of Tartu explains to AK on the previous day that the exhibition is actually a strong overview of Polish art, no one really seems to listen. By that time "our own little holocaust scandal" had entered politics, thus also becoming an issue of national security and foreign policy, and among other things the Russian threat card was played quite early on in the game. That is, one must avoid providing material for Russian propaganda channels like Russia Today that label the Baltic people as "fascists" whenever they get the chance (because already in the old war films made by Mosfilm, actors of Baltic origin were often cast in Nazi roles as they were "the other" Soviet nations). The Russian aggression in Ukraine is far from over and many high-ranking European politicians have recently issued warnings that Vladimir Putin could target the Baltic States to test whether NATO's Article 5 holds up. Ergo – this could have been handled better but the timing was also extremely unfortunate.

And that was more or less it. In less than a week, "our little holocaust scandal" disappeared from the news, but it will probably still live on for a while in the cultural media (in this edition of KUNST.EE, for example), in social media and in different art related retrospectives. As usual, if an issue seems explosively scandalous and clear-cut at first, but is, in fact, nuanced, delicate and multifaceted, its media coverage leaves everyone with a bitter taste in their mouths. For people involved in culture: probably because a state museum buckled under political pressure and removed two works from an exhibition as if creative freedom and freedom of speech meant nothing (did they not believe the artist either?). For politicians: because they saw once again that artists are not willing to be mere entertainers, they want to address more complex issues without being restricted by political correctness (what next, a musical about mass deportations?). For the international artists featured at the exhibition: because their work was mistakenly considered anti-Semitic in a small country in Europe, which, in turn, makes it clear that the museum had not managed to communicate their work to their audiences or to the press.

"Obviously it's worth an award in marketing ," the art editor of Estonian Public Broadcasting Mari Kartau allegedly commented on Rael Artel's Facebook wall. But this sounds too cynical. It does not seem credible that Rael Artel, who as a curator has also previously organised shows featuring Żmijewski and other stars of Polish contemporary art ("Let's Talk About Nationalism! Between Ideology and Identity" in the Kumu Art Museum in 2010, for example), was only trying to shock people and make a scandal. It is also true that there were great works exhibited at the show. For example, the Israeli artist Yael Bartana's exceptional short film "Mary Koszmary" (Nightmares, 2007), which is a part of her Polish trilogy and represented Poland in the 2011 Venice Biennale, where it received a warm welcome from the international art world. Not to mention the legendary American comic artist Art Spiegelman, represented here by one of his short comics from 2005 that simulates his early drawing style (the catalogue date of 2008 is therefore a bit misleading), which has a key significance for his world famous graphic novel "Maus" (1991). It is sad if all this remained hidden from Estonian audiences in the midst of the scandal.

 

Andreas Trossek is the editor-in-chief at KUNST.EE.

 

Yael Bartana
Mary Koszmary (Nightmares)
2007
16 mm film transferred to video, 10' 50''
Courtesy of the artist, Annet Gelink Gallery, Foksal Foundation Gallery

< back

Serverit teenindab EENet