21.01.2023 16:00

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(H)ARUTUS: Monuments to a Complicated Past. A view from Narva.

(H)ARUTUS: Monuments to a Complicated Past. A view from Narva.

21.01.2023 at 16:00

Narva Art Residency, Joala 18

The event will be held in Estonian with synchronous translation into Russian.

Free of charge

Registration required: https://forms.gle/3iEN7nFx4ktrfTHJ7

Estonian Museum of Architecture, the Narva Art Residency NART and the Estonian Academy of Arts are collaborating to hold the discussion series (H)ARUTUS in Narva.


On 21 January 2023, monuments, memory culture and heritage in Narva will be discussed. For the past six months, the Estonian public has been engaged in a debate of monuments and Soviet-era heritage – which monument is appropriate, and which is not. The city of Narva was the first where monuments and symbols were removed from public spaces.
At the discussion evening in January, the meaning of heritage will be debated with the local community – are monuments a location-based, power-based, or ethnic phenomenon? How and who should be involved in the public debate that has erupted around monuments and architectural decoration?


New monuments have been erected in Narva since the beginning of 21 st century, the most famous being the statue of Paul Keres, the ‘Swedish Lion’, re-opened in 2000, and the ‘Pillow’, a work of so-called percentage art in front of the shared building of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences and the Narva College of the University of Tartu. Together we will reflect on the impact of new monuments and analyse what kind of monuments are needed in today’s urban space. Narva’s historical Old Town and the prospect for its restoration is a key theme of heritage in Narva.

Among the experts will be architectural historian Mart Kalm, Rector of the Estonian Academy of Arts, Ivan Sergeyev, architect, and coordinator of the Just Transition in Ida-Virumaa; and Yaroslavna Nazarova, a student of heritage protection at Estonian Academy of Arts who is grown up in Narva.

The discussion will be moderated by Triin Ojari, Director of the Estonian Museum of Architecture.

N.B. Questions can be asked and discussed in your native language.

After the discussion evening, snacks will be served and at 18:00 the film night will continue at NART.

(H)ARUTUS is a series of discussions organised by the Estonian Museum of Architecture, focusing on current issues in society that intersect with spatial culture and architecture. Experts from different fields come together to unravel the issues at stake and offer solutions from their own professional perspective.

Discussion series (H)ARUTUS is supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia and RASK Attorneys-at-Law.