“Nende meeltes on lõputu universum”

The book accompanies the exhibition Borderless Universe in Their Minds: Italian Transavantgarde and the Estonian Calm Expressionism at the Kumu Art Museum (01.12.2023–19.05.2024). 

This ambitious international project is focused on the creative dialogue between works by Italian and Estonian artists in the second half of the 1980s. The exhibition presents the Estonian audience with a representative survey of works from private Italian collections and museums that were created by the most important artists of the Transavantgarde group (Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Nicola De Maria and Mimmo Paladino), which was formed in Italy in the late 1970s. The works are displayed side by side with works by Raoul Kurvitz and Urmas Muru, who established the Rühm T (Group T) and renewed the Estonian art scene in the second half of the 1980s.  

Although born on the other side of the Iron Curtain, Kurvitz and Muru’s Calm Expressionism – as the artists themselves called it – is like a northern reflection of Italian Transavantgarde. An important principle advocated by both the Transavantgarde and Rühm T was a subjective, personality- and emotion-centred approach to art, along with artists’ complete creative and spiritual freedom. 

Collections at the exhibition: 

D’Ercole collection (Rome), Claudio Poleschi Arte Contemporanea (San Marino), Mart – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, private collection (Trento) and Studio Mimmo Paladino (Paduli) 

Art Museum of Estonia, Tartu Art Museum, Estonian Museum of Architecture, SA Postimehe Fond, Reigo Kuivjõgi art collection, Raoul Kurvitz archives, Urmas Muru archives, Tiina Tammetalu art collection, Meriliis Rinne art collection and private collections 

Edited and written by Sirje Helme and Fabio Cavallucci 

Graphic design and image editing by Tuuli Aule 

Size 21.5 × 26 cm  

200 pp., sewn paperback 

In Estonian and in English, illustrated 

Published by the Published by the Art Museum of Estonia – Kumu Art Museum 

Tallinn 2023 

ISBN 978-9949-687-50-3 

Pick it up yourself

Come and pick it up at our museum store at Raekoja plats 18, Tartu, 51004.

Itella Smartpost

Itella parcel machines are located in shopping centers so that you can grab a parcel on the side of your daily routine. To receive the package, all you need to do at the machine is to enter the door code sent to you via SMS on the touch screen – after that, the correct cabinet door opens and the package is in your hand!

DPD

Thanks to the real-time package tracking option, you can see where your package is. If your plans change, you can conveniently change the location or time of day when you receive the package. To receive the package, enter the door code included in the SMS sent to you on the touch screen.