Artist: Tanja Muravskaja
Title: Abstract Garden
Venue: Kogo Gallery, Tartu
Text: Elnara Taidre
Photo: Tanja Muravskaja

The last exhibition of the year at Kogo Gallery, based in Tartu, Estonia is Abstract Garden, a solo show of Tanja Muravskaja, an Estonian photo, video and installation artist. In the current polarised society, the artist, who is known for her earlier political and social treatments, turns to abstract and universal themes. With the Kogo Gallery exhibition Abstract Garden, the artist Tanja Muravskaja attempts to expand on the installation side of her work, so she has replaced the political and social debates of her earlier works with universal humanist themes.

Tanja Muravskaja has exploited the symbolically rich metaphor of a garden also in earlier shows, such as Garden Exile. The Tuglas Home Garden Through Tanja Muravskaja’s Camera Lens (Kumu Art Museum, 2019). At the Kogo Gallery exhibition, the image of a garden does not refer to a specific place but is embodied by a highly abstract environment created by the artist. Her installation, consisting of abstract nature photos, video projections and spots of light and colour, serves as an allegory of the garden as a refuge. The author tries to escape literalness in order to focus on photography as such. Thus, the exhibition also highlights the value of photography; for the author, photography is a safe haven in which it is possible to directly experience art and reality, and which serves as a powerful source for ideas. The artist’s desire is to share this special place with us, the viewers.