“A Queue, Naked Women and Politics": lecture by Indrek Grigor
"A Queue, Naked Women and Politics. The Story of Woman in Photographic Art, the Most Popular Photo Exhibition in Soviet Estonia"
Lecture by Indrek Grigor
December 13 at 6 PM
ISSP Gallery (Berga Bazārs, Marijas iela 13 k.3)
Free entrance
One of the most legendary photo exhibitions in Latvian photo history is Jānis Kreicbergs curated Woman with Camera from 1977. Though women photographers' exhibitions were not unknown to the soviet block and Estonian photographers participated in the Riga exhibition, the format never reached Estonia. Instead, Estonians decided to follow the example of the nude and portrait exhibition Venus which had been held annually since 1970 in Krakow, and initiated the Woman in Photographic Art competition exhibitions in Tartu, where the role of the women was first of all that of a model.
On the 3rd of March 1983, the first exhibition in the series Woman in Photographic Art organised by the Tartu Photo Club opened in the Tartu Art House, immediately becoming one of the most popular exhibitions in Tartu’s history. It must be noted that the first competition was won by the Riga Photo Club. Altogether five exhibitions took place: in 1983, 1986, 1989 and 1991 in the Tartu Art House, and 1993 in the Küü Gallery. From 1989 onwards the photo clubs lost their role and it became a solely individual competition with the 1991 and 1993 exhibitions enjoying FIAP patronage.
The most popular of the Woman in Photographic Art exhibitions took place in 1989 when over four weeks it was visited by about 24 000 people. The stories about the queue at the Art House’s doors initiated the current research that extra to clarifying facts behind the mythical event, tries to bring attention to the international reach of photography in the 1980s and to the peculiar role that photo clubs, which enjoyed somewhat greater freedom than the strictly regimented creative unions, have played in soviet cultural history.
In the Soviet Union, photography was not recognised as a form of art and therefore there were no photographic artists. A professional photographer was somebody who took photos for the media, for a factory or some other institution. At the same time, beginning in the 1960s photography as a hobby was promoted by the state and thus a photo club was also formed under the auspices of the Tartu Cultural Centre, functioning in the eyes of the authorities as a hobbyist art circle. By offering an outlet for photographic artists whose works were shunned by traditional art exhibitions, the Tartu Photo Club was quite significant.
Some of the most notable events of the Tartu Photo Club made up of the series of competition exhibitions Woman in Photographic Art, which were organised by the club’s creative director Valeri Parhomenko. The incomparable popularity of those exhibition can be explained by a phenomena very familiar to the soviet population namely deficit. Eroticism was publicly deplored in the Soviet Union and organising an exhibition around the theme of women demanded quite a lot of political manoeuvring which is characterised by the decision that besides the initial idea of nudes and portraits, the exhibition had to focus on women’s social roles. That and the fact that the exhibition was opened on International Women’s Day was no coincidence.
With the growing freedom of the press – the first issue of the erotic magazine Maaja was published in 1989 and nude photos were printed on the cover of the daily newspaper Edasi – Woman in Photographic Art lost its value as a deficit item. Curator Valeri Parhomenko did try to transform the salon into a cooperative and later a joint-stock company to restructure it into something suitable for the market economy, but during the era of the 1990’s cowboy capitalism he was not successful.
Indrek Grigor (b. 1981, Pärnu, Estonia) is the head of the exhibitions department at Tartu Art Museum. Prior to that, he served as the Gallery Manager for Tartu Artists’ Union's three galleries for eight years. A task he took up after having started his professional career as the photo and video art collection custodian at Tartu Art Museum in 2006. Grigor has been curating numerous exhibitions in Estonia and Latvia and has participated in the production of more than 500 exhibitions. The few current noteworthy projects have been The Queue. An Episode in Tartu’s Photo History that was dedicated to the story of a series of exhibitions titled Woman in Photographic Art that were held in Tartu in the 1980s, Alana Proosa’s Stories of Love, Bloom, Lust and Loss a deeply personal series of portraits of Kathoy’s, the transsexuals in Thailand and Silver Girls. Retouched History of Photography“ which opened the treasure troves of early woman photographers in the Baltics. All three exhibitions were accompanied by a catalogue. Grigor has been active as an art critic since 2007 writing for the Estonian cultural weekly Sirp, the magazine Kunst.ee, the portal Echo Gone Wrong and various other publications in the Baltic's. From 2010-2020 he co-edited the art criticism broadcast Ministry of Art for Estonian Public Broadcasting. Indrek Grigor's academic journey includes the study of semiotics, in which he holds a Bachelor's degree, and art history, for which he earned a Master's degree, both from the University of Tartu.
Great News! Together with three other European photography centres, we have launched a new two-year EU-funded cooperation project: "Heritage Lens: Visual Narratives on Cultural Heritage Challenges and Resilience against Climate Change".
The project aims to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on European cultural heritage through artistic expression, employing the lens of photography. Through a transnational collaboration involving 12 photographers from around Europe, experts, and activists, HeritageLens seeks to facilitate the creation and dissemination of artistic works that raise awareness on this issue.
Christmas is just around the corner, and we have curated a list of unique gift ideas for you and your fellow photo-lovers! By purchasing gifts from us, you support the ISSP Gallery, our public education programmes and the talented artists we work with. Wishing you a warm and magical holiday season from all of us at ISSP!
Tuvojas Ziemassvētku laiks, un esam izveidojuši ideālo sarakstu ar unikālām un pārdomātām dāvanu idejām Tev un Tev tuvajiem foto-mīļiem. Iegādājoties dāvanas pie mums, tu atbalsti ISSP galerijas darbību, publiskās programmas un māksliniekus, ar kuriem sadarbojamies. ISSP komanda vēl siltus un maģiskus svētkus!
Ziemas saulgriežos, 21. decembrī, plkst. 11.00-15.00 aicinām uz vara talismanu darbnīcu Ellas Ruicēnas vadībā!
Ziemas saulgrieži ir īpašs laiks, kas tradicionāli veltīts pārdomām un jaunu ieceru veidošanai. Šajā darbnīcā būs iespēja iepazīt talismanu veidošanas procesu - darināsim unikālus vara priekšmetus, kas var kalpot kā personīgi simboli vai atbalsts ikdienā. Darbnīca norisināsies ISSP Galerijā saistībā ar Annas Maskavas izstādi “Ancestral Body / Senču ķermenis”.
ISSP invites artists from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia working within the medium of photography to apply to become a part of FUTURES, the prestigious European-based photography platform dedicated to supporting emerging talents in photography. Three artists from the three Baltic countries will be selected to join the platform in 2025.
The FUTURES platform pools together the experience of leading photography institutions across Europe in order to increase the capacity, mobility and visibility of its selected artists.
Join us for the third Photowalk around Riga neighborhoods, our new series of English-language events! Together with the best Latvian photographers, we invite you to explore and learn more about Riga's neighborhoods through the lens.
Turpinot tradīciju, arī šogad ISSP ir izdevis ikgadējo plānotāju, kurā iekļautas 40 Latvijas un ārzemju mākslinieku autorfotogrāfijas. Šī gada tēma ir “Metamorfoze” - spēcīgs transformācijas un attīstības simbols.
Ceturtdien, 12. decembrī plkst. 19.00 ISSP telpās, par godu ISSP plānotāja 2025 izdošanai norisināsies prezentācijas vakars, kurā Ziemassvētku noskaņā un radošā atmosfērā satiksies plānotāja autori, ISSP domubiedri un citi interesenti.
Ielūdzam uz Mazās mākslas meses atklāšanu topošās “Radošās rūpnīcas Veldze” teritorijā Matīsa ielā 8, piektdien, 6. decembrī no pulksten 16:00 līdz 20:00!
Mazās mākslas meses ietvaros (laikā no 6. - 8. decembrim) četras galerijas – galerija “ASNI”, 427 galerija, ISSP galerija un arterritory.com galerija-klejotāja energART – piedāvās apskatīt un iegādāties mākslas darbus.
Aicinām uz asociētās profesores Laines Kristbergas lekciju “Feminisma estētika Annas Maskavas mākslas darbos: formālie un konceptuālie risinājumi” saistībā ar ISSP Galerijā skatāmo izstādi “Ancestral Body / Senču ķermenis"!
We are happy to announce that the ISSP Weekly Planner 2025 PRE-SALE has started! Order the Weekly Planner for a special pre-sale price of 18 EUR until November 21!
The ISSP Weekly Planner 2025 combines the functions of a planner, a bullet journal, and a notebook. It is perfect for handwritten notes and includes 40 original photographs by 28 Latvian and international authors.
No šī rudens piedāvājam divas jaunas radošās darbnīcas Latvijas skolas somas projekta ietvaros! Radošā darbnīca “Fotogrāfija un performance” norisinās kā dinamiska spēle un tā ļauj ielūkoties fotogrāfijas lomas mijiedarbībā ar citām, savukārt darbnīca “Kad foto izkāpj no plaknes” paredz ceļojumu instalācijā, arhitektūrā un objektu mākslā. Darbnīcas tiek rīkotas pēc pieprasījuma ISSP telpā Berga Bazārā vai izbraukumā skolā.
Join us for the second Photowalk around Riga neighborhoods, our new series of English-language events! Together with the best Latvian photographers, we invite you to explore and learn more about Riga's neighborhoods through the lens.
Meet the ISSP artist in residency, who is with us until mid-November, Joan Calsina! He will talk about his previous projects and show the work in progress made in Riga.