About

Enter Woodland Spirits is both a new online anthology of nature folklore based on the collections of the Estonian Folklore Archives and an international exhibition of technological art that gives voice to folklore in the contemporary cultural space. The Estonian Nature Folklore anthology highlights the rich folklore collections and their value from an ecological perspective. The exhibition aims to give a fresh voice to the messages of folk wisdom and to make the soulfulness of nature perceptible in a multi-sensory manner.
 
In Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary film Encounters at the End of the World, one interviewee said of life beyond the Arctic Circle that the closer you get to the poles, the more it becomes a place for professional dreamers. In the northern hemisphere, it does feel that way, especially where the longitudes narrow and converge. Less room for informativeness, more room for sensations. Estonia does not extend to the Arctic Circle, but the Nordic and Baltic countries share a certain intuitive sensibility, which can be described as somatic and sensory rather than informative and explanatory.
 
Estonian folklore shares a worldview with its closest neighbours: it incorporates both a utilitarian and sustainable aspect, as well as a respectful relationship with nature as a soulful, powerful partner. In folklore and everyday practice, nature was not seen as an infinite collection of raw materials, rather a community of powerful living beings. Today, many people have become more like Sunday tourists in the forest, with technology as their everyday partner. With this exhibition, we want to bring people, technology and nature closer together.
 
The Enter Woodland Spirits international exhibition of technological and contemporary art employs a unique strategy aligned with the aforementioned dreamy beliefs. The exhibition features over twenty artists from the Nordic and Baltic countries. The artworks focus on installation environments, sound and video works, and other hybrid forms build an immersive multi-sensory art experience. Enter Woodland Spirits takes place in two adjacent buildings: the Estonian Literary Museum and the University of Tartu Natural History Museum. It is also a spatial meeting of stories and nature.
 
Enter Woodland Spirits is not a socio-critical exhibition project; instead it offers alternative perspectives on how to make sense of the relationship with nature through ongoing folk wisdom and to assess the sustainable cooperation between humans and nature. In the exhibition, technology and inspiring archival materials form a unique alliance, illuminating the otherwise invisible and making audible the otherwise silent.

 

Henri Hütt, Evelyn Raudsepp, Taive Särg, Ave Goršič.
2024