Street art is like an encyclopedia, especially in Tartu. All the drawings, paintings, graffiti and murals have a history and convey a message. Some refer to a personal memory of the artist, while others depict Estonian society. Some are related to politics and others to environmental issues.
Gallery at Vabaduse bridge
Lydia Koidula near Raekoja Plats in the vision of Edward von Lõnguse
Anton Hansen Tammsaare near Raekoja Plats in the vision of Edward von Lõnguse
In this case, Edward von Lõnguse portrayed Ms. Koidula and Mr. Tammsaare. The former was a famous Estonian literary figure, poet and the founder of the Estonian theatre. “Lydia Koidula” is actually her pen name and means “Lydia of the dawn” in Estonian. The latter is also an Estonian writer, mostly known for writing “Tõde ja õigus” (“Truth and Justice”). A cornerstone of Estonian literature, it is a 5 volume series written in the interwar period, which presents the rise of the Estonian state and the class-struggle, based on the author’s personal experiences. Considering their contributions to Estonia’s legacy, both of them were featured on the 100 and 25 kroon notes, the former currency of the country. However, since Estonia joined the euro zone in 2011, their figures were no longer popular. Therefore, the artist portrayed them as poor and homeless, as if they are no longer valuable.
“Kannahabe ja Nõiakütt” (“Cannabeard and the Witch-Hunter”) at Lossi 36 in the vision of Edward von Lõnguse
Wherever you go, whatever promenade you choose, you notice at least 5 pieces of street art everyday. This one is right next to my faculty and the Supreme Court of Estonia. It shows a Policeman (Witch Hunter) who is arresting Sammalhabe who has cannabis for a beard. This is a reference to “Moss Beard”, a famous Estonian fictional children’s character and the strict drug policy that Estonia had adopted. Edward von Lõnguse won the Tartu City Culture Award in 2014 for this artwork.
Ms. Reet with the mural about her story at Soola Street in the vision of MTO (Credits: Official facebookpage of MTO)
This is among the most popular murals of Tartu. Ms. Reet is the owner of a small esoteric shop from that building. In this work, she has her hands tied because her shop was about to get shut down as the entire building was planned to be demolished to make way for a new supermarket. French artist MTO painted the mural as a protest against the big commercial centres.
“No siempre es ver para creer” (“Seeing isn’t always believing”) at Pargi Street by Izak One
My favourite one is this mural. Since I was a child I had a passion for hand shadows, but this painting is more than that. It was painted by Izak One, a graffiti artist and architect from Chile, who lives in Estonia. I believe everybody interprets this image in a different way. For me, it is about showing that you have the power of creating your own path through life and you shouldn’t trust anything without actual proof.
Fun fact: Street art is illegal in Estonia, with the exception of Tartu. In fact, the Tartu city government is cooperating with the artists in this project. Thus, Tartu is considered the capital of Estonian street art and this is one of the reasons why it will be the European Capital of Culture in 2024!
A major contributor to the street art and culture of Tartu is the international festival Stencibility. Happening for 12 years already, it gathers local and international artists, who focus mostly on small scale works rather than murals. The locations for the paintings are approved in advance by the local administration. Then, the artists are free to show their imagination. The entire system is based on “spraycation”, which means that the artists choose from the pre-arranged locations before they figure out what they want to sketch. This pushes the artists to become familiar with the surroundings and to strengthen their networking with other artists involved in the festival. Furthermore, it proves how much trust there is involved among the local administration, the organisers and the artists. Most of the images that I included in this post showed pieces of art created during Stencibility. As you can notice, their artwork can be found anywhere: on blocks, poles, benches, shutters, bridges, electrical boxes, garages and anything else that you can imagine.
Mural at Tähe Street
Mural at Soola Street
Electrical box at Aleksandri Street
Combination of the silent film with children literature at Kompanii street in the vision of Edward von Lõnguse
“Momo and thieves of time” at Vanemuise Street by Reti Saks
I dedicated my time to write this blog post about street art in Tartu because it is one of the most representative things in the city. I am an art lover and I believe all these awesome creations deserve more attention! However, some of the artists and their work are hard to find. Some of them want to be anonymous, while others use pseudonyms. Luckily, I found this map which explains the paintings and mentions the artists who want to be public. Some pictures might not be out there anymore, while others have not been added to the map because they were created recently. This is a reason for you to wander around Tartu and do some street art hunting on your own (watch out for the secret layer of the map).
[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=18SlCIk3vQeasHnKN84E7XaNKmJE&hl=en&ehbc=2E312F&w=640&h=480]
Gallery at Vabaduse bridge
All pictures belong to the author except when noted otherwise.
