Archaeologists of Memory: Vitols Contemporary Art Collection

The book accompanies the exhibition Archaeologists of Memory: Vitols Contemporary Art Collection at the Kumu Art Museum (18.11.2022–09.04.2023).

The current exhibition and the book offer in-depth theme-based insight into the Vitols Contemporary, one of the most intriguing art collections in the Baltics, focused on the contemporary art of Central and Eastern Europe. The collection includes close to 1000 artworks from more than 150 artists. In the words of the collectors, Irina Vītola and Māris Vītols,

their collection has been inspired by their interest in the tremendous social and political changes in Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989,

as well as by the cultural diversity of the region. The book includes an interview with Irina Vītola and Māris Vītols, a short story by Maarja Kangro and an essay by Tanel Rander, as well as a catalogue of the artworks on display in the exhibition. The artists: Victor Alimpiev, Vladimir Arkhipov, Jānis Avotiņš, Matei Bejenaru, Blue Noses Group, Vajiko Chachkhiani, Olga Chernysheva, Kristaps Ģelzis, Dmitry Gutov, Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė, Rasa Jansone, Jānis Kalmīte, Alice Kask, Vendula Knopová, Eva Kot’átková, Leonards Laganovskis, Goshka Macuga, Inga Meldere, Rustam Mirzoev, Deimantas Narkevičius, Mircea Nicolae, Lucia Nimcová, Adrian Paci, Ievgen Petrov, Joanna Piotrowska, Tõnis Saadoja, Krišs Salmanis, Monika Sosnowska, Antanas Sutkus and Artur Żmijewski

In collaboration with the Contemporary Art Centre (Riga, Latvia) and the Association of Latvia Cultural Projects