Flash Show: The Longest Night of the Year

On 29 November, we open our winter flash show The Longest Night of the Year at Kogo Gallery, presenting works by seven artists from Estonia, Latvia and the United Kingdom. The participating artists are Agate Tūna, Anna Mari Liivrand, Bob Bicknell-Knight, Ellen Vene, Madlen Hirtentreu, Tanja Muravskaja and Tiina Sarapu. The exhibition is curated by Stella Mõttus.

When we think of Christmas, the first things that may come to mind are bright and warm living rooms, carefully decorated Christmas trees and tree skirts, and LED lights illuminating your own windows as well as those of every neighbour. Yet in nature, pitch-black darkness prevails. The days draw in, the light disappears incredibly quickly, and from morning to evening, there is a single stretch of dimness. It feels as though it never gets light at all. It is hard to imagine now that soon the sun will set only late in the evening.

Before the solstice, it can feel as though we are in another timespace – a space that is dark, but not empty. As we grow accustomed to the darkness, it becomes clear that the shadows do not conceal but reveal new layers: sounds become clearer, scents sharper and time seems to slow down. Our senses shift into a different tuning that allows us to perceive nuances hidden by daylight or noise. Darkness also makes room for imagination, creating the possibility of seeing what is not actually there.

Around the time of the solstice, it has been believed that the boundary between the realm of spirits and the earthly world becomes thinner, and that silence was necessary in order to stay awake, attentive and ready to listen to how different spirits and beings move around. Candles and bonfires helped, as they warded off the bad and kept one’s direction – light – in sight. Rooms were cleansed with smoke, the crackling of fire was used for divination and the sounds of the night were listened to. In this deep darkness, home becomes a kind of sanctuary – a place to retreat to during the season of spirits and sink into a winter’s rest.

This kind of timespace allows the warmth, presence and sense of anticipation we recognise as the feeling of Christmas to surface. Perhaps it does not lie in the nervous flicker of neon light in a neighbour’s window, but rather in the darkness, silence and smoke haze from the chimneys drifting across the land.

The works of the artists selected for this winter flash show radiate mystery and magic. Their pieces carry within them the transience of time, meditation, quietness, but also strength. Some works act as bright candles guiding one through the darkness; others allow what lies within the darkness to grow.