Voldemar Noormägi. Canvases from the Shadow of Ruins – The art of Narva before World War II
Event overview
The series of exhibitions “Canvases in the Shadow of Ruins – Art of Narva before World War II” invites us to remember Narva and its residents before the war – a time when the artistic life of the provincial city was in full swing, and artists strolled along the streets of the old town, trying to capture on canvas what they held most dear. Today, 80 years after the end of the war, their paintings stand as rare monuments to a city that no longer exists.
Three Narva artists – Voldemar Noormägi, Ardo Sivadi and Aleksander Normak – have their anniversaries in 2025. Their work speaks not only to their own biographies, but also to the fate of the city: prosperity and loss of independence, the devastation of war, the will to survive in a new reality while preservation one’s memories. The life of pre-war Narva continues on in their works.
Each pop-up exhibition features one artist, along with one of his paintings of old Narva. This is an experimental exhibition project which focuses on cooperation with local youth. The museum invited the Narva Estonian State High School to participate in the creation of this exhibition project. The texts for the exhibition were composed by the student Ilya Olkhovetskiy in cooperation with Narva Museum. The series of three exhibitions introduces young people to the history of Narva through the legacy of local artists and images of the pre-war city.
Pause in front of a painting and be transported to 1930s Narva.
This three-part exhibition series by the Narva Museum was created in collaboration with Narva Estonian Gymnasium and the Narva College of the University of Tartu, with the support of the Estonian Cultural Endowment.
The exhibition is on display in the foyer of the University of Tartu Narva College. Free admission.
The exhibition opening will take place on May 7 at 5 p.m.
