Open Studio

On August 14th, an interactive exhibition will open at the Freedom Gallery in Tallinn, Estonia. The exhibition will portray diverse voices from all corners of the European continent expressing dreams for improving the Europe they perceive. Working across borders and disciplines, artist Anastasia Lember-Lvova shows vibrant oil paintings and projections that depict interviewees from her excursions around Europe. The exhibition becomes an experimental playground for audiences to contemplate their own desires for a fair home for all Europeans. During the month running up to the exhibition, Lemberg-Lvova will hold an open studio at the Kogo Gallery in Tartu, Estonia. There will also be a series of complimentary performances held in public spaces around Tallinn and Tartu.

The starting premise for Lemberg-Lvova’s exhibition occurred back in 2018 when she participated in the Harbour for Cultures project initiated by Trieste Contemporanea in Italy. There, she began exploring the ability for art to transcend its medium, using it to prompt creative conversations regarding social processes. She developed this concept further the next year when she travelled to the European Youth Parliament flagship event of 2019 in Yerevan, Armenia. It was here that the idea to use Oblique Strategies Cards to spark conversations with people in her surroundings originated and the beginning of the current exhibition was born.  

The two-part exhibition, curated by Tiiu Meiner, displays Lemberg-Lvova’s ongoing research through colourful oil-paint portraits of her project’s participants. Audiences will additionally be able to provide their own thoughts and ideas to questions on an interactive wall projection, as well as listen to previous interviews conducted by the artist. These recorded interviews will be paired with the artist’s depictions of her subjects as vivid framed characterisations. 

Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova’s projects combine her awe for the aesthetics of oil painting and her need to bring the individual to the forefront of a society preoccupied with generalisation. She uses elements of social design, vibrant colour, and participatory activities to engage the public in a reflection on the potential and the value of one person. Originally from Moscow, Lemberg-Lvova has lived and worked in multiple European countries. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Tartu University and has received training in Belgium, the Netherlands and Russia. Her current projects include the “Don’t Avoid What is Easy” exhibition in Tallinn, Estonia, and the 2020 ModernDiplomacy Conference in Vienna, Austria, where she will be speaking out further about her practice and the ideas that define her works.