Author:
Tartu Ülikooli muuseumi kogu

Exhibition "Power Shapes Space. Political Image of the Assembly Hall of the

The exhibition, which will open at the University of Tartu Art Museum in November 2024, will take a closer look at Tartu's most famous ceremonial hall, the Assembly Hall of the University of Tartu. This strictly classicist and solemn academic white hall with columns may at first glance seem completely neutral. However, a delve into the more than two hundred years of the hall's history reveals how all the powers that have ruled Estonia in the 19th and 20th centuries have sought to establish themselves visually and monumentally in this tabula rasa space. The university hall is an example of a remarkable public space deliberately decorated to perpetuate the current dominant ideology

The exhibition guides the visitor to look at the Assembly Hall as a space with a fresh eye and find why each state authority has wanted to design the hall in their own image. More broadly, we are looking for an answer to the question of how free we are in our choices, our notions of what is right and beautiful, and to what extent is it influenced by external factors?

Ken Ird

Historic events in the Assembly Hall

1842
Pianist and composer Ferenc Liszt gave two concerts on his tour to St Petersburg.

1883
The 100th anniversary of the birth of the Russian poet Vassily Zhukovsky, who wrote the words to the imperial anthem, among other things, was celebrated in the magnificently decorated hall.

1905 
The Assembly Hall became one of the epicentres of the revolution that had begun in Russia, with revolutionary-minded students regularly gathering to voice their demands. A national meeting of elected representatives was also held in the hall, which split into two separate meetings on the opening day. The more radical wing of representatives of the Estonian people stayed in the hall.

1919 
The opening ceremony of the Estonian-language university was held, which paved the way for today's national university.

1939
A memorial to students who died in the War of Independence was opened.

1964
Speech by the President of Finland, Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, in Estonian, which emphasised the importance of the university in preserving Estonian national culture and language.

1965
The hall was completely destroyed in a fire in the main building.

1967
After two years of restoration work, the hall was reopened in its original form.

1987 
A Komsomol meeting of the History Department and the Faculty of Law protested against the decision of the Estonian SSR leaders to start large-scale phosphorite mining in Virumaa. Nationalist sentiments were ignited by Hando Runnel, who addressed the students as a representative of the Writers' Union.

1991
The Dalai Lama XIV, who visited the university and gave a lecture here ten years later, spoke in the Assembly Hall.

1994
On the initiative of Rector Peeter Tulviste, the memorial to the students who fell in the War of Independence was returned to its original location. The accompanying bronze inscriptions were restored 25 years later for the 100th anniversary of the national university.

 

The exhibition "Power Shapes Space. Political Image of the Assembly Hall of the University of Tartu" is part of the additional programme of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024.

Curator: Ken Ird

Project manager: Karoliina Kalda 

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