Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

“August Procession” is about different tempos co-existing at the same time. The light from windows registers the passing of time in the abandoned factory building, the speed of the bus determines the length of the passengers’ conversation. The minutes have been counted until sunset. And then there’s memory time. Time to recall. Perhaps to celebrate together and feel a sense of belonging. “August Procession”, filmed in Narva area, enters into a mental dialogue with events that occurred at the eastern border of Estonia and the European Union in August 2022. The central theme in local news was the plan of the removal of the tank monument to the Soviet ‘liberators’, erected 52 years ago. Local habitants were used to see the tank on the plinth nearby the road while driving to the beach. The tank was removed on 16 August by the Estonian government, due to various tensions, caused by the Russian war in Ukraine and dramatically changed geopolitical situation. Several Russian speaking people in Narva fell into mourning because the tank was an important souvenir for them. The religious procession took place a week later, from a retreat to a famous orthodox monastery in the area.

Liina Siib is a visual artist, filmmaker, educator and curator from Tallinn, Estonia. She has studied printmaking and photography at the Estonian Academy of Arts, photography and video in exchange at the University of Westminster in London. Currently she works as the Professor of Graphic Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Film, photography and installation as her main interests, she explores various manifestations of people’s everyday practices and social space. Her works deal with characters, spaces and situations that tend to go unnoticed due to their ordinariness or are silenced or ignored. She has made experimental documentary videos and staged short films that have been shown mostly in the gallery and exhibition context, sometimes using the format of expanded cinema. In 2011, her project “A Woman Takes Little Space” represented Estonia at the 54th Venice Art Biennale. Besides that her works have been shown at the international art biennales in Riga, Tallinn, Moscow, Rauma, Cerveira, Ljubljana and Rijeka. Recently, she has been artist at residence at the NART Narva Art Residency. Her work has been included in several public and private collections. In 2006 she received the Annual award of the Estonian Cultural Endowment. Full CV at: liinasiib.com/biography/