Voronja Gallery Opens Summer Season with "Peculiar People" Exhibition on Life in Peipsiveere Village

Voronja Gallery launches its 13th summer season on Sunday with the exhibition "Peculiar People," created by artists Tuuli Vahesaar and Martin Laiapea. The exhibition explores village life in Peipsiveere and its residents, drawing on the artists' own experiences in an Old Believer community. This season marks a departure from the gallery's previous approach, with a grand universal theme replaced by a deeply personal and place-based perspective.

Voronja Gallery ventures into new territory this summer: the 13th season's opening exhibition on Sunday, "Peculiar People," abandons the grand universal theme that has characterised the gallery's previous seasons. Instead, artists Tuuli Vahesaar and Martin Laiapea, who also serve as curators, have turned their attention to village life in Peipsiveere.

The exhibition grew out of the artists' own experiences in an Old Believer community, where local people and their stories have become the centre of the work. Vahesaar and Laiapea emphasise that their aim is not to mock or ridicule anyone, but rather to offer a respectful and attentive perspective on a community with which they have a personal connection.

The Old Believer villages surrounding Peipsiveere carry a unique cultural heritage that has captivated artists and researchers for decades. Over the years, Voronja Gallery has become a place where both local and itinerant creative work find a shared home. The opening of the 13th season marks the gallery's continuity and its desire to bring something unexpected to audiences each time.