The Art Museum of Estonia, founded in 1919, has by today grown into several museums.
Historical ecclesiastical art from the Middle Ages up to the Baroque period is displayed in the Niguliste Museum, foreign art from the 16th to 20th century is displayed in the Kadriorg Art Museum, the art collection of Johannes Mikkel in the Mikkel Museum, the art of Adamson-Eric, a modernist Estonian artist of the 20th century, is displayed in the Adamson-Eric Museum, and Estonian art from the 18th century until today is housed in the Kumu Art Museum. The collection of the Art Museum of Estonia is constantly supplemented by earlier art, as well as by contemporary art.
Kumu museum – Art Lives Here!
Kumu is the headquarters of the Art Museum of Estonia, as well as the largest and most impressive exhibition venue in Estonia. In 2008 Kumu received the European Museum of the Year Award. This is a noteworthy international recognition of Kumu’s aspiration to become a truly contemporary art museum, which is not just dedicated to collection, conservation and exhibition, but is a multifunctional space for active mental activity, from educational programmes for small children to discussions about the nature and meaning of art in the modern world. It is Kumu’s ambition to constantly participate in the Estonian and international art worlds, to which a contribution is made by the 250-seat auditorium, with its film programme, performances, concerts, seminars and conferences, the educational centre, with programmes and courses directed at various age groups, and the library, with the widest selection of art literature in Estonia. Kumu’s role is to be both an educational and entertainment centre, a booster of art and artistic life, a place for reflection that carries a message of stability, a place that creates and provides experiences, and a creator and interpreter of meanings. Kumu is interested wide variety of artistic practices in international art field, therefore in 2015’s program you can find Hilma af Klint together with Ryoji Ikeda and Raymond Pettibon.
