Amen

Location Estonian Embassy in Washington

/ Graphic installation aluminum on composite board, glass, pigment print on film – Dimensions 2.2 x 2.2 meters /

Author Oliver Soomets
 

2022

Many thanks to Bruno Lillemets, Tõnis Hiiesalu, Sven Sapelson and Andres Toodo

The graphic installation depicts the cultural layers of our land, with the top layer formed by people. More specifically, the image represents a fragment of Pakri Cliff and people – Estonians – standing on it. The center of the photo’s base features a darker spot with a recess.

Pakri Cliff is a protected primeval nature object, and its limestone shore is like an open book to an informed observer, telling the history of our land. These layers can also be seen as cultural-historical stratifications stored in the spiritual memory of the Estonian people, serving as a foundation that has settled into our genes. The artwork “AMEN” depicts the layers of our material and spiritual history. As a nation, we stand on both: physically on the cliff and mentally in our history.

The image of the cliff is created on the artwork using letters of varying thickness and height. The text used is the most important text in Estonian history and statehood – the “Manifest to all Peoples of Estonia.” It is a text that writes history, our foundational document of statehood, the title and content of which remain relevant throughout the ages.