Pieces of Antiquity
marble 12x6x6cm 2020

Jaanus Samma is an artist with an exceptionally sensitive and specific range of interests, whose work has focused exclusively on gay and queer culture, its history and clashes with social mores. Samma is interested in how we deal with, talk about it, display and reflect on this cultural layer today. The exhibition displays a selection of the installation Pieces of Antiquity –a collection of lost penises. These aren’t just any male members but were once part of sculptures and then, at some point, as public opinion and social standards changed, were amputated. They fell victim to morality, were once admired, then despised, lost and forgotten and now, found. Its companion piece is Reconstructed Histories, Belts, a small collection of ends (or beginnings) of folk patterned belts. For the artist, these evoke heritage and museological choices, while for the curator they are more like letters from the past and remind us that Tõnis Vint has talked about how belts are “books” written in the language of symbols, a recording of ancient wisdom that can be “read” if only we were still patternliterate…