Art Week Pärnu will be kicked off by a Sven Grünberg concert The Breath, presented by Taavi Kerikmäe and the Ensemble of the Estonian Electronic Music Society. The concert will take place on 18 July on the mushroom balcony in Pärnu Beach House. Unlike the performances bearing the same title in the concert halls of Estonia and Vanemuine, the concert on the beach mushroom in Pärnu is an open-air concert, which will add even more vibrations and flow to Grünberg’s music. The atmosphere is further shaped by the multisensory events of the Art Week in the Pärnu urban space and beach area.
Sven Grünberg’s creation ties in with the curator’s theme of Art Week Pärnu, Thread of Life – The Absurdity of Time, as well as with the events of the entire art week where, in addition to visual arts, performing arts and many other forms are also represented. The symbiosis between different artistic outputs is exactly what has contributed to the influence of Grünberg’s musical composition. He has done a diverse range of collaborations with many artists, primarily with Kaarel Kurismaa, but also Tõnis Vint and Leonhard Lapin, who were the authors of his album cover designs.
“The concert The Breath is an opportunity to remember Tõnis Vint, who was a good friend of mine and who I also made two films with,” says Grünberg of the designer of his album The Breath. “We used a photograph of a galaxy called the Sombrero in the design; I associated this with the concept of breath, qi, which is very rare – it does not occur in the big European languages. It’s one of the most central terms in Eastern philosophy, the visual equivalent of which could be nature, in the broadest sense of the word; the galaxy as a multidimensional field.”
Sven Grünberg’s album The Breath, released 40 years ago, was the first electronic music author’s album in the Soviet Union which earned a cult following. This year’s concert series is the first live performance of the album. Since the composer has not notated the music on the album, the preparation for the performance by the ensemble has, in a way, become breaking the Grünberg code. The concert The Breath at Pärnu beach provides an opportunity to experience the album in a completely new way. The location of the concert on the beach mushroom refers to the curator’s theme of Art Week Pärnu and brings into focus the legendary events that took place on the beach in the 60s.
The concert is in collaboration with Eesti Kontsert. Tickets are on sale on Piletilevi.
Art Week, held since 2016, is a one-of-a-kind festival in the heart of the city involving all contemporary art genres and representing artists mostly from Estonia, but also from neighbouring countries. The festival incorporates various art events, intriguing and educational discussions, exciting workshops and at times unbelievable performances in various locations all over the city. The most outstanding event of Art Week is The Big Art Day when galleries and art institutions participate with displays in the busiest location in the city. On July 17-25 Art Week will take place in Pärnu. Program: www.artweekestonia.ee
