Gallery: Exhibition of key Estonian freedom fighter Heinz Valk's cartoons opens
An outdoor exhibition of caricatures and cartoons by Heinz Valk, a noteworthy figure in the drive towards the restoration of Estonia's independence, has opened at the Freedom Park (Vabaduse park) in the Nõmme district of Tallinn.
Titled "Ükskord me naersime niimoodi" ("Once we laughed like this"), the exhibition is made up of Valk's contributions to the satirical magazine "Pikker," over the period 1960–1988.
This is the period when Valk, who turns 90 next March, developed into one of Estonia's most influential creators of visual humor, addressing in his works societal shortcomings, absurd paradoxes, and human weaknesses which all formed in the reality of the Soviet system.
The exhibition's title is also a play on words, relating to Valk. In 1988 at the start of the Singing Revolution, which culminated in Estonia being an independent nation again three years later, Valk's rallying cry "Ükskord me võidame niikuinii" ("One day, no matter what, we will win") resounded as a serious and all-embracing cry of freedom.
The new exhibition's title instead shows that laughter and irony were part of Estonia's resistance long before the political breakthroughs.
The plan is to make the "Ükskord me võidame niikuinii" installation a traveling exhibition across Estonia.
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Editor: Annika Remmel Andrew Whyte
