KANAPLEV + LEIDIK: IDEAL. Portrait Exhibition & Camera Obscura Workshop

The camera obscura workshop/photo session will take place on 22 September from 10:00 to 17:00.

Tallinn residents aged 55 and over are welcome to participate in the photo session.

Exhibition opening: 22 September at 18:00

I D E A L
This project was created over the course of several years. I invited women from different cities across Belarus to choose an ideal image with which they identified themselves, whether a specific celebrity or a random photograph from a fashion magazine. “Who lives inside you? Who do you resemble?”
When the answer was, “That is me,” a portrait was created.
This gallery of images is a bold journey along the boundary between the real and the ideal, and an honest reflection on the many meanings of beauty.

Julia Leidik:
For me, as an ethnic Estonian, this journey carries a special significance. My father is Estonian, and my mother is Belarusian. I lived in Minsk for 19 years, but following forced emigration and political persecution, I can no longer freely return to the country where my identity and artistic path were formed.
Estonia has become for me not only the land of my ancestors but also a place where my family’s story continues. My relatives live here, separated from us for years by borders and distance. For this reason, the opportunity to realize an artistic project in Estonia is both a professional and a deeply personal undertaking.
As part of this visit, we will present the exhibition “Ideal” and conduct a camera obscura phototherapy workshop for people aged 55 and over. Working with the older generation is especially important to me, as these individuals are the keepers of a nation’s memory, history, and cultural identity.
As a result of the phototherapy process, a series of portraits of Tallinn’s senior residents will be created. The participants may include both notable members of Estonian society and members of my own family. Through these portraits, I wish to express my respect for the people who preserve the memory of the past while also strengthening my connection to Estonia, a country that forms an important part of my personal history.