Views on a Landscape

2016-2019, oil on canvas

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The European Landscape Convention (2000) defines "landscape" as an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and / or human factors. Landscape can be perceived in different ways, such as by viewing. The act of viewing is directly related to the concept of lanscape, which initially signified a certain area as well as a view and a painted image of this area (Di Palma, 2016). If we see landscape as a view, we may ask, is it a spectacles staged by someone. Landscape design and presentation is a powerful tool to create an image of a country. Some landscapes are never seen by the people driving on the roads or travelling on hiking trails, while others are highlighted. Recreational consumer landscapes direct us via information boards, boardwalks and observational towers. Many industrial landscapes providing the resources necessary for a comfortable life are hidden away. Some landscapes are valued, others are deemed to be quotidian or unpleasent.

 

There are also other ways of perceiving landscapes in addition to to viewing them: hearing, smelling, touching - working and living in landscapes. When we are active in a landscape, we perceive it more richly. It is known that we value that which we are familiar with. Having never seen a silver-washed fritillary or a brown hawker, a person will not notice their absence in another landscape, nor their disappearance.

 

Exhibition "Views on a Landscape" is open in Tallinn City Gallery, from 25th of October till 15th of December 2019. Curator Siim Preiman.

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Exhibition guide, including texts from Siim Preiman, Kalevi Kull and Jane Remm.

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European Landscape Convention (2000). Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/1680080621

Di Palma, V. (2016). Is Landscape Painting. In: Is Lanscape...? Ed by Gareth Doherty and Charles Waldheim. London, New York: Routledge, 44–70, lk 47.

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