The State is Not a Work of Art
Katerina Gregos (Ed.)
Edited by Katerina Gregos
Texts by Katerina Gregos, Mark A. Jubulis, Ivar Sakk, Anthony D. Smith, Jonas Staal, Marek Tamm
130 × 210 mm
392 pp
Offset printing
Perfect binding
Graphic design: Indrek Sirkel
Typeface: Aino (Anton Koovit / Estonian Design Team)
Paper: Munken Lynx 100g
Printed by Tallinn Book Printers
Supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Ministry of Culture of Estonia, EV100, Danish Arts Foundation, Mondriaan Fund
18 EUR
Published by Lugemik & Tallinn Art Hall
Edition of 500 (ENG) + 400 (EST)
ISBN 978-9949-9934-9-9 (ENG)
ISBN 978-9949-9934-8-2 (EST)
2018
In recent years, Europe has seen a mass migration of people fleeing war zones, authoritarian regimes, and environmental crises. With this, the alarming spectre of nationalism has returned to the continent. The inequalities and increasing cultural homogenisation that globalisation has spurred have caused people to yearn for a return to seeming certainties – the sense of “belonging”, to a nation or a national community.
The book was published in conjunction with the exhibition The State Is not a Work of Art at Tallinn Art Hall, 17.02.–29.04.2018. On the occasion of Estonia celebrating its centenary of independence, the exhibition and publication reflect on the problems, contradictions, and ideologies underlying nation and nationalism in the constantly transforming sociopolitical landscape of today’s Europe.
The graphic design of the publication also refers to national tendencies in visual culture. The publication is designed using guidelines and elements (typeface, grid, boulders on the cover) from the Brand Estonia toolbox, a set of marketing tools developed by Enterprise Estonia as part of the national marketing concept. Brand Estonia was designed by the Estonian Design Team and launched in early 2017. The ‘boulders’ featured as stickers on the cover were created as visual elements from the Brand Estonia toolbox. They refer to the giant erratic boulders that seem to have appeared magically in the Estonian landscape and are meant to be used as playful or practical design elements.
Contributions by Ewa Axelrad, Loulou Cherinet, Marta Górnicka, Lise Harlev, Femke Herregraven, Flo Kasearu, Thomas Kilpper, Szabolcs KissPál, Stéphanie Lagarde, Ella Littwitz, Thomas Locher, Cristina Lucas, Damir Muratov, Tanja Muravskaja, Marina Naprushkina, Kristina Norman, Daniela Ortiz, Katarzyna Przezwańska, Jaanus Samma, Ivar Sakk, Larissa Sansour, Jonas Staal, Kristina Solomoukha & Paolo Codeluppi.