The Kondas Center of Naive Art (Kondase Keskus) – Viljandi (Estonia) en
Summary
The Kondas Center of Naive Art is well worth a visit.
There are many exhibitions on at once, and the George Kondas pieces are there permanently- hence the name of the center- one of the most famous Estonian painters, originally from Viljandi.
The entrance fee is 2 euros for adults, 1 euro for kids, 4 euros for families.
The backstory
I arrived in Viljandi on a Monday and the museum was closed. I went to the Tourism Office and introduced myself, and they nicely called the museum’s curator who offered to show me around.
I had the chance to see the museum alone, but I assume that there is rarely throngs of people, and that it is easy to walk around in peace.
The venue
The museum is in a typical Viljandian wooden house.
The Paul Kondas Permanent Collection
This 1965 painting is his most well known: “Maasikasööjad”, the Strawberry Eaters. It’s this painting that gave the city its symbol: the strawberry.
Check out the video I made, you can see the curator showing Kondas’ most important paintings.
The temporary exhibitions:
– John Digby, an American specialized in collage
– an exhibit on an encyclopedia illustrator
– A stool exhibition
– the painter Ellinor Aiki
Finally what I loved was the animation created by Edmunds Jansons around Irina Pilke’s autobiographic drawing sketch pads: she relates her story under the Soviet occupation with humor and distance, a gem.
Little Birds Diary from Atom Art on Vimeo.
Map
Pikk 8, Viljandi, Viljandi linn, Eesti Vabariik
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