ESSR 1991
Immersive Exhibition Design | Summer 2023
ESSR 2023 is a hypothetical temporary immersive exhibition designed for Gallery 0 at Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. The exhibition explores the idea of resistance, telling the story of Estonia's journey toward freedom and the events that led to the restoration of its independence in 1991.
The main goal was to create a space where visitors could experience this history not only through archival footage, but also through the architecture itself. The exhibition uses concrete walls, narrow passages, wooden structures, projections, and lighting to communicate different emotions associated with oppression, resistance, and eventually freedom.
The experience begins in a dark, confined space beneath a large tilted concrete wall, seemingly supported by a series of thin wooden spikes. From there, visitors move through a sequence of spaces that gradually reveal different moments in Estonian history, including the Mass Deportation of 1941, the Baltic Way, and the Singing Revolution. Archival footage is projected onto the concrete surfaces, allowing the history to become part of the surrounding architecture.
Throughout most of the exhibition, the spaces are illuminated by cold blue light, creating a rather uncomfortable and somber atmosphere. As visitors approach the exit, the lighting gradually shifts to warmer yellow tones, symbolizing the restoration of independence and the arrival of freedom.
The intention was to create an exhibition where the space itself becomes part of the narrative, using architecture, light, and movement to communicate a history that is both deeply personal and important to Estonia's national identity.