My Poland. On Recalling and Forgetting

My Poland. On Recalling and Forgetting is the first Holocaust-themed art exhibition in Estonia, taking place at Tartu Art Museum in early 2015, seventy years after the end of World War II and the liberation of the Nazi extermination camps. The exhibition, curated by museum's director Rael Artel, received a lot of attention from Estonian society and from both Estonian and international media. It brough out the differences of opinion and initiated a public debate about the reflection of Holocaust and freedom of speech, censorship and self-censorship in art. Originally, eight contemporary artworks were exhibited, one of them by an Estonian artist and seven from Polish artists (incl. one Polish–Israeli and one American with Polish Jewish roots). Soon after the opening of the exhibition the museum limited access to two works of art because of public criticism. Later, both of them were removed from the exhibition.

The name of the exhibition My Poland emphasizes curators personal perspective to Polish contemporary art where Holocaust and the Second World War is a distinctive theme. The name refers to a popular Estonian books series ("My Estonia", "My Mexico", "My St. Petersburg", etc.) which also focuses on authors' personal impressions of different countries.

The works selected for the exhibition in Tartu Art Museum are made by well-known Polish artists most of whom have participated in the Venice Biennale. Curator Rael Artel has said that although she tried to find comparable works from Estonian art, the only Holocaust themed work was John Smith's painting Holocaust.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication put together by Rael Artel and designed by Mikk Heinsoo. The exhibition was supported by The Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Estonian Ministry of Culture. My Poland is curated by the director of Tartu Art Museum Rael Artel and exhibition's coordinator is Julia Polujanenkova, museums' keeper of the contemporary art.

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