All Is Well at the End! Barbara Lehtna’s Light Installations Arrived in Valga
Artist Barbara Lehtna had an adventurous car journey from Riga to Valga on May 1st, with three very delicate blown glass LED installations, which are part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 and the Route Diverse art programme.
“The signs filled both my car and my heart, as it was a great joy to finally get them from the master’s workshop. Soon they will be up on the walls of the old restaurant at Valga railway station and part of a performative installation that’s being prepared. The installations are inspired by my experience with Valga, which spans nearly 20 years, and the question of how to be happy in such a seemingly random environment as a typical Estonian ‘provincial town’,” says artist Barbara Lehtna.
To create the installation, the artist spoke with many people from Valga and collected their important thoughts – some of which ended up on the walls of the railway station yesterday. The creative process is not yet finished, and Lehtna continues to sort through ideas.
The unfairly negative image of Valga
“I am working on shaping the art installation into a coherent whole in order to counteract the unfairly negative image of Valga in the mass media. Secondly, the idea is that perhaps the condition of buildings or infrastructure in a city environment is not as important as personal responsibility for human relationships, which take place in those same buildings,” says Lehtna.
“Valga is a true example that good human relationships bring along a city that sometimes slowly but steadily becomes denser and renewed,” the artist adds.
Come to Valga to discover this special border town and exciting periphery! Tickets for Route Diverse art programme bus tours are already on sale.Route Diverse is part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme which invites you to discover exciting periphery by joining out of the ordinary art experience. Bus tours to experience art installations take place from June to the end of September. The exciting 3.5-hour journey begins in the border town of Valga, continues to Hargla to experience sound installations, and continues with an exhibition of nests at Ähijärve in Karula National Park. The art programme also takes place in the bus during the tour. At the end of the trip, the bus brings art-curious people back to Valga.