My Poland. On Recalling and Forgetting

It brought 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.

[1] 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 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.

After the discussion Tiidus called the videos offending and Tartu Art Museum removed them from the exhibition entirely.

For example, journalist Kadri Veermäe from major Estonian daily Postimees interpreted it as a censorship or self-censorship.

[7] On the other hand, Kaarel Tarand, former editor-in-chief of Estonian main cultural newspaper Sirp, did not consider this as a result of censorship.

[9] After videos were removed, the museum decided to use that room do present the documentation about the public discussion about the exhibition on both traditional and social media, considering the themes of censure and self-censorship.

[10] On the opening day, Eesti Televisioon's news program Aktuaalne kaamera asked the chairwoman of Tartu Jewish Community Ilona Smuškina to visit the exhibition My Poland.

[26] Main critical arguments include joking about Holocaust, mocking,[20] lack of empathy amongst the artists and the authors of the exhibition,[19] and the need to identify the boundaries of art.

[21] "The reaction and the triggered debate in the society leads us to ask again where are the boundaries of art," said Urve Tiidus.

So the question is not whether it is a good or bad work of art, the problem is that it has touched a subject which is declared to be taboo in Europe and America.

Jean Baudrillard and Umberto Eco have also talked about how Hollywood wouldn't let Jews to forgive and Germans to be forgiven."