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29.05
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17.08.2025
"Devote(d)" by Mario Del Curto and Rein Aunistu
"Devote(d)" is a joint exhibition that brings together the work of two distinct creators: Swiss photographer Mario Del Curto’s documentation of art brut artists and their living environments, and artworks created by Rein Aunistu.
In the main hall, visitors can explore Mario Del Curto’s photographs of outsider artists, whom he has captured over several decades in various parts of the world. The images portray nearly twenty artists and the unique worlds they have created. Featured in the photographs are Richard Greaves, Hans Krüsi, Bonaria Manca, Stanisław Zagajewski, Eijiro Miyama, Eugenio Santoro, Barbara Massart, Pascal Tassini, August Walla, Danielle Jacqui, Marcello Cammi, Pepé Vignes, Howard Finster, Harald Bender, Alpo Koivumäki, Guy Brunet, Gu Ya, and Veijo Rönkkönen. Additionally, the photographs take us to La Tinaia, an art studio located at the San Salvi psychiatric hospital in Florence.
Mario Del Curto’s photographs consistently radiate respect and admiration for creativity. Del Curto believes that a photograph is always a double portrait, as it reveals something about both the subject in front of the lens and the person behind it. The same object or individual can be captured in many ways: as ridiculous or dignified, as a symbol of misery or a beacon of freedom.
The second part of the exhibition is dedicated to Rein Aunistu (1959–2016), who, under different circumstances, would have been an ideal subject for Mario Del Curto’s portraiture. Aunistu’s wooden sculptures have never been publicly exhibited before. The recreated rooms from his farm, filled with wooden figures and displayed within the Kondas Centre’s exhibition space, offer visitors a rare opportunity to step into the artist’s world.
In the entrance hall, works from both exhibitions come together. In 1993, Mario Del Curto photographed Austrian outsider artist August Walla—now considered a classic figure of art brut—at the House of Artists (Haus der Künstler) in Gugging, near Vienna. There, Walla drew and covered all the walls of his room with writings and paintings.
On the opposite wall are small plywood paintings by Rein Aunistu, brought from the walls of his home. These images, cut and painted on plywood, were found in every room of his farmhouse. On the back of several of them, we discover a dedication: “To dear Silvia, in remembrance.”
The exhibition speaks of authenticity, independence, passion, creative compulsion, care, escape, and survival. None of these artists have been spared life’s hardships. Their paths have been marked by challenges—sometimes even persecution and hostility. Yet creativity knows no boundaries of age, gender, education, or social status. Hope, joy, and richness reside in their work. The latter often reveals itself in a complex and captivating secret language—one that calls for patience and effort to truly understand.
Curators: Mari Vallikivi, Helen Piir, Eva Laantee Reintamm
Installation of the exhibition: Kaarel Narro, Meelis Tammemägi, Jüri Pillisner
Graphic design: Kärt Rumvolt
Editor: Tiina Sarv
Translator: Ann Kuslap
Supporters: Eesti Kultuurkapital, Plateforme 10
"Devote(d)" by Mario Del Curto and Rein Aunistu
"Devote(d)" is a joint exhibition that brings together the work of two distinct creators: Swiss photographer Mario Del Curto’s documentation of art brut artists and their living environments, and artworks created by Rein Aunistu.
In the main hall, visitors can explore Mario Del Curto’s photographs of outsider artists, whom he has captured over several decades in various parts of the world. The images portray nearly twenty artists and the unique worlds they have created. Featured in the photographs are Richard Greaves, Hans Krüsi, Bonaria Manca, Stanisław Zagajewski, Eijiro Miyama, Eugenio Santoro, Barbara Massart, Pascal Tassini, August Walla, Danielle Jacqui, Marcello Cammi, Pepé Vignes, Howard Finster, Harald Bender, Alpo Koivumäki, Guy Brunet, Gu Ya, and Veijo Rönkkönen. Additionally, the photographs take us to La Tinaia, an art studio located at the San Salvi psychiatric hospital in Florence.
Mario Del Curto’s photographs consistently radiate respect and admiration for creativity. Del Curto believes that a photograph is always a double portrait, as it reveals something about both the subject in front of the lens and the person behind it. The same object or individual can be captured in many ways: as ridiculous or dignified, as a symbol of misery or a beacon of freedom.
The second part of the exhibition is dedicated to Rein Aunistu (1959–2016), who, under different circumstances, would have been an ideal subject for Mario Del Curto’s portraiture. Aunistu’s wooden sculptures have never been publicly exhibited before. The recreated rooms from his farm, filled with wooden figures and displayed within the Kondas Centre’s exhibition space, offer visitors a rare opportunity to step into the artist’s world.
In the entrance hall, works from both exhibitions come together. In 1993, Mario Del Curto photographed Austrian outsider artist August Walla—now considered a classic figure of art brut—at the House of Artists (Haus der Künstler) in Gugging, near Vienna. There, Walla drew and covered all the walls of his room with writings and paintings.
On the opposite wall are small plywood paintings by Rein Aunistu, brought from the walls of his home. These images, cut and painted on plywood, were found in every room of his farmhouse. On the back of several of them, we discover a dedication: “To dear Silvia, in remembrance.”
The exhibition speaks of authenticity, independence, passion, creative compulsion, care, escape, and survival. None of these artists have been spared life’s hardships. Their paths have been marked by challenges—sometimes even persecution and hostility. Yet creativity knows no boundaries of age, gender, education, or social status. Hope, joy, and richness reside in their work. The latter often reveals itself in a complex and captivating secret language—one that calls for patience and effort to truly understand.
Curators: Mari Vallikivi, Helen Piir, Eva Laantee Reintamm
Installation of the exhibition: Kaarel Narro, Meelis Tammemägi, Jüri Pillisner
Graphic design: Kärt Rumvolt
Editor: Tiina Sarv
Translator: Ann Kuslap
Supporters: Eesti Kultuurkapital, Plateforme 10