Exhibition ROCK.EE

The musical life of Tallinn in the 1970s through the eyes of the Estonian photographer Tõnu Talivee

The Gallery of Classical Photography will present unique photographs about the musical culture of the last decades of the USSR.

On June 28, a solo exhibition of Estonian photographer Tõnu Talivee ROCK opens in the Gallery of Classical Photography. EE. The exposition will comprise more than fifty photographs telling about the musical life of Tallinn in the 1970s, when the city became a place of concentration of future legends of Russian rock.

Black and white atmospheric images immerse the viewer in the main events of rock life in the capital of Estonia from the 70s to 1990. The photographs depict popular music festivals held in 1976 and 1977 at the Tallinn Polytechnic Institute, in which collectives from all over the USSR participated. A series of works is dedicated to the largest event of Soviet rock culture - the Rock Summer 1988 festival.

The main characters of Tõnu Talivee’s photographs are outstanding groups and performers who have made a significant contribution to the development of Russian rock. Alexey Kozlov and his legendary ensemble Arsenal, pioneer of hard rock and heavy metal in the USSR and Estonia, “iron man” Gunnar Graps, Rain Rannap and the famous band Ruja in those years - portraits of these and many other musicians help recall the Soviet phenomenon rock music - a phenomenon inseparable from the concepts of "rebellious spirit" and "freedom of expression."

The exhibition does not pretend to mention all the names and events of Estonian rock, it is only a small reflection of what happened in this musical direction in Estonia for two decades. At the same time, the concerts and performances of Soviet rock musicians recorded on film can rightfully be considered unique historical material about the musical culture of the last twenty years of the USSR.

about the author

Tõnu Talivee was born in October 1951 in Tallinn. In 1973, he began working as an assistant operator for the puppet animation department of the Tallinnfilm film studio. Since 1977 - cameraman and photographer. In the period from 1995 to 2005 he worked in the newspaper Õhtuleht. From 2005 to the present, he has been working as a restorer at the Nukufilm animation studio.

Tõnu Talivee is the operator of 55 puppet films, two music videos and many commercials. As a photographer, collaborates with advertising agencies and film studios. He is the author of photographs for album covers for musicians, including the Live in Tallinn ’74 album of the legendary Arsenal ensemble, which includes a photo album and a poster with his works made during a historic Tallinn concert in 1974 at the Polytechnic Institute.

Talivee restored 33 animated films, several documentaries and one feature film. In total, he is the author of ten solo exhibitions and a participant in three exhibitions as part of a group of surrealists of the Tallinnfilm studio.

Exhibition ROCK. The EE in the Classic Photography Gallery will be available to visitors until July 30, 2017.