Priit Pärn. Boletus

You are warmly invited to the opening of Priit Pärn’s solo exhibition on Friday, 17 April at 6 pm. Boletus presents charcoal drawings from 1984–2005, along with a new work from 2026. It also introduces, for the first time, Pärn’s abstract graphic works. The exhibition is curated by Tamara Luuk.

There are few who do not know Priit Pärn as a filmmaker. His and Olga Pärn’s most recent animated film, Luna Rossa, reached cinema screens last year. The material of Pärn’s films and screenplays has also been adapted for the stage, most recently in Rising Violins at the VAT Theatre. Many remember Pärn as a caricaturist; many know him as the author of picture books. He has recently completed the manuscript of his own written and illustrated book Puravik loomaaias (Boletus at the Zoo). Pärn’s graphic works and charcoal drawings are less widely known: his most significant solo exhibition in Estonia took place at the Kumu Art Museum in 2007.
 
Least known, however, are Priit Pärn’s unproduced film screenplays. In 2000 and 2001, he completed the scripts for the feature-length films Force Majeure and National Park, which portray – with dizzying narrative energy and distinctive wit – the vibrant life of the young Estonian state. Force Majeure was selected among the twelve best screenplays at the Berlin International Film Festival.
 
“Everything that Priit Pärn does or experiences forms a strikingly coherent whole, encompassing ideas and actions that run counter to common sense. It is rare to encounter a person in whom emotional sensitivity, analytical acuity, and life wisdom are directly combined. In his work, he consciously and effectively turns this lived intensity inside out,” says curator Tamara Luuk.