21.11.2025.–28.03.2026
The curatorial exhibition “The Dark Night of the Soul” is a visual journey in three acts. The title of the exhibition “The Dark Night of the Soul” comes from the Spanish Catholic mystic Saint John the Baptist, who thus described the soul’s journey through darkness towards light. “The Dark Night of the Soul” (La noche oscura del alma) symbolizes the spiritual crisis that a person must go through before reaching spiritual purification.
Carl Gustav Jung interpreted the dark night of the soul as a psychological transformation – a time when a person faces their shadow. The dark night of the soul is a time of inner change, when everything old disappears so that the new can be born. Darkness carries the potential where the possibility of light shines.
Combining the work of four contemporary artists Michele Bazzoli, Manfred Dubov, Helena Keskküla and Roman-Sten Tõnissoo with works and objects from the collections of the Saaremaa Museum, the exhibition can be viewed and experienced as a ritual journey towards light through a dim forest and a stormy sea. This is an exhibition about wandering and self-searching, hope and hopelessness, the beauty of the melancholy of the soul and the importance of metamorphoses.
Participating artists: Michele Bazzoli, Manfred Dubov, Eerik Haamer, Tiit Ilves, Helena Keskküla, Valli Lember-Bogatkina, Faina Männik, Roman-Sten Tõnissoo, Salome Trei, objects from the collections of the Saaremaa Museum
Curators: Helena Keskküla & Roman-Sten Tõnissoo
Graphic design: Henri Kutsar
Thanks to: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Saaremaa Museum, Kuressaare Castle Museum
Exhibition open Wed–Sun 11 am–6 pm, admission with museum ticket