Programme

At the beginning of time, presumably just a moment after the Big Bang, a countless number of particles and antiparticles with the same mass but opposite charge emerged in the universe. Theoretically, there should be an equal number of positively and negatively charged particles in space, but because the universe appears to consist entirely of matter rather than antimatter, this is called "one of the greatest mysteries of physics."

In a metaphorical sense, antimatter represents a force that disrupts the prevailing description of the world, offering an alternative narrative to what already exists. Antimatter creates the possibility for the collapse of binarity – the clear boundary between two opposing choices, such as a black-and-white worldview, disappears, and things become nuanced and diverse.

In physics, matter and antimatter annihilate each other, creating pure energy; cultural collisions, meanwhile, create change. Rein Raud points out that new and original expressions are often born as repulsions from the existing, or as a reaction or combined reaction to things that have existed before.

However, there is a danger in this chain of reactions. Just as the mathematical Feynman-Stueckelberg model views an antiparticle as matter moving backward in time, a dynamic cultural phenomenon can also lose its future direction. By encountering an interaction—or conflict—with a dogmatized environment, this creative energy is thrown back in time. Future-oriented progress begins to move toward the past, becoming its own antiparticle—a protective stagnation or nostalgia.

Upon reaching a new interaction in the past, its direction of movement in time turns around again... society is left blindly bouncing between two extremes. Escaping such a time loop, or time trap, is difficult both physically and culturally. It can only happen when the wandering antiparticle finds its true, pure opposite, and upon meeting it, instead of a new conflict, catharsis occurs. Through critical thinking and conscious perception, the system stops bouncing back and forth, annihilates the old pattern, and releases pure, timeless light from the closed circle.

The Tartu Light Biennale TAVA26 analyses the matter and antimatter of both human relationships and spatial and cultural phenomena through light, simultaneously creating and making visible, while also erasing and absorbing, the surrounding space with its installations. The TAVA26 program guides the audience trapped in the time loop toward a new energy—uniting oppositional feelings and thoughts through catharsis.

More detailed information about the installations coming soon!

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