Changes in vistor numbers

In 2023, compared to 2022, the number of visits increased to a total of 2 480 149 visits, indicating an increase of 49% (+825 587 visits). While in 2020 and 2021, the visitor numbers were low due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2023, the pre-pandemic visitor number – 1 921 415 in 2019 – has been surpassed by almost half a million visits.

Most visited exhibition institutions

Compared to 2022, the visitor numbers of the top 10 most visited exhibition institutions have increased by 156%. In 2023, the top 10 most visited exhibition institutions account for 81% of the total number of visits. For several years in a row, Kumu Art Museum’s high visitor numbers stand out – compared to 2022 (617 720 visits), the number grew by 36.8% in 2023 (845 188 visits).

Compared to 2022, the visitor numbers grew the most, by 72% at the Estonian National Museum (+149 003 visits) and at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design by 73% (+28 189 visits). At the Museum of New Art, visitor numbers increased by 39% (+11 343 visits), at Tartu Art Museum by 35% (+11 627 külastust), at Tartu Art House by 20%, at Kadriorg Art Museum by 16% (+23 837 visits), at Fotografiskas by 6% (+5009 visits) and at Estonian Museum of Architecture by 2% (+1322 visits). Niguliste Museum that had been closed for renovation in 2022, was opened again in 2023 and attracted 293 502 visitors.

Most visited exhibitions

The most visited exhibitions still include the permanent expositions of larger exhibition institutions, most likely due to the fact that these are open throughout the year. The first place is shared by the permanent exhibitions at the Kumu Art Museum “The Future is in One Hour: Estonian Art in the 1990s”, “Conflicts and Adaptations. Estonian Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991)” and “Landscapes of Identity: Estonian Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991)“ (141 252 visits).

The most visited permanent exhibitions included the three permanent exhibitions at Niguliste Museum “The permanent exhibition of Niguliste Museum”, “Medieval Ecclesiastical Art”, “Church Bells” (80 337 visits) and Kadriorg Art Museum’s permanent exhibition “The Netherlands, Russian, Italian and German Art“ and their open sculpture collection (59 662 visits).

In Kumu Art Museum, the most popular exhibitions of 2023 included „teamLab: Impermanent Flowers Floating in a Continuous Sea“ (73 546 visits), “Archaeologists of Memory: Vitols Contemporary Art Collection“ (55 163 visits), „Futuromarennia: Ukraine and Avant-Garde“ (54 286 visits) and „Art in the Age of the Anthropocene“ (45 371 visits). At the Estonian National museum the most visited exhibitions included those in the foyer gallery – “Kati Kerstna. Values I and II“ (75 000 visits) and „Messages in a Triangle“ (60 619 visits). The most visited temporary exhibitions also included Niguliste Museum’s exhibition „Michel Sittow in the North? Altarpieces in Dialogue“ (52 491 visits).

Out of the total number of 950 exhibitions, the top 10 most visited shows make up 28% of all visits in 2023.

Language accessibility

In 2023, exhibition materials of the top 10 most visited exhibitions were available at least in Estonian and English. Just like in 2022, Fotografiska was the top institution when it comes to language accessibility, exhibition materials of all of their 8 exhibitions were available in Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish. Out of the 15 exhibitions at Kumu Art Museum, one was also partly accessible in Russian and German and one partly in Ukrainian. At Kadriorg Art Museum, 2 out of their 5 exhibitions were partly or fully accessible in Russian and one in Finnish. At Estonian National Museum, one exhibition out of 15 was accessible in Ukrainian alongside Estonian and English. Out of the 9 exhibitions at the Estonian Museum of Architecture, 2 were also accessible in Russian. Out of the 10 exhibitions at Tartu Art Museum, 1 was also accessible in Russian. Out of the 27 exhibitions at Tartu Art House, 1 was also accessible in Russian and Ukrainian. At the Niguliste Museum, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, and Museum of New Art exhibitions are accessible only in Estonian and English.

On the collecting and methodology of data

Numbers included in the statistics give a great overview of the total number of exhibitions in Estonia and their distribution by location. Visitor numbers, however, are to a degree subject to speculation. This is due to many exhibition institutions’ inability to count visitors. 37% of the exhibition houses included in the survey did not provide visitor numbers. It must be pointed out that the total number of exhibition visits does include data from the largest and most visited institutions, so it can be said that most of the total number of exhibition visits of 2023 are included in the analysis. In larger exhibition spaces several exhibitions are open at the same time, however, they count the total number of visitors not the visitor numbers of each exhibition separately. As a result, we have presented exhibitions houses’ annual numbers as visits, not the total number of exhibition visitors.

The CCA has compiled data since 2016, when we started gathering and analysing exhibition related data from as many exhibition houses showcasing professional art as possible. Initially the aim was to map gender balance in the Estonian art scene. In the following years our data collection has expanded, now including number of exhibitions with participants form outside the country as well as visitor numbers. Statistical overview provides an important cultural political dimension to understanding local art field, providing data for analysing changes and developments occurring in the Estonian art field.