Akt, Tallinn, Estonia

Standing: High · Heritage site
Rank: Rank 218 of 1,827

Editorial responsibility: Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

About Akt

Akt is a granite sculpture in Hirvepark, Tallinn, listed on the City of Tallinn’s urban art map. The work was completed in 1966 by Estonian sculptor Ernst Kirs (1910–1994). The sculpture depicts a seated nude female figure on an irregular stone block. Its polished pink granite contrasts with the rough-textured treatment of the hair. The crouched figure has its face concealed, giving the work a compact, inward-looking composition. Tallinn’s description classifies Akt as a decorative sculpture and identifies Hirvepark, in the city centre district, as its location. The park has a long history: it was developed from the nineteenth century by a horticultural society, expanded in the 1930s, and subsequently opened to the public. Akt is also recorded as a cultural monument, making it a small but historically documented outdoor-art stop when walking through central Tallinn.