Fly to the beehive! Exhibition of illustrations by Piotr Socha

At the Valga Museum, from November 2 starting at 16:00 until November 27, you can see the solo exhibition Fly to the Beehive! by the renowned Polish artist Piotr Socha, featuring his illustrations for the book Bees.

The inspiration for the Embassy of the Republic of Poland's exhibition comes from Juhan Liiv's poem They Fly Towards the Beehive. The exhibition is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Estonia and the 100th anniversary of Poland's regained independence, and is primarily intended for children and young people – those responsible for the future of the beehive.

The exhibition focuses on a single, yet impressively large, work created by Piotr Socha.

The book Bees (published by Dwie Siostry, Estonian edition by Varrak 2017) captures attention at first glance. It becomes even more special and interesting when you dive into its contents. Giving in to their personal passion for beekeeping, illustrator Piotr Socha and text author Wojciech Grajkowski present the world of these insects in a grand and detailed manner: starting from the different stages of bees’ lives in the hive, the authors move through history, describing the cooperation between bees and humans through the ages – from cavemen to modern beekeepers – and finish with fascinating scientific facts about bees. Thanks to this, you can read and see how honeycomb is made, what bees and... dinosaurs have in common, what is the carrying capacity of a bee, and why in Sichuan province, China, people equipped with brushes pollinate fruit trees instead of insects. You can also learn what information bees communicate to each other through their dances, and on which buildings’ rooftops you might find urban beehives. All of this is adorned with large, beautiful illustrations.

If the book’s authors Piotr Socha and Wojciech Grajkowski had known earlier about Juhan Liiv’s patriotic poem about the beehive, towards which bees fly from all directions, they might have included an illustration inspired by it in the book, and we – following in their footsteps – in the exhibition. Perhaps... For now, however, we can imagine this picture, standing in the middle of a small bee homeland created by Polish authors together with Estonian beekeepers, the book’s translator, and the curators of the museums, libraries, and environmental education centers hosting the exhibition.

The exhibition is organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tallinn in cooperation with the Polish publisher Dwie Siostry, the Estonian publisher Varrak, and the Estonian Beekeepers Association.

You can watch a short animation about bees HERE

Participate in the exhibition quiz and win Piotr Socha’s book Bees.