From 18.07.-26.09.2025, Narva Town Hall will host Tim Bird's photographic exhibition "Krenholm - Factory of Phantoms", which will present visitors with a contemporary view of the buildings of the historic Krenholm factory.
The Krenholm factory was not just a factory - it was a world of its own. The industrial giant on the bank of the Narva River employed thousands of people and shaped the identity of the region for more than a century. This microcosm included modern industrial technology as well as harsh working and living conditions, international capital as well as the joys and sorrows of everyday life for the locals.
The future of today's Krenholm is in Swedish hands: the site is owned by Narva Gate OÜ, a company set up in 2007 by two leading Scandinavian investment groups - Gabrielsson Invest AB and CA Fastigheter AB. Their activities in Estonia focus on strategic investments with the potential to shape urban space and support regional development. Krenholm is also seen as an opportunity - not only in restoring the industrial greatness of the past, but also in developing it in a meaningful way through culture, entrepreneurship and community life. In this way, the story of Krenholm continues through a shared Nordic-Estonian vision.
This photographic exhibition invites you to step into Krenholm's layered historical space and to look at it with a new perspective - not only as a grand building of the past, but as a story that spans borders and eras. Krenholm lives on - not only in memories, but also in visions that link the Nordic countries and Estonia in a shared vision of the future.
Tim Bird is a photojournalist based in Helsinki, Finland. Born and raised in England, he moved to Finland in 1982 and has written about Finland, Estonia and the rest of the Nordic and Baltic countries for many magazines, online publications and books. He has won several awards for his travel photography.
The exhibition is a collaboration between photographer Tim Bird, the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia and Narva Gate OÜ.
