Events

EKA Design Showcase will take place on January 23, 2025.

For the eighth year, we are celebrating the best collaboration projects of Estonian Academy of Arts students with companies and public sector organizations. All EKA cooperation partners and future design enthusiasts are welcome.

Register for the event here

The presentation will feature innovative product and service concepts, prototypes and ready-made solutions created by EKA Faculty of Design students over the past year for companies and organizations such as Bank of Estonia, Ministry of Finance, Granitop, City of Tallinn, etc.

The projects to be presented have grown out of the EKA Faculty of Design’s entrepreneurial collaboration program LAETUS, which brings together fresh ideas from a new generation of designers and challenges from companies and public organizations.

The most impactful and innovative projects will also be awarded.

You are welcome to the Design Showcase and gain new knowledge and inspiration on how to take your organization’s products or services to the next level in cooperation with EKA through new generation design and open innovation.

PROGRAM
(The exact program will be announced soon)

The approximate schedule is as follows:

14:00 EKA house tour (pre-registration)

15:00 Exhibition opening in the lobby (photo wall, media, interviews)

16:00 Presentations of collaboration projects

19:00 Approximate end of the event

The presentations will be in Estonian and English, without translation.

It is possible to participate both on site at EKA (room A101) and watch the broadcast at EKA TV.

Video reminder from last year’s Design Sowcase gala

In December, studio work reviews of the architecture and urban planning curriculum will take place:

Wed, Thu, 11. – 12.12 at 9.00–16.00 room A-400
Interim reviews of master’s studios.

Mon, 16.12 at 10.00-18.00 room A-400
2nd/3rd year “Hotel”.

Instructors Leonard Ma, Tuomas Toivonen, Markus Lähteenmäki (theory and history course).

Tue, 17.12 at 10.00-18.00 room A-400
4th year of Architecture and Urban Planning and 2nd year of Urban Studies MA “(Sub)urban Planning Futures along the Rail – VOL 2: Rail Baltica”.
Instructors Milla Kallio, Efe Ogbeide, Andres Ojari, Sean Tyler, Jonathan Woodroffe.

Wed, 18.12 at 10:00-18:00 room A-400
2nd/3rd year “Shrinking Schools”.
Instructors Kertu Johanna Jõeste, Tristan Krevald, Ra Martin Puhkan, Siim Tanel Tõnisson.

Thu, 19.12 at 10:00-18:00 room A-400
1st year “Shelter”.
Instructors Helena Rummo, Elina Liiva. Graphics section co-instructors Paco Ulman, Madli Kaljuste.

*
Friday, 20.12 evening will end with the traditional LONG TABLE PARTY taking place in room C400 from 19:00-02:00!
Registration and ticket information is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMN60trsa00Et57n7yEcEpsnf5GHJtG-X1WU6urqBbiae3nQ/viewform

Looking for an exciting international study experience? Estonia’s top universities — Tallinn University, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonian Business School, and Estonian University of Life Sciences — invite you to an online info session!

Whether you’re seeking a bachelor’s or master’s programmes, this event is your gateway to world-class education and vibrant student life in Estonia.

• Insights into studying in Estonia and our international programmes
• General information, accommodation and student life
• Scholarships to support your studies

• 17:00: Studying and living in Estonia
• 17:20: Universities presentations
• 18:40: Q&A and wrap-up

DREAM | LAND | FILL
December 9 2024, 9:00–16:00
Starting point Maleva 2A.

Join us for a day in Paljassaare to dive into the  dreams and actualities tied to the plenteous lands of the peninsula. DREAM | LAND | FILL is a collage of 13 individual projects by Estonian Academy of Arts Urban studies master students, sharing stories, insights and imaginaries from Paljassaare.

As the sea is filled to be ready for use and development, a pressing question remains: ready to build on it, but for whom? What kind of dreams are projected onto this “dreamland” and whose dreams are they? Which dreams are being put aside? We will shed light on investors and explorers, land-fillings and floodings and both human and non-human actors changing the peninsula.

Through our diverse projects and approaches, we aim to grasp the complexities of experimentation and speculation, of gambling and playing, of desire and urbanising and ruralising.

What might possible futures look like for both communities and ecosystems, humans and more-than-humans?

Be ready for an exciting pilgrimage of seven hours and eight kilometres on varied terrain! Please bring along headphones and power banks, snacks and warm beverages, and dress warm! 

Join us for a day in Paljassaare to dive into the  dreams and actualities tied to the plenteous lands of the peninsula. DREAM | LAND | FILL is a collage of 13 individual projects by Estonian Academy of Arts Urban studies master students, sharing stories, insights and imaginaries from Paljassaare.

As the sea is filled to be ready for use and development, a pressing question remains: ready to build on it, but for whom? What kind of dreams are projected onto this “dreamland” and whose dreams are they? Which dreams are being put aside? We will shed light on investors and explorers, land-fillings and floodings and both human and non-human actors changing the peninsula. 

Through our diverse projects and approaches, we aim to grasp the complexities of experimentation and speculation, of gambling and playing, of desire and urbanising and ruralising.

What might possible futures look like for both communities and ecosystems, humans and more-than-humans?

Be ready for an exciting pilgrimage of seven hours and eight kilometres on varied terrain! Please bring along headphones and power banks, snacks and warm beverages, and dress warm! 

Paula Schüler | land_fill_wastescape | audio walk on Kopli hill 

Anna Dzebliuk | Hope(less/full) place | audio-installation Garage town

Ləman Məmmədli | Retracing Legacy | tour of Paljassaare Recycling Centre 

Paula Fischer | How to build a community? | presentation at Hundipea 

Annabel Pops | Wolf-leap | presentation at Hundipea 

Melissa Lee | Breathing in Density | audio ride to Special Conservation Area 

Timmo Mahlke | Seaside desires | self-guided walking tour on Paljassaare board walk 

Antónia Stretavská | Cattle Trails | exploration between Saartevahe wetlands       

Yiğithan Akçay | Ruin Park | Immersive installation in a ruin

Verdha Anjum | Urban Development Meets Nature | VR display at Väike Haak beach meadow

Paulina Gilsbach | Water(’s) Pressure | audio walk on the grounds of Tallinna Vesi

Adeolu Afolabi | Green Trails on Steel Rails: Adaptive Reuse in Motion | placemaking on the railroad

Anna Böhmová | Paljassaare attracts dreamers | video installation on Liivamadala street

Studio is supervised by Andra Aaloe and Keiti Kljavin.

On Friday, December 6th at 11:00, a symposium on postmodernism “Lost in Time Like Tears in the Rain” will take place at the Tartu Elektriteater.

The transition period from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the rise of independence Estonia can be considered in many ways an unique and exceptional period. It was a time of historical openness, where one way of doing things had ceased to exist, but another was just taking off. It was a time of intellectual and artistic possibilities, in spite of the fact that means and possibilities were scarce. And it was at this time that the new postmodernism as a new cultural logic, promising perhaps another kind of diversity, plurality and freedom. A confused thing arrived in a confused time and began to resonate in its own way. What it was or much of it was there at all? That is what Estonia’s leading cultural figures and researchers will give their own perspective on what was in the air and what it was like for them, what postmodernism meant to them then and what it means now.

SCHEDULE

11–12:30 Session I
Peeter Laurits / Ene-Liis Semper / Janek Kraavi / Kiwa / Tõnis Kahu /
Barbi Pilvre

12:30–13 Coffee break

13–14:30 Session II
Hanno Soans / Virve Sarapik / Luule Epner / Andrus Laansalu / Piret
Viires / Marju Lauristin

14:30–15:30 Lunch break

15:30–17 Session III
Hasso Krull / Märt Väljataga / Valle-Sten Maiste / Epp Annus / Raili
Marling / Aare Pilv

17–20 Reception (Lossi 3 lobby)

The event is organized by the Institute of Cultural Studies of the University of Tartu and the Interuniversity Research Group of Contemporary Estonian Culture

The event is supported by the Estonian Science Foundation grant PRG636 “Patterns of development in Estonian culture of transition period 1986–1998)”.

Mental Vitamin Week is back and happening next week! From November 18–22, we will host various exciting activities to bring some fun and relaxation to the long and tiring school days.

**MONDAY, 18.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Fruit in exchange for your phone
– 12:00–18:00 Sauna in the school courtyard
– Gaming in A300

**TUESDAY, 19.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Health shots
– 12:00–18:00 Sauna in the school courtyard
– Gaming in A300
– Scream room in the ÜE tower
– 19:00 EKAAJU quiz (in the atrium, registration required)

**WEDNESDAY, 20.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300
– Confession room and worry box (5th floor box)

**THURSDAY, 21.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300

**FRIDAY, 22.11.2024**

– Final morning run of the week at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300

A conference from the series “Studies in Contemporary Culture”, dedicated to Andrus Kivirähk’s novel from 2000 with the Estonian title “Rehepapp ehk November” and its multiple adaptations in various media, will be taking place on November 25th at Tallinn’s Writers’ Building (Harju 1). The conference is organized by the Research Group of Contemporary Estonian Culture in collaboration with the Estonian Writers’ Union.

Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen’s new mixed reality production, Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain, premieres on November 14 at the University of Tartu Library and will be open until November 28. This VR experience draws inspiration from materials collected from the public during the installation Held in Human at the EKA Gallery in the fall of 2023.

“Something is changing, I can no longer make sense of what here means, as I increasingly feel that while I am here, I am also always a little bit there. There, where my thoughts are, there where my imagination roams — and not only mine, but someone else’s as well, simultaneously. It is real. I am always inside a body, in this form that makes me visible and touchable; yet I am also always in a space, where no one can see me. It is a space of thought, an invisible space, but also an ever-present network, a movement. I am present, held in human.”

Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain is a mixed reality performance, a collective thought space where linguistic thinking meets the instinctive physique. It is a physical reading experience, a choreography of thoughts that you can experience within your own body using mixed reality glasses. Plug in — let your body and thoughts carry you.

Authors: Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen

Mixed reality solution: Norbert Pape

Sound design: Mihkel Tomberg

Graphic design: Jaan Evart

Room design: Mari Möldre

Photographer: Alissa Šnaider

Producer: Anu Almik, elekrton.art

Premiere: 14.11.2024 at University of Tartu Library

Next performances: 15.-28.11.2024. UT Library is open Mon-Fr 9-21 ja Sat-Sun 12-18

Festivals: 26.-27.10 showing PAD festival Wiesbaden Germany

Supporters: Estonian Ministry of Culture, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn city, Dortmund Academy of Theater and Digitality, Estonian Academy of Arts through the ACuTe project, Erasmus program, VARES Valga Architecture Residency, University of Tartu

The production was developed as part of the ACuTe project, in which EKA is one of the partners.

The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the autumn of 2024 under the general title S*cial – Values in the built realm.

The lecturers will focus on the ongoing shift in planning practice, where considerations other than pure economic viability increasingly play a role in decision-making.

On November 28 Petra Marko will hold the lecture “Meanwhile City – The power of temporary interventions in long-term change”.

Petra Marko is an architect and placemaking expert dedicated to creating people-centric cities and public spaces. She serves as Chief executive of the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava, driving strategic architecture, urban planning and participatory placemaking initiatives to enhance quality of life. She’s known for leading Marko&Placemakers, an urban design practice in London and campaigning to unlock London’s small sites. An advocate for greener cities and active travel, Petra has co-authored VeloCity and Meanwhile City – a best practice and how-to guide for temporary interventions.

Mattias Malk, curator of the autumn lecture series, PhD student and visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, describes the main theme of the lecture series as follows:

Inclusion, the valorisation of social space and the changing role of architects, especially in the public sector, are gaining ground in Europe’s spatial development, but things are still moving slowly in Estonia. So far, our economic growth has been based on environmental degradation and, despite rigid market-driven planning, we are among the weakest in the EU in resource use. However, the foundations of a smarter spatial policy, which is more profitable than profit, are still undefined and untested. 

One of the aims of the lecture series is to define and rehabilitate the word ‘social’ in Estonian spatial policy, including the social responsibility mentioned in the new planned public procurement. All the invited lecturers deal with the issues of space and sociality in their daily work and will share their experiences of the changing role of architects through examples. 

The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture. All lectures are in English and free of charge.

Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee

The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.