Events

The Estonian Academy of Arts organizes the Transform4Europe (T4EU) European Universities’ study week “Design & Sustainability” in June 13–17. Students and support staff from ten European universities are invited to the week full of the best lectures and workshops, and students’ works also presented at the TASE ’23 Grad Show exhibition and at the ERKI Fashion Show.

The theme of the study week is “design and sustainability”. Sustainability is one of EKA’s core values – in its development, it is based on the environmental friendliness of the art academy, which is the sustainable way of thinking. Design and the design process are an important part of the solution to the ecological crisis.  

As part of the week, creative research will be introduced, students can participate in a creative research writing workshop and workshops on clothing repair, documenting cultural heritage, etc. 

EKA students are also invited to take part in the T4EU week, which has three options:

1. The main program (June 13-17) includes mandatory general subjects and workshops and seminars with a limited number of participants. (Program link HERE)

2. Weekly seminar “Care, community and colonialism in the art museum” (June 12-15).

In addition, core program courses may also be taken if the schedule allows. (Introduction to the seminar is HERE)

3. Weekly workshop “Cultural heritage documentation solutions workshop” (June 12-16).

In addition, core program courses may also be taken if the schedule allows. (Introduction to the workshop is HERE)

Before the course, it is possible to watch pre-recorded video interviews with experts (20-30 minute interviews, 7 interviews in total) on different aspects of sustainability.

Those who complete the course receive 3 credit points, which can be transferred to a free subject.

NB! The courses are in English. 

The student can register HERE until June 4th or until the semester continues.

Detailed information about the study week in English can be found on the EKA website: 

T4EU Week in EKA “Design & Sustainability”

On May 18 and 19, we invite you to visit the EKA gallery and the open spaces on the 2nd and 5th floors, where over the course of two days this semester’s works by the first-year MA Contemporary Art students will be exhibited.

The exhibition is open on both days from 15:00–18:00 and is part of the Fine Arts Assessment Marathon, which offers an unique opportunity to get to know the current works of the young artists.

In addition to the EKA building, works by several students can be seen in other locations:

– Rose Magee’s exhibition is open at Vent Space gallery until Wednesday, May 17, 16:00–19:00

– Lara Žagar’s exhibition will open at Vent Space gallery on Friday, May 19, 19:00.

– Sarah Nõmm’s work can be seen at the exhibition Naturally It Is Not at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design until June 11, Wed & Fri–Sun 11:00–18:00, Thu 11:00–20:00.

– Eri Rääsk’s work can be seen at Balta (between Vana-Kalamaja street 1 & 3) on Friday, May 19, 17:00–03:00.

Students participating in the exhibition: Rose Magee, Sarah Nõmm, Mia Felic, Mara Kirchberg, Mirjam Varik, Siim Preiman, Anna-Liisa Kree, Iryna Tanasiichuk, Sarah Noonan, Eri Rääsk, Leonor Talefe, Sandra Ernits, Mari Steinberg, Lara Žagar, Alisa Khellberg, Gerda Hansen and Syed Sachal Rizvi.

The students were supervised by Marge Monko, Kirke Kangro, Merike Estna, Taavi Talve, Anu Vahtra, John Grzinich, Paul Kuimet, Taavi Piibemann, Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Eve Kask, David K. Ross.

Film Screening

Title: Zum Vergleich / In Comparison 

Harun Farocki (2009)

x  Project Presentation Building Information: Kadambari Baxi, Klaus Platzgummer, Lennart Wolff (2022-)

Description

Bricks are the resonating foundations of society. Bricks are simply very long-playing records. Like records, they appear in series, but every brick is slightly different – not just another brick in the wall. Bricks create spaces, organise social relations and store knowledge about social structures. They resonate in a way that tells us if they are any good. Bricks form the basic sound of our societies, but we haven’t yet learned to listen to them.

Farocki’s film lets our eyes and ears consider different traditions of brick production in comparison – and not in competition, not as a clash of cultures. Farocki shows us various brick production sites in their colours, movements and sounds.

Farocki shows sites of brick production in their colours, movements and sounds. Brick burning, brick carrying, bricklaying, bricks on bricks, no voice-over. 20 inter-titles in 60 minutes tell us something about the temporality of brickmaking processes. The film shows us that certain modes of production require their own duration and that differences between cultures can be shown in brick time.

(Ute Holl)

Credits

Original title: Zum Vergleich. Director Harun Farocki; Script Harun Farocki, Matthias Rajmann; Cinematographer Ingo Kratisch; Sound Matthias Rajmann; Editor Meggie Schneider; Drawings Andreas Siekmann; Collaboration Antje Ehmann, Anand Narayan Damle, Michael Knauss, Regina Krotil, Iyamperumal Mannankatti, Mamta Murthy, Markus Nechleba, Jan Ralske, Yukara Shimizu, Isabelle Verreet.

Format 16mm, col. Length 61 min. Year 2009

“Bricks create spaces, organise social relations and store knowledge about social structures. […] Bricks form the basic sound of our societies, but we haven’t yet learned to listen to them. Farocki’s film lets our eyes and ears consider different traditions of brick production in comparison […]” (Ute Holl)

Harun Farocki’s film In Comparison (2009) opens up a global perspective on the conditions of the production of bricks and compares their modes, ranging from full automation to manual labour. The film screening serves as a point of departure for a discussion on today’s labour processes in architecture.

It will be introduced by Kadambari Baxi, Klaus Platzgummer, and Lennart Wolff, and accompanied by a presentation of their ongoing research and exhibition project Building Information (2022 -). Their project addresses labour processes in architecture in the context of digital ecosystems, structuring relationships among human and non-human actors. It was exhibited at the Architekturmuseum of the TU Berlin and led to a series of events in collaboration with ARCH+.

A series of open architectural lectures will be held this 2023 spring under the title “Triggers of Architecture”. The theme brings architects and theoreticians to Tallinn, who analyze the root causes of architecture and the means of making it.

On May 25 at 6 p.m., Kadambari Baxi will explore the connections between architecture and activism, geopolitics, and propaganda with the lecture “Building Activism: A New Agenda for Architecture”.

She will share her collaborative projects where concerns for human rights and climate futures spur different forms of architectural activism. Examining migrant labor exploitation on construction sites, reproductive rights politics, transnational air pollution and climate resilience, she links architecture to geopolitics and advocacy. The lecture discusses how local building sites expand unequal global processes; climate models reconstruct transnational air pollution to depict new zones of toxic responsibility; a plant-installation advocates for abortion rights, and a stalled climate resilience construction evokes imminent climate futures. Collectively, these projects aim to outline a new agenda for activism in architecture.

Kadambari Baxi, architect and educator based in New York, works collaboratively forming interdisciplinary partnerships on project basis. Her design, research and media projects circulate widely in international forums. As Professor of Practice in the Undergraduate Architecture Department at Barnard College, Columbia University, she teaches design studios and environmental visualization seminars. Recent advocacy includes cofounding the group “Who Builds Your Architecture?” and serving on the advisory board of “The Architecture Lobby.”

Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year.

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

The lecture series is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

Curated by Andres Ojari.

www.avatudloengud.ee

Event in Facebook

Additional information:

Tiina Tammet

E-post: arhitektuur@artun.ee

Tel. +372 642 0071

Are you interested in keeping up-to-date with the latest discussions and topics of Estonian urbanism?

Our group of students studying Urban Studies, Architecture, and Urban Planning warmly invites you to join us on this journey of collectively curated exhibition.

SAVE THE DATE! 16 OF MAY at 15:00 in front of the main entrance of EKA. The final grading of Urban Studies Urban Models course is tutored by Kristi Grišakov & Keiti Kljavin.

The sun is rising from Eastern Estonia, as the title suggests, the hope for better and more just futures is on the horizon. The displayed experiments and projects aim to reflect the development prospects of the county, situated on the edge of Estonian land. We explore urban districts and towns of Ahtme, Järve and the Kiviõli where mono-functionality of extractivistic production has challenged to respond to the surplus of housing caused by the outmigration. By exploring various topics related to (in)tangible aspects of habitation in Ida-Virumaa county our projects are based on on-site analysis, local exploring, reinventing and rethinking approaches towards shrinkage, adaptation and re-use.

Some of us try to approach the typologies and forms of architecture in new modalities, and integrate facilities according to the actual needs of current habitats. Others attempt to restart the time in the city or see the new ways of residing for transnational communities. Together with 6 projects we paint a multilayered picture to have a glimpse into the future of Ida-Virumaa, challenging the condition of shrinkage in Eastern Estonia.

Students: 

Aleyna Canpolat, Alp Eren Özap, Axelle Boireau, Diana Drobot, Ishrat Shaheen, Jim Wolff, Kalina Trajanovska, Larisa Illetterati, Maria Laura Bendezu Ulloa, Martin Sepp, Noa Ruijten, Simon Baguette

The evening begins with a lecture on Socially involved design by Michał Stefanowski. He will be talking about the practice of social design and showing examples from the world and projects realized at the Design Department in Warsaw. The lecture is followed by a conversation with a focus on the impact and layers of meaning of social design. We will discuss intervention options of social design and what makes it different from other design solutions. In other words, why it is or is not important to deal with social design.

REGISTER HERE

Speakers:

Michał Stefanowski has an active design practice. As a professional, he is a member of the INNO+NPD design team. He has created designs for products, street furniture, packaging, wayfinding systems and visual communication. He is the co-author of the City Information System for Warsaw, the Information System for the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the visual identity of the National Bank of Poland, among others. He is a professor and Head of the Design Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. 

Ruth-Helene Melioranski is the Dean of Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has a background in design research, practice and education, focussing on exploring how design can tackle societal challenges. She conceptualises new and emerging design practices in higher educational and professional contexts through her research-through-design projects. Her research focuses on relational design and its qualities. In her professional practice, she leads several strategic, service and co-design projects to help partners envision their future possibilities and build scenarios in healthcare and well-being.
Before her deanship, she developed the Design & Technology Futures MSc and supervised students’ teams with their design-driven innovation projects at Tallinn University of Technology. She was the founding head of the Estonian Design Centre (2008-2011) and, prior to that, the leader of the Estonian Design Year (2006-2007).

Daniel Kotsjuba is a designer working in Estonian Public Sector Innovation Team, part of Estonian Government Office. Their task is to help ministries and their sub-organisations design their services, process and strategies more user-centered. They base their work on design process, with an attention on behavioural sciences and experimentation framework.

Eva Liisa Kubinyi is a designer and creative researcher fascinated by the opportunities for children and young people to participate in society, the principles of open play and care models that support mental well-being. In her design practice, she relies parallelly on the theories of social design, service design and children’s culture.

The Embassy of Spain and the Estonian Academy of Arts invite:

The first presentation of the fashion collection “Estonia” by Spanish fashion designer Juan Duyos in Estonia will take place on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 16:00 in the auditorium A–501 of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

All fashion enthusiasts and lovers are welcome!

Juan Duyos is a well-known fashion designer in Spain who, among others, designs for the Spanish royal family. The fashion collection, which will be presented for the first time in Estonia, is inspired by the Estonian land, fashion and craft culture.

“A visit to Estonian nature, the symbiosis of folklore and modernity, and the new use of old techniques was the initial impetus for the “Estonia” collection,” says Piret Puppart, professor of fashion, textile and accessory design at the Estonian Academy of Arts, who was the guide for Duyos’s trip to Estonia and himself in his work on Estonian ethnology. draws ideas from nature and folklore. Puppart adds:

“Estonia has two great sources of design inspiration that I have introduced to design-minded people over the years – one of them is nature and its organic place in everyday life. We don’t have the tallest trees, the longest rivers, the mightiest mountains, but we have a certain way of thinking and relating to it all. We can see and understand in a different way — that’s what makes our stay in nature extraordinary. Another important aspect is that tradition is a living culture, not just a museum piece. Juan Duyos had the opportunity to see folk costumes and their masters actively making them here and now.”

In Piret Puppart’s opinion, thanks to the Duyos “Estonia” collection, Estonia itself is also gaining recognition. For example, the collection was presented at last year’s Madrid Fashion Week, which received extensive coverage in the foreign press.

“Fashion and travel go hand in hand. The novelty of a new city or an unfamiliar environment can stimulate the imagination. Such was the case of Spanish fashion designer Juan Duyos, who celebrated 25 years as a fashion designer on the runway with a collection inspired by a midsummer trip to Estonia,” says Piret Puppart, fashion designer and head of EKA’s fashion department.

Please inform us of your participation via the RSVP link.

On May 3rd from 6 pm to 7 pm on the first floor you can participate in the Game Experience created by the students of the Design for Play course.

During this event, you can play games made during the course and get a break from the stressful assessment period.

Everyone from EKA is welcome!

The department of Photography of EKA is welcoming you to the screening of two recently awarded Estonian films – “Hippodrome” by Vladimir Loginov and “Dear Passengers” by Madli Lääne.

The screenins are held in the EKA main lecture hall A-101 next Thursday, April 27th, at 6 p.m.