Open Lectures

Monday, April 4, 16:30

EKA auditorium A101

Valentinas Klimašauskas will present his recent practice as an art researcher, curator, and writer while emphasising the critique of the art machinery in the age of manipulations.

Valentinas Klimašauskas is a curator and writer who is based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Together with João Laia he curated “The Endless Frontier”, the 14th Baltic Triennial at CAC Vilnius (2021). With Inga Lāce he curated “Saules Suns”, a solo exhibition by Daiga Grantina for the Latvian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2019). He is a curator at large at Springs.video, a moving image streaming platform that also serves as an educational and curatorial archive. Currently, he is also continuing his doctoral research at Vilnius Art Academy titled “A (self)portrait of a young artist in the style of institutional critique”.

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Valentinas Klimašauskas is in Tallinn on the invitation of Graphic Design MA and Contemporary Art MA programmes. The lecture is additionally hosted by KUNO network and can be joined also via Zoom 

Meeting ID: 978 6104 0017

Passcode: 352620

Sara Kaaman OPEN LECTURE bodies, rooms, movements, fictions

Wednesday, 30 March
17:30h
Room A-501

The talk is held in English

Playing with temporality, history and storytelling, this performative lecture is a dramatised odyssey through, and deconstruction of, the professional identity we know as the “graphic designer”. Historical and speculative facts and fictions blend into infotainment, with Britney Spears in a supporting role.

Sara Kaaman is a graphic designer based in Stockholm, who is also teaching, writing, moving, and currently studying an MA in New Performative Practices. She is interested in the intersections of publishing technologies, bodies, politics, performance and poetry. Since 2012 she is the graphic designer and co-editor of Girls Like Us magazine. With Maryam Fanni and Matilda Flodmark she forms the research collective MMS, investigating labour histories of graphic design via feminist theory and practice. Their book Natural Enemies of Books – A Messy History of Women in Printing and Typography was published in 2020. With dancer and choreographer Klara Utke Acs, she works on performative investigations on the metaphors of digital and analogue publishing formats, most recently presented as ”The Book – An Interfacial Sitcom”.

Guided tours at the Jubilee Exhibition of the Department of Accessory Design “Perspectives” in the gallery of Põhjala Factory with Stella Runnel.

22.03 Tuesday 5.30–7 pm
24.03 Thursday 4.30–6 pm
25.03 Friday 5 –7 pm
30.03 Wednesday 6–7 pm
31.03 Thursday 5–7 pm

Please register first

Artists Sophie Thun and Karel Koplimets will hold an open artist talk at 17:00 on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Estonian Academy of Arts, room A-501. Karel Koplimets introduces his artistic practice; Sophie Thun will have a conversation with Marge Monko, professor of the department of photography in EKA.

On the same week, Sophie Thun and Karel Koplimets lead masterclasses in the department of photography.

Talk will be held in English.

Sophie Thun (b. 1985) works primarily with techniques of analogue photography, its spaces, processes as well as conditions of production and exhibition.

In her artistic practice, Thun is primarily concerned with the spaces and physicality of photography, more precisely with me as the technician and operator of the apparatus. The places and the process itself are made visible in the work, the work and exhibition space become part of each other. In her artistic work, Sophie pursues the question of how work can be created for a specific spatial situation, which decisions (can/must) be made regarding the location, format, process, and production.

https://www.sophietappeiner.com/artist/sophie-thun/

Raised in Warsaw, Sophie Thun lives and works in Vienna. She completed her master’s degrees at the Academies of Fine Art in Vienna (2017, Martin Guttmann and Daniel Richter) and Cracow (2010). Solo and duo exhibitions include: I Don’t Remember a Thing: Entering the Elusive Archive of Zenta Dzividzinska, Kim? Contemporary Art Center, Riga; Merge Layers at Galerie Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna (both 2021); Stolberggasse, Secession Vienna (2020). Group exhibitions include: FRIEDL KUBELKA VOM GRÖLLER Songs of Experience, Museo MACRO, Rome; Smart to the Core: Medium / Image, SMART Museum, Chicago; Homesick, Shivers Only, Paris (all 2021); Elisabeth Wild, curated by Adam Szymczyk, Karma International, Zurich; Borderlinking, High Art, Paris (both 2020).

Her work is part of the permanent collections of the Verbund Collection Vienna, the SMART Museum Chicago, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, and the OÖ Landesmuseum Linz.

Karel Koplimets (b. 1986) is a photo, video and installation artist based in Tallinn, Estonia. The main keywords in his artistic practice are urban space, fear, paranoia, prejudice and criminality. With his recent projects, Koplimets has been observing the themes related to traveling and migration under various economical and geopolitical conditions, including shopping tourism and commuting. One of the most common features in Koplimets’ artwork is the psychological aspect – his large-scale installations influence the viewers’ spatial experience and perception.

He has an MA degree in Photography (Estonian Academy of Arts, 2013) and has finished two year postgraduate programme at HISK (Higher Institute for Fine Arts, Belgium, 2021). He has received the Estonian Artist Laureate Salary (2020) and he was nominated for the main art prize in Estonia (Köler Prize, 2013). Koplimets has participated in various exhibitions in Estonia and abroad. Recent exhibition projects include: Belonging (Hunt Museum, Ireland, 2022), Art in the Comfort Zone? The 2000s in Estonian Art (Kumu Art Museum, Estonia, 2021) and Sonsbeek´s Conjunctions programme (Park Sonsbeek, Netherlands, 2021). His works are included in various collections in Europe, e.g., Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Musée de l’Elysée and Art Museum of Estonia. Koplimets has also participated in different art residency programmes, e.g., EIB Institute’s Artists Development Programme (Luxembourg, 2019) and Helsinki International Artist Programme (Finland, 2015).

www.karelkoplimets.com

EKA Accessory and Bookbinding Department is inviting all the footwear design lovers to an open lecture “The Aki Method: Surviving as a Designer in Today’s World” on Thursday, 3rd of March at 4-5 p.m. to EKA, room A-101.

The lecture is about how to live a successful design life in a world full of challenges through Aki Choklat’s prism. He will share his history, philosophy and experience in the design industries including education. 

Aki Choklat is a fashion and footwear design professional with experience in all levels of the industry, from design to production. He is a Royal College of Art graduate, and the Founding Chair of Fashion Design Department at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. He has held numerous positions with top-tier, international fashion labels, such as designing a capsule footwear collection for London-based menswear Diverso and consulted with numerous brands, such as Finnish footwear heritage brand Lahtiset. In addition, he directs his own London-based label of shoes, handbags and accessories. He helped establish and lead the footwear and accessories master program at Polimoda, Italy’s leading fashion school with Ferruccio Ferragamo at the helm, and has taught at the London College of Fashion and De Montfort University. Choklat is also a celebrated author of many design books, one of which – “Footwear Design” – is considered the authority on shoe design.

Aki Choklat’ veeb

Aki Choklat Instagram

CCS Fashiondesign Instagram

College for Creative Studies

This lecture is part of the EKA Accessories and Bookbinding Department jubilee exhibition and other event series.

Exhibition “Perspectives” is open from 6- 31st of March at Põhjala tehas Sepikoja gallery (Marati 5, Tallinn). Information about rest of the events will be updated in web and social media continuously: 

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EKA aksessuaaridisain Instagram

The lecture is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment and the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation (BAFF).

Open lecture will be held in English without translation. 

The lecture will be recorded and it will be rerun on EKA TV.

The series of open architecture lectures will take place this spring under the title “Close enough” and will bring architects from Latvia and Lithuania to the stage in Tallinn. We will examine how our neighbours operate topics arising from similar built environments and history. The lectures are intended for students and professionals from any and all disciplines – not just in the field of architecture. All lectures take place in the large auditorium of EKA, are in English and free of charge.

On March 31, the Latvian architectural collective ĒTER, led by Kārlis Bērziņš, Dagnija Smilga and Niklāvs Paegle, will arrive in Tallinn. ĒTER is an architectural practice founded in 2018 in Riga, focusing on space inspired by nature, technology and modern culture. When looking at the city, culture and living patterns, they preferably move in uncharted areas. As a natural part of the architectural firm, they see strategic and conceptual thinking, inventing their own tasks and involving international experts. ETER are architects, researchers and teachers whose fields range from the Baltic coast to the Alps.

Why are the Baltics our focus for this spring? Read lecture series’ curator Johan Tali’s short interview to find out.

The series of open architecture lectures will take place this spring under the title “Close enough” and will bring architects from Latvia and Lithuania to the stage in Tallinn. We will examine how our neighbours operate topics arising from similar built environments and history. The lectures are intended for students and professionals from any and all disciplines – not just in the field of architecture. All lectures take place in the large auditorium of EKA, are in English and free of charge.

The first lecture in the lecture series will be on March 3 at 6 pm by Petras Išora and Ona Lozuraitytė, who launched Isora x Lozuraityte Studio for Architecture in Vilnius in 2014. Creative duo exercise a cooperative practice, linking the spheres of architecture, public infrastructure, art, ecology, landscape. The two designers have been engaged in a number of interdisciplinary collaborations at a variety of scales, both nationally and internationally. The studio is characterised by cooperation and collaboration with other practises or subjects in art and architectural fields, is focused on urban narratives, public spaces, landscape projects, public infrastructure, social and cultural projects, experiments with the matter in exhibition, interior design, exterior and architecture of the wider environment.

NB! This lecture is part of the EAA Open Day program, the rest of the program can be found here.

The rest of this Spring’s architecture lecture programme can be found here.

On Tuesday, February 22, at 6 pm, Adrià Carbonell will give a public lecture “Contra Naturam: The Emergence of Modern Urbanism in Barcelona” in the hall of EKA (A-101)

Adrià Carbonell is an architect and urbanist. He is a lecturer in architecture at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and has previously lectured at KU Leuven, Tallinn University of Technology, Umeå Universitet, and the American University of Sharjah. He is co-founder of the research collaborative Aside, where he writes on the interplay between architecture, territory, politics and the environment. He has co-edited the book Infrastructural Love: Caring for Our Architectural Support Systems (Birkhäuser, 2022). His writings have been published in PLAN, ACE: Architecture, City and Environment, ZARCH Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, San Rocco, MONU, Cartha, among others. His current research addresses two guiding questions in innovative urbanism: how to reframe cosmopolitical spatial practices and how to challenge existing urban inequalities through processes of territorial redistribution.

Lecture is in English and open to the public.

The lecture will also be broadcast on EKA TV

The lecture is organized by the Faculty of Architecture of EKA together with the Estonian Association of Architects.

The lecture is supported by European Regional Development Fund.

Julius Pristauz’ Open Lecture “What is a performer without a stage? ” on February 17, 2 pm in room C201.

The spectrum of Julius Pristauz‘ work spans artistic and curatorial activities, all connected through an active interest for the construction and gender aspect of identities.  

For this guest lecture, Pristauz will give an introduction into his own artistic practice and talk about selected exhibition projects and recent collaborations. Addressing issues of representation and visibility, he will consider different modes of exhibiting. Hybridity and sharing are key strategies in Pristauz’ work. Therefore the talk should lead into an open discussion in which we can reflect on the state of young contemporary art together. 

Monika Žaltauskaitė Grašienė-Žaltė Lecture: 13th Kaunas Biennial „Once Upon Another Time” – Review and Case Analysis 

09.02.2022, 4–5.30 PM, auditorium A501 

Kaunas Biennial organizer, border member Monika Žaltauskaitė Grašienė-Žaltė will present an review of the 13th Kaunas Biennial “Once Upon Another Time… gyveno jie jau kitaip” which reflects on current global situations by exploring stories of human resilience and adaptation. The exhibition investigates myths and fictions associated with transformation, as well as lived personal and communal tales of survival.The sharing of stories enables humans to connect with each other. Stories convey multiple meanings and perspectives rooted in diverse worldviews and can also link the present to the past, as well as to the future.

The lectur is open to everyone. 

Monika Žaltauskaitė Grašienė-Žaltė is invited by the Textile Design Department of EKA.