Open Lectures

The Urban Studies studio “Preservation: Architecture, Nature and Politics” will conclude with a public presentation of student projects on the 12 of May at 14.00 (EEST).

Preservation has achieved cultural significance as a lens through which various experts have come to imagine how a socially and environmentally sound future might look like. As an approach, preservation has been applied to disparate phenomena ranging from historic neighborhoods and natural environments to democracy and identity.

Through case studies from different parts of the world around topics such as green extractivism, simulated heritage and cultural marginalizations, students have built on the insight that preservation cannot be neatly delineated from various forms of violence and destruction. Their projects experiment with a variety of mediums, from a traditional essay to video, drawings and collages, to examine conceptualizations, debates and practices of preserving architecture and nature, and to ask the following questions: Who decides what to preserve and what to neglect? Who has the capacity to take on this responsibility? Preservation is political because, as with a fruit preserve, the act of preserving transforms the preserved object into something altogether different.

Guest critics: Ewa Effiom (Manchester School of Architecture, UK) and Jonas Žukauskas (Neringa Forest Residency, Lithuania)

Students: Petra Ďurišková, Johannes Growe, Þórhildur B. Guðmundsdóttir, Janosh Heydorn, Malin Hilding, Daria Khrystych, Oleksandr Nenenko, Mathilde Olivier, Dalma Pszota, Mira Samonig, Fernanda Torres

Tutors: Maroš Krivý, Kaija-Luisa Kurik, Sean Tyler

This virtual presentation takes the form of individual presentations alongside a collaborative website launch and is open to the public.

Join in on ZOOM HERE

This Friday, 30 April there will be an online symposium “Crafting Situations – Conversations exploring public private boundaries in the (present pandemic impacted) city” in four sessions 13:00–17:00. 

Join the symposium here or on the Crafting Conversations platform here.

“Crafting Situations – Conversations exploring public private boundaries in the (present pandemic impacted) city” is an experimental symposium conducted and developed through a collaboration between the projects Crafting Situations of Knowledge Exchange at HDK Valand Academy of Art and Design Gothenburg, SE, and curation of conversations that investigate the different public private boundaries in the city at Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), EE.

Schedule of the symposium:

13:00–13:45 EET

“weaving urban intersections on the crossroads of nature connections” – A Game of Associations moderated through the “Polledge” format

Guest speaker: Ott Kagovere

“weaving urban intersections on the crossroads of nature connections” – A Game of Associations curated by Louise Borinski, Björn Giesecke, Malin Hilding

Format “Polledge” crafted by Hanna Peterson, Emil Söderberg, Fanny Däldborg, Bekhar Azimov, Malene Valentin

14:00–14:45 EET

“Surveillance: Losing Control” discussed “in the Dark”

Guest speaker: Damiano Cerrone

“Surveillance: Losing Control” curated by Nursultan Barun and Bruce Shujun Wang

Format “In the Dark” crafted by Anna Roth, Daniela Kaiser, Shirun Zheng

15:00–15:45 EET

“Outsiders” negotiated via “Bread for the Table”

Guest speaker: Marge Monko & Margit Säde

“Outsiders” curated by Francesca Keaveney

Format “Bread for the table” crafted by Lea Wilhelm, Julia Tienvieri, Daniel Palatz, Hannah Simann Ax, Lucrezia Sterrantino, Victor Nilsson

16:00–16:45 EET

“A Wish to Meet” via “The Pace”

Guest speakers: Marek Glow & Uku Sepsivart

“A Wish to Meet” curated by Paula Buskevica and Katarina Sarap

Format “The Pace” crafted by Julia Niklasson, John Wattström, Ellen Solding, Katarina Frisö, Gabriella Di Feola

About Crafting Conversations

Crafting Conversations is a platform and approach to investigate situations of knowledge exchange as a matter for design. This means, to shift focus from WHAT to HOW knowledge is exchanged, transferred, created and thus shapes/influences WHAT content can be said, perceived, shared and created.

The Symposium “Crafting Situations – Conversations exploring public boundaries in the (present pandemic impacted) city” is the result of a collaboration between the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn and HDK Valand – Academy of Art and Design, Gothenburg. It is conceived and mentored by Sandra Nuut, and Prof. Judith Seng, Berlin/Gothenburg. HDK Valand MFA Design students have developed scores and formats of knowledge exchange and the students of Estonian Academy of Arts have curated topics through the provided formats. The final contributions for the Symposium have been developed through a collaborative rehearsing week in which the relation between HOW and WHAT has been explored by the students.

The Symposium “Crafting Situations – Conversations exploring public boundaries in the (present pandemic impacted) city” takes place as part of the public programme of the exhibition Acting Things VIII – Silent Conversations by Judith Seng and curated by Sandra Nuut at the Tallinn Art Hall, 5 June–1 August, 2021.

Symposium is supported by CIRRUS/Nordplus

On January 11th, from 6 to 8 PM an open lecture about projection mapping will be held on online with Zoom https://zoom.us/j/94267064018

Projection Mapping is a projection technology used to turn objects, often irregularly shaped, into a display surface for video projection. These objects may be architectural landscapes, such as buildings, small indoor objects, or theatrical stages. This method can add extra dimensions, optical illusions, and notions of movement onto previously static objects.

Taavi Varm is a visual artist interested in combining spatial design with projection-based media. He is currently a Master’s degree student at Media Lab Helsinki, Aalto University. Along the way, he has been teaching video, art, and technology-related courses for the past 20 years in different Universities in Estonia and abroad. That has lead him to be an expert in consulting various government and national projects.

He has done stage video design for numerous theatre plays in Estonia, combining hi-tech solutions to narrow the gap between technology and real-time performance.

Taavi is also specialized in large-scale projection mapping projects. Lately, he has been working with interactive installations for museums and unique environments. To name a few: Fazer Visitor Centre, Georgian Pavillion at World Expo Astana, Unity DOME 360, Narva Alexander’s Cathedral installation, Narva Museum, and many more.

He runs the hybrid design company Varm Studio with his wife, industrial designer Anni Varm, which has developed many big scale projects to introduce Estonian design worldwide.
www.varmstudio.com

Ville MJ Hyvönen is an excellent example of a modern-day Renaissance man. His expertise and experience in the field of film, theatre, sound, and audiovisual have no limit. Almost three decades of work in collaboration with world-known artists like Kristian Smeds, Mikko Roiha, Eva Alkula, Tõnu Kaljuste, Reet Aus, and many more. He has created sound design for numerous theatre plays and full feature movies. Lately, he’s interested in more intimate and detailed sound installations for projects like Fazer Visitor Centre, Finnish Pavillion at World Expo Astana, Helsinki Central Railway Station, and IKEA Our Dream.
www.villehyvonen.fi 

The lecture will be held in English.

PhD Vitamin is a first-time event at the Estonian Academy of Arts that consists of public lectures and individual consultations. Our goal is to bring together experts in artistic research with prospective PhD students with the intent of introducing the latter to the field of artistic research and to advise them in developing their own PhD research proposals.

1. Join the lectures: (please register beforehand)

Monday, 04.05. 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Liina Siib works mainly in photography, video and installation. The most prominent and recurring themes in Siib’s work include social spaces, marginalised groups and overlooked experiences. In her work Siib looks into how history gets written and the role of memory in shaping various groups in society, often using interviews, observation or archival materials as her method of working. (CCA)

Monday, 04.05. 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Dr. Varvara Guljajeva is an artist and researcher. Varvara holds a PhD from Estonian Academy of Arts, and M.Sc in digital media from University of Luebeck, and a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from IT Collage (Tallinn University of Technology). Her practice-based doctoral thesis “From interaction to postparticipation: the disappearing role of the active participant” analyses and contextualises passive audience interaction through the lens of post-participation.

Tuesday, 05.05. 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Dr. Michael Schwab is a London-based artist and artistic researcher who investigates postconceptual uses of technology in a variety of media including photography, drawing, printmaking, and installation art. He holds a M.A. in philosophy (Hamburg University) and a PhD in photography (Royal College of Art, London) that focuses on post-conceptual post-photography and artistic research methodology. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for Artistic Research (JAR).

Wednesday, 06.05. 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Dr. Chris Hales has exhibited a variety of interactive film installations dating back to ARTEC’95 in Japan via Future Cinema at ZKM in 2003 to the Glucksman Gallery in Cork in 2019. Part of his enquiry is the use of novel or unusual interface technology including facial emotion recognition and brain-computer interfaces.

2. Join the consultations: (please also register beforehand)

In addition to the lectures, individual consultations take place within the framework of the PhD Vitamin from 6th to 8th of May. They offer the opportunity to talk about your artistic work and ideas for a doctoral thesis with an expert of your choice.

In addition to the experts who will give lectures in the first half of the event, it is possible to register for a consultation with artist Kristina Norman.

Kristina Norman is a freelance artist whose interdisciplinary work is characterized by an interest in the relationship between identity, memory and public space. One of her most internationally known works is the intervention in public space at the 10th Manifesta Biennale in St. Petersburg, when she installed a 14-meter iron Christmas tree frame – which has become a symbol of Euromaidan – in front of the Winter Palace. The action linked the tragic events in Kiev to the repressed memory of demonstrations at the Palace Square at various times. Norman’s newer research-based creation experiments with performative expressions.

To participate in the consultations, register HERE.

We encourage artists, alumni and graduates of the Estonian Academy of Arts and other universities working with creative research methods to register. Registration is open until 03.05.2020. The exact consultation times will be sent directly to the provided e-mail addresses. Be quick – the number of free spots for the consultations is limited!

The lectures and consultations will take place in digital environments. The event is funded by the European Regional Development Fund

Questions? Please contact madis.luik@artun.ee

Composing the Sublime: Rituals in Electroacoustic Music
Can electroacoustic music concerts become places of ritual?

Open lecture on Monday, 9.03. at 16:00, room A302

In this talk, Yiorgis Sakellariou (GR) will explore this question that marked the beginning of an analytical and practical research of the social existence of electroacoustic music and the sublime experience of acousmatic listening.

The research expands the framework of sonic arts and suggests methods for further theoretical interrogation and artistic practice. Having taken a qualitative methodological approach, the research drew inspiration from ethnomusicological and anthropological contexts and used digital sound technology to embody the evocative and transcendental atmosphere of religious rituals in electroacoustic music concerts.

The artistic outcomes (published compositions and public performances) focus on the communal experience of listening and the communication between composer, audiences, performance spaces and the rest of the physical and supernatural world.

Yiorgis Sakellariou is a composer of experimental and electroacoustic music. Since 2003, he has been active internationally being responsible for solo and collaboration albums, having composed music for short films and theatrical performances, leading workshops and ceaselessly performing his music around the globe.

His practice focuses on the communal experience of listening and the communication between composer, audiences, performance spaces and the rest of the physical and supernatural world. He only performs in absolute darkness, fostering an all-inclusive and profoundly submerging sonic experience.

He completed his PhD at Coventry University (April 2018). His research drew inspiration from ethnomusicological and anthropological contexts and explored the sonic symbolism and socio-aesthetic settings in ecstatic religious rituals in relation to field recording, electroacoustic composition and acousmatic performance.

Yiorgis Sakellariou is a member of the Athenian Contemporary Music Research Centre, the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association and the Lithuanian Composers Union. Since 2004 he has curated the label Echomusic. He is currently a lecturer at VDU and an assistant lecturer at LMTA.

https://mechaorga.wordpress.com/

NB! The lecture is CANCELED!

HIMMELB(L)AU 68 Revisited: We will not allow Art to be exiled from Architecture. Open Lecture by Wolf D. Prix

Arriving to Tallinn on 12 March is the co-founder, Design Principal and CEO of Vienna-based international architecture practice COOP HIMMELB(L)AU Wolf D. Prix, according to whom COOP HIMMELB(L)AU does not so much as fight gravity with their buildings which often seem to float or sway, but rather tries to ignore gravity in the first place. Prix’s lecture is titled “HIMMELB(L)AU 68 Revisited. We will not allow Art to be exiled from Architecture” and is part of the Estonian Academy of Arts architecture open lecture series. All lectures are free and open for all.

Wolf D. Prix studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology, the Architectural Association of London as well as at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles. Amongst others, Wolf D. Prix is a member of the Österreichische Bundeskammer der Architekten und Ingenieurkonsulenten, the Bund Deutscher Architekten, Germany (BDA), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Architectural Association Santa Clara, Cuba, and Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture (FAIA). Prix has received numerous award, including the Great Austrian State Award and the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art.

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU was founded in Vienna in 1968 and has since then been operating in the fields of art, architecture, urban planning, and design. Another branch of the firm was opened in Los Angeles in 1988. In numerous countries the firm has realized museums, concert halls, science and office buildings as well as residential buildings. Presently COOP HIMMELB(L)AU is working on various projects in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The company’s most well-known international projects include the Rooftop Remodeling Falkestraße attic conversion in Vienna, the multifunctional UFA Cinema Center in Dresden, the BMW Welt in Munich, the Akron Art Museum in Ohio, the Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts, the Busan Cinema Center in Korea and the Dalian International Conference Center in China and the House of Music in Aalborg, Denmark.

The Faculty of Architecture of the Estonian Academy of Arts has curated the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to everyone.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali

www.avatudloengud.ee
www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/

More info:
E-mail: arhitektuur@artun.ee
Tel. +372 642 0071

What connects Toblerone to Bill Gates, waterbeds, orange juice, Coca-Cola, the Virgin Mary, and Immanuel Kant? Olof Olsson takes you on a mind-bending trip of comic infotainment.

Driving the Blues Away is an info comedy racing through the histories of art, chocolate, cola-drinks, personal computers, philosophy, and theology. Along the way there’s a romantic melodrama – where Olof’s almost partner is seduced by an ultra famous software entrepreneur in the tax-free shop of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport. The whole thing is steeped in Olof’s twisted love of language: “Our language and the world are not always hooked up one-to-one. It’s a mess, and that makes us nervous. But it’s a funny mess.”

Olof Olsson is a product of the charter tourism of the 1960s. His Dutch catholic mother and Swedish social democrat father met on Mallorca. In his youth Olof made attempts in journalism, documentary photography, and as a radio disc jockey. After having studied languages, philosophy and translation theory, Olof studied visual art at Konstfack in Stockholm and the Royal Academy in Copenhagen. Between 1992 and 2007, Olof mainly made conceptual art. Since 2007, Olof has been focusing on spoken performances – like lectures, speeches, and info comedy.

Olof Olsson’s Driving the Blues info comedy will be in English and is part of the EKA Contemporary Art MA (MACA) programme’s public lecture series ART TALKS.

Everybody is welcome to join!

In Praise of Bad Architects: Open Lecture by Pippo Ciorra

The next lecturer of the Open Lecture Series this spring will be Rome-based architect, critic and professor Pippo Ciorra. Ciorra’s lecture will focus on the contribution given to architecture and especially to modern architecture by designers whose skill was not mainly focused in the exclusive relation with the drawing process and the construction expertise but more to be found in their attitude to conceptualize, politicize, push architecture towards new dimensions and new relations with society. Ciorra will be stepping on the stage of the main auditorium of the EKA building on the 5th of March at 6 pm.

Pippo Ciorra is since 2009 the senior curator for architecture at the MAXXI museum in Rome and longtime editor in chief of “Casabella”. Architect, critic and professor, member of the editorial board of “Casabella” from 1996 to 2012, he collaborates with journals, reviews and national press and is author of many essays and publications. In 2011 he has published an overview of the conditions of architecture in Italy, Senza architettura, le ragioni per una crisi (Laterza). Author of a number of books and, he’s published monographic studies on Ludovico Quaroni (Electa, 1989), Peter Eisenman (Electa, 1993), and then on museums, city, photography and contemporary Italian architecture. He teaches design and theory at SAAD (University of Camerino) and is the director of the international PhD program “Villard d’Honnecourt” (IUAV). He’s a member of CICA (International Committee of Architectural Critics), advisor for the award “Gold Medal of the Italian architecture”. He’s been chairing or participating to national and international design competitions. He has curated and designed exhibitions in Italy and abroad.

The Faculty of Architecture of the Estonian Academy of Arts has curated the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to everyone.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali

www.avatudloengud.ee
www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/

More info:
E-mail: arhitektuur@artun.ee
Tel. +372 642 0071

Open lecture is cancelled!

On March 16th at 17:00 a public lecture will be held in Estonian Academy of Arts on Late Soviet Modernism in Georgia by Nini Palavandishvili and Estonia by Laura Ingerpuu. The lecture is part of a study course “Understanding Late Soviet Modernism”. Both countries are rich of intriguing architectural masterpieces worth to be evaluated and protected.

NINI PALAVANDISHVILI is a passionate and erudite researcher of Georgian architecture and heritage, especially late soviet modernism. The focus of her research and curatorial projects lies in social and political contexts and their interpretation in the framework of cultural production and contemporary art. She cooperates with Blue Shield Georgia in the protection of heritage in Georgia.

LAURA INGERPUU is a PhD student of Estonian Academy of Arts. Her research field is the soviet modernist architecture in Estonia with an emphasis on the architecture of the collective farms.