Open Lectures

New Media 30

EKA New Media department is celebrating 30th anniversary during the EKA 110 event. Our program includes a series of talks on media art, presentations of alumni work, a student exhibition and an evening for video games.

Birthday week program:

4.11
18:00 New Media 30: Paul Galloway (US) – Video Games at MoMA (Paul Galloway will be joining us from New York city via screen. In English, Main hall A-101)

5.11
18:00 New Media 30: Ava Imogen Grayson (CA/FI) & John Grzinich (US/EE) – Discussing Sound Art (Ava will be joining us from Helsinki via screen. In English, B-305)
19:15 New Media 30: Jaime Lobato (MX/EE) – The right to forget. Artificial intelligences humanly inspired in contemporary art (Jaime will be joining us from Mexico via screen. In English, B-305)

7.11
18:00 New Media 30: Raivo Kelomees – Metamorphoses in Media Art (In Estonian, Main hall A-101)
15:00 – 21:00 New Media 30: Video Art Screening Program (Works by graduates and students of the Department: Mari-Liis Rebane, Katrin Enni, Evi Pärn, Lauri Lest, Tõnis Jürgens, Sten Saarits, Taavi Suisalu, Martin Rästa and others) (B308)

8.11
15:00 – 22:00 New Media 30: Video Art Screening Program (Works by graduates and students of the Department: Mari-Liis Rebane, Katrin Enni, Evi Pärn, Lauri Lest, Tõnis Jürgens, Sten Saarits, Taavi Suisalu, Martin Rästa and others) (B308)
18:00 Opening of the exhibition “Lifetime of a Building” (Kotzebue 10 + Kotzebue street)
19:00 – 23:00 New Media 30: LVLup Video Games Chill Out Lounge (B307)

The Sensorial Design group is hosting an event focused on design approaches centered around sensory experiences, addressing themes such as care, well-being, public engagement, and non-sexual intimacy. The event will begin with an open lecture on somatic well-being for individuals with chronic gut diseases by Dila Demir, followed by four Pecha Kucha presentations by sensorial design researchers Nesli Hazal Oktay, Azeem Hamid, Zaur Babayev, and Kristi Kuusk. Join us for an engaging exploration of sensory-driven design practices and insights.

Date: 

November 11

Time: 

16.00–17.50

Location: 

Estonian Academy of Arts, Room: A-101

Registration Link: 

https://forms.gle/HpxPEHL4x8Dz8FkY9

As part of EKA’s 110th birthday week, Honorary Doctor Antoine Picon presents an public lecture “Architecture and Materiality in the Age of the Digital and the Anthropocene”.
The lecture will take place on November 6 at 18:00 in the main hall of the Estonian Academy of Arts and is open to all interested parties.

Antoine Picon is the G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology at the GSD where he is also Chair of the PhD in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning. He teaches courses in the history and theory of architecture and technology. Trained as an engineer, architect, and historian, Picon works on the relationships between architectural and urban space, technology, and society, from the eighteenth century to the present.
A series of Picon’s books offer a comprehensive overview of the changes brought by the computer and digital culture to the theory and practice of architecture as well as to the planning and experience of the city.

It is almost impossible to work on the history of technology without encountering the question of nature or rather of the relationship between the natural and the artificial. This question is at the core of Picon’s latest book, Natures Urbaines: Une Histoire Technique et Sociale (2024) follows two main threads: the technological component of the presence of nature in cities as well as its social and political dimension.

Picon has received a number of awards for his writings, including the Médaille de la Ville de Paris, and twice the Prix du Livre d’Architecture de la Ville de Briey, as well as the Georges Sarton Medal of the University of Gand. In 2010, he was elected a member of the French Académie des Technologies. In 2015, he became a member of the French Académie d’Architecture. He is Chevalier des Arts et Lettres since 2014. He was Chairman of the Fondation Le Corbusier from 2013 to 2024.

Since Picons first lecture in Estonian Academy of Arts 2017, 4th of May a deep bond has developed. This was also the year when PhD supervision began for our academy’s researcher and architect, Siim Tuksam, culminating in a very successful defense and dissertation on Modulated Modularity.

Since last year, Professor Picon has been appointed to the EKA Arh International Board of Advisors. He has initiated discussions regarding the global objectives of our architecture faculty, particularly the relative significance of the technological component compared to the artistic aspect. Additionally, he has raised questions about the positioning of our research and doctoral programs, and whether these could serve as a guiding framework for our faculty’s activities, both locally and internationally.

You can find the events of the whole EKA110 Birthday Week here:
https://www.artun.ee/en/calendar/eka-110th-birthday-week/

On Wednesday, November 6 at 4:00 p.m., the newly elected EKA honorary doctor prof. will hold an open lecture in hall A101. Linda van Deursen. 

Linda van Deursen is a graphic designer based in the Netherlands. Together with Armand Mevis, she founded the studio Mevis & van Deursen in 1987, which has collaborated with various cultural institutions: their partners have included the Stedelijk Museum, documenta 14, Haus der Kulturen der Welt and the artists Armin Linke, Yael Davids and Aglaia Konrad, with whom they worked on publications and exhibitions.

Since 1990, Linda van Deursen has taught at various schools, for example at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (where she was head of the graphic design department), the Yale School of Art and currently at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague.

Van Deursen is a designer whose approach and design ideas have been among the most influential in the last twenty years. She has also had a great influence on the local design scene, because many Estonian designers have studied under her at various art universities in Europe and North America.

The lecture is held in English

“An Artistic Journey from Sculpture to Animated Film”
Martina Mestrovic Masterclass

November 14th, 5 p.m. in room A-101

In this masterclass, Croatian filmmaker and artist Martina Meštrović will examine her extended work in sculpture and animation.

She will discuss the creative inspirations behind her films, including the animation documentary “A Cat is Always Female” (2019, co-directed with  Tanja Vujasinović) and her recent, mixed techniques film “Her Dress for the Final” (2023) – both of which have traveled extensively within the international film and animation festival circuit. 

A screening of two of her films will be included, and Martina will share a sneak peek of her new animated documentary film in development.

Erik Sigge will give an open lecture “The Worth of Welfare: A Historical Perspective on the Costing and Financing of Public Buildings”

on October 28 at 5 pm at EKA classroom A-501

Since 1993, Sweden has deregulated many of its welfare services, with a majority of the privatization taking place after 2007. In a historical perspective, the longstanding problem of being able to make decisions regarding policies and programs on the basis of social needs – the classic problem of a welfare economy – has gradually been formalized into questions of efficiency and competitiveness.

The talk will address some of the historical changes of welfare policies in relation to building construction and focus on understanding the hidden logics of welfare economics in order to elucidate how architecture and real estate are contingent on the economic policies of its time. Central to “the cost of architecture” is how costing and budgeting are activities that have changed from primarily being conducted in direct relationship to production expenses, to being done in relation to financial opportunities.

Erik Sigge is an architectural historian and preservationist, and Lecturer in theory and history of architecture at the Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, Lund University in Lund, Sweden. He is Head of Unit of Form, Design, Culture and primarily teaches courses in the bachelor program. Erik gained his PhD in architectural history from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and holds a master degree in Historic Preservation from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York (M.Sc. 2003).

The lecture is organised by Urban Studies Curriculum.

On November 25 at 4:30 p.m., Hanna Norrna’s lecture “Metamorphosis in Weaving” will take place in room A501. 

The lecture focuses on creative practice centered around silk.

Norrna grows her own silkworms, watches the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies and processes their cocoons into silk, which in turn is woven into fabrics. Mythologies, spirituality and materiality intertwine in his practice.

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Hanna Norrna works with weaving as an alchemical formula and ritual gesture – an intertwining of silent knowledge and spirituality, mythology and materiality. Her practice touches how craft, passion, vulnerability, body and sanctity are connected and claims its space.

At the core of Norrna’s weaving process is the silkworm. An originally wild species, domesticated for thousands of years for human needs and productions. In the summers, she breeds silkworms in her home and follow the caterpillars’ growing transformation into butterflies. She processes their cocoons into thread and dye them with symbolic plants.

In her loom, the home-grown silk is placed into systems of bindings and meetings between metallic and animal materials. Layers and fields with various centers of gravity and density grow. In exhibitions, the woven material extends into spatial and site-specific installations.

Textile 110 is a series of events celebrating the 110th anniversary of EKA’s textile design education, as part of which a series of open lectures focusing on textiles will be held, a series of publications will be published, and a selection of works from the EKA Museum’s textile collection can be seen throughout the year.

The lecture series opens up the spectrum of diverse opportunities in the field of textiles, both in design, industry, and creative practices, bringing out different roles and methods of creation in the field through various invited guests.

Supported by the Research Fund of EKA and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia

On October 30 at 4:30 p.m., the lecture “The making of Inspiration” by Hanna Kaisa Korolainen will be held in room A501

The lecture focuses on the artist’s research and opens up his work, which extends from textiles to other media as well.

Hanna Kaisa Korolainen is a designer, artist and lecturer at Aalto University. He defended his doctoral thesis The making of Inspiration at Aalto University in 2022.

Korolainen is a visual artist whose diverse production includes textiles, glass and ceramics. She has been living and working in Paris, Beijing, Brussels and Helsinki. In addition to her artistic career, she teaches in Aalto University of Arts, Design and Architecture, and writes about art and design.
Korolainen’s artworks have been presented both in her natal Finland and abroad, consequently her works belong to several public and private collections. Her recent exhibitions include Emma Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Design Museum of Helsinki and Hvitträsk, a historical Art Nouveau site near Helsinki.
Korolainen is fascinated by the idea of time travelling to a fictional past. For her this dialogue between the past and the present represents an inexhaustible source of inspiration. In her creative practice, Korolainen is constantly influenced by old craft techniques; she is interested in updating them for the world of today.

“Sketching is the heart of everything; it is the decisive moment of the process. I try to work as much as possible with my hands and as little as possible with the computer.”

Supported by the Research Fund of EKA and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia

On Thursday, 24 October at 17.00, Philipp Teufel, Professor Emeritus of Exhibition Design at the Peter Behrens School of Art (PBSA), University of Applied Sciences, Düsseldorf, will give a lecture on Japanese aesthetics, material culture and philosophical approach to life. In the lecture, Teufel will present a travelling exhibition of the same name curated by himself, which opened this summer at the The Japan Cultural Institute in Cologne and will open in Tallinn in spring 2025. The lecture will be introduced by Masayo Ave, a Japanese designer and former professor of product design at the EKA.

The exhibition “Japanese Happiness” presents the joy that the Japanese experience through aesthetic everyday objects. To put together the exhibition, Philipp Teufel asked dozens of curators, artists, philosophers and other creatives well-versed in Japanese culture to propose objects that they believe best represent the symbiosis of everyday objects, a sense of beauty and well-being. The result is a broad-based exhibition of Japanese product design and applied art, including historical folk art, contemporary high-tech design and phenomena from contemporary mass culture. For example, traditional brooms, bonsai scissors, kimono and a high-tech titanium tumbler are among the curator’s choices. Many of these items are made with the utmost dedication in small Japanese factories, employing highly skilled craftsmen. As well as the form and use of the objects, the exhibition focuses on the way in which they are made – the touch of the master’s hand.

Professor Philipp Teufel studied visual communication and scenography at the HfG Gmünd University of Applied Sciences in Schwäbisch Gmünd. From 1985 to 1995, he was a partner at the concept design agency in Frankfurt am Main. Until 2007, Teufel was a partner at the nowakteufelknyrim design studio, and from 2008 to 2017, he was managing director of the malsyteufel studio. As artistic consultant for scenography, he supported the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace from 2010 to 2015. Philipp Teufel has been teaching and researching in the field of 3D communication at Hochschule Düsseldorf – University of Applied Sciences for more than 25 years and is currently a member of the Federal Ministry of Finance’s Art Advisory Board. He has also been a jury member of Red Dot since 2015 and currently curates and designs exhibitions on the Anthropocene and on green urban living (“Grüntopia” and “Transition Now”).

The exhibition is a joint project between PBSA Exhibition Design and the EKA  Interior Architecture, supported by the Identity Foundation, a Düsseldorf-based institution promoting philosophical discourse. The exhibition design was the result of three workshops led by Japanese designer Masayo Ave. The MA students had to create a unique travelling exhibition, which involved the creation, production and installation of a holistic exhibition architecture and modular design, as well as the sensory communication of the content. The exhibition was first exhibited in Cologne at the Japan Cultural Institute from 24 May to 31 July 2024. In spring 2025, the exhibition will travel to Estonia, opening on 6 March in the ARS project space. The Tallinn exhibition will also be set up by students from EKA and PBSA. For this purpose, a workshop will be held at the EKA on 21-25 October under the guidance of Masayo Ave. In autumn 2025, the exhibition will travel to Japan.

Everyone from the fields of architecture, design, art, media and art research interested in the questions of exhibition design and exhibiting design are welcome to join! The lecture will be in English and is free of charge. Thanks for the support from the Erasmus+ programme.

Further information:

Gregor Taul
gregor.taul@artun.ee
Visiting lecturer
Department of Interior Architecture
Faculty of Architecture
Estonian Academy of Arts

From Breaking Illusions to Becoming a Unicorn. Artist talk by Mare Tralla

Mare Tralla’s first public solo performance, Breaking Illusions (1993), and her most recent performative video work, Becoming a Unicorn, exhibited last month in Edinburgh, represent two significant milestones in her artistic journey. In her first performance, Tralla began with a quiet, symbolic action of destroying the perceived notion of a (young) woman / herself. In many ways, Becoming a Unicorn continues this exploration, presenting a self-ironic and humorous act of creating a queer self. Between these two works lies a journey of feminist inquiry, spanning art, activism, and life.

Mare Tralla (b 1967, Tallinn) is queer-feminist artist and activist. Her professional art career started in Estonia in the early 90s, where she was one of the very few conducting a feminist revolution in the field of contemporary art. Drawing from her personal history and everyday experience her practice was in direct critical response to how the transition period of Eastern European societies affected women. In her art practice she employs and combines a variety of media: video, photography, performance, interactive media, painting and various traditional crafts. As an activist she has been involved with Act Up, London, Catwalk4Power, No Pride in War coalition and LGSMigrants. Her recent performative projects deal with queer experiences, gender issues, investigate sustainability and economics. Currently Mare Tralla lives and works in Edinburgh.

Recent exhibitions include: ‘Duck and Cover’, Vabaduse Gallery Tallinn (2024), ‘In the Name of Desire’, Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga (2024); ‘We Don’t Do This. Intimacy, Norms and Fantasies in Baltic Art’, MO Museum, Vilnius (2024);  ‘Same Subject Continued’, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh (2023);  ‘Consequences’, Out of A Blue Drill Hall, Edinburgh (2022); ‘Atishoo, A-tishoo, We All Fall Down’, EKKM, Tallinn (2019); ‘Machine Divas’, steirischerherbst’20, Schaumbad, Graz (2019);  ’Woman&Woman’, City Gallery, Pärnu, 2019; ‘The X-Files [Registry of the Nineties]’, Art Museum of Estonia KUMU, Tallinn, (2018-2019); ‘Give Up the Ghost. Baltic Triennial 13’, Kim?, Riga, (2018);  ‘Bastard Voices’, Baltic Triennial 13, evening of performances, South London Gallery, London, (2018); ‘Women’, Threshold Artspace, Perth, UK (2017-2018).

Recent text contributions in books: Feminist Art Activisms and Artivisms, ed. Katy Deepwell, Valiz 2020; Watched! Surveillance, Art and Photography, eds. Louise Wolthers, Dragana Vujanovic, Niclas Östlind, 2016; re.act.feminism a performing archive, eds. Bettina Knaup and Beatrice Ellen Stammer, 2014; quite queer, ed. Claudia Reiche, 2014

www.tralla.net 

The talk will be held in English.