Category: Support Units

THE WELL
Maria Metsalu (EST), Jaakko Pallasvuo (FI) & Tarvo Porroson (EST)
19.12.2021—25.05.2022
Opening: 19.12 at 5.30—7 pm
EKA Gallery Billboard, Kotzebue 1, open 24/h

Join us for the “The Well” exhibition opening at EKA Gallery Billboard on December 19 at 5.30 pm. The billboard is located on the EKA building at Kotzebue street 1. Opening is at EKA cafeteria, and the entrance is via a glass door next to the billboard.

Part of the performance “The Well” at Kanuti Gildi SAAL, three artists are exhibiting a pseudo-archaic photo series of the same name at EKA Gallery Billboard. Eighteen metal sheets etched with text and illustrations make up two books that are part of the performance. 

In “The Well” the preconceived notions regarding the structure and meaning of the protagonist’s reality have disappeared into the abyss and the anxiety in which she has become aware of her finitude, an ontological insecurity has taken effect. She has no family, no friends, no connections. The world has become overwhelming in its complexity so she is being lowered into the well by her four psychoanalysts – AJ, Brian, Kevin and Nick. Her job while lying on her leather couch in the bottom of the well is to write and give the world a structure. She is a composer. She is a magician and an alchemist.

Metsalu and Pallasvuo have been having writing sessions from the beginning of 2021 and have created the text in the project. With the help of the blacksmith Tarvo Porroson, a selection of these texts has found their place on different objects of which two books form this exhibition.

“The psychoanalysts send down a notebook and tell me it would be good for me to keep a journal. I draw flowers in the notebook. I draw horses. I draw medieval weapons. I draw pictures of what I think the psychoanalysts look like. I draw their humors: blood, yellow bile, phlegm and black bile. All of my psychoanalysts fall in love with me. I send my notebook back to them, the one with all the drawings, and they fight over the book, they tear pages out and hang them on the walls of the cottages where they’ve settled. They have to live here, in isolation with me, until the treatment is complete. They love me so much, and they don’t want to let me go. I sleep in the well. I wake up in the middle of the night and the psychoanalysts are gone, they are inside the house, maybe sleeping, maybe fucking each other.”

Thanks to: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Taavi Teevet, Paul Klooren, Robin Siimann, Pire Sova
Supported by Kanuti Gildi SAAL

Tõnis Saadoja’s exhibition “September, October, … ” opens in the WIELS Project Room, Brussels. The exhibition opening takes place on December 1 at 18.

In the painting series “September, October, …” the artist’s focus lies equally on two aspects – how to portray an unfunctional environment and how to paint a picture that is primarily about painting?

“I’m interested in the poetic dimension of an image and the conditionality inherent in the painting process provides one possibility to amplify this,” says Saadoja. “Painting is, first and foremost, a potential that may lead to new connections and meanings. It can also lead back to old routes and there’s nothing wrong with that either. But inside every repetition lies something new and gradually everything drifts away from its initial course.”

The exhibition in the WIELS will be open until December 19.

Tõnis Saadoja participated in the WIELS residency programme in 2019. Every year two Estonian artists are selected via open call to take part in the programme as part of the WIELS and the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art’s collaboration project. Right now Ingel Vaikla is working in Brussels. In 2022 Krista Mölder and Sandra Kosorotova will take part.

ASSESSMENT MARATHON
02.–22.12.2021
Mon-Sat 3-6 pm
Entrance with Covid pass from Kotzebue street

December brings an opportunity to experience, in an exhibition format, works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects: every day there will be a fresh crop of university students’ works on display in the gallery.
Works in contemporary art, prints, installation, sculpture and painting curricula will be on display. On each morning of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

02.12 – Art project, supervisor Paul Kuimet
03.12 – Sculpture, supervisors Taavi Talve, Taavi Piibemann
04.12 – Sculpture, supervisors Taavi Talve, Taavi Piibemann
06.12 – Drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk
07.12 – Drawing, supervisor Eero Alev
08.12 – Drawing, supervisor Britta Benno
09.12 – Drawing, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja
10.12 – Art project, supervisor Kristina Õllek
11.12 – Painting, supervisors Mihkel Maripuu, Tõnis Saadoja
13.12 – Department project, supervisor Ene-Liis Semper
14.12 – Department project, supervisor Ene-Liis Semper
15.12 – Contemporary Art, supervisors Kristaps Ancans, Taavi Piibemann
16.12 – Contemporary Art, supervisors Kristaps Ancans, Taavi Piibemann
17.12 – Contemporary Art, supervisors Kristaps Ancans, Taavi Piibemann
18.12 – Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Mihkel Maripuu, Jaan Toomik
20.12 – Graphic art, supervisors Kadi Kurema, Eve Kask
21.12 – Graphic art, supervisors Viktor Gurov, Martinus Daane Klemet, Oliver Laas
22.12 – Graphic art, supervisors Kadri Toom, Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Mark Raidpere, Maria Erikson, Liina Siib

Participants: Johhan Rosenberg, Bosa Mina, Laima Jaunzema, Iris Lillemägi, Sveta Grigorjeva
Sound: Mihkel Kleis
Gallerist: Pire Sova

Join us for the “Kõdu” gallery visit on November 26, 27 and 28 at 8—10pm at EKA Gallery. The guests can move around in the space to meet “Kõdu”.

The age-old phantom Kõdu is living in all organisms while decomposing them from inside. The constant resistance with apparent subjugation will end with the inevitable surrendering.

The performance takes over the gallery space with an installation that changes over time. Johhan works together with the participants based on their artistic practice. Through sensing the body movements the utterer and the uttering become one while provoking the obscure new creatures are brought to life.

:they have not managed to conceive you
and you have already occurred
please be such a hag and tell me
who is it that imagined you;

Johhan Rosenberg (EST) has graduated Choreography at the School For New Dance Development with a background in music and dance studies. In his practice, the functionalities of language and identities become embodied contexts for the process of creating surroundings. Performances become technologies of tearing apart what is already known to develop new autonomies. Through raw vocabulary and playfulness, he layers body, visuals and sound to meet the viewer in the collective consciousness. He’s currently studying Chinese Medicine and is working as a freelance choreographer in Berlin and Tallinn.

Thanks to: Johannes Luik, Hans Gunter Lock,Tener Ilirstrom, Ando Naulainen, Kanuti Gildi Saal, Eesti Tantsuagentuur, Eventech, Kaarli Hambakliinik, Margus Laksberg 

Supported by: School for New Dance Development

Strobe lights are used at the event.

Ticket 5€.
Buy at the door with cash or here: https://fienta.com/et/galeriikulastus-kodu-hag

Free for EKA students!

Entrance from the EKA main door with Covid pass

On 12 December 21, the traditional EKA Christmas Fair will take place on all five floors of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Almost 100 traders will be selling the design and artistic creation of the students and alumni of EKA, accompanied by the young Viljandi folk band Tammele.

The Christmas market opens at 11.17 am and the last purchases can be made at 17.11 pm.

Entrance to the market is free, through the gates of Kotzebue 1, but only upon presentation of the corona certificate! To make trading more comfortable, you are asked to bring cash.

EKA Christmas Fair on Facebook

The Christmas Market of EAA is organized by the Student Council of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

On November 26.–28., the undergraduate 3rd-year students of product design and EKA staff visited Transform4Europe’s partner, the University of Silesia, in Katowice, Poland. 

In the workshop, the students mapped the journey of the University of Silesia in Katowice Erasmus students. Both university staff and students participated in the workshop. Together, they drew the route, noted the main issues, and discussed possible solutions. 

In addition, EKA employees Piret-Klea Velleste, Marilyn Riisimäe, Merilin Kuklas, Argo Tamm and visiting lecturer Eva Liisa Kubinyi participated. They visited various departments of the University of Silesia and met with its staff. In addition to EKA staff and students also visited Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Film School and watched two excellent student films. 

On the last day of the trip, they also visited the Warsaw Academy of Arts and explored the city.

EKA Fox Party will take place on November 4, in EKA atrium, where this year’s crazier first-year students will perform.

Doors at 6 p.m.

Main act Arg Part

DJs are EKA’s own CT Venom and Alexandra BB (Karin Nahkur & Sandra Mäesepp team)

Performances at 7 p.m.

EKA Fox Party on Facebook

EKA Fox Party is organized by the Student Council of the Estonian Academy of Arts

Soft Negotiations
Exhibition of the Department of Textile Design of EKA in the EKA Gallery.

Exhibition is opened 16.10–13.11.202. Põhja puiestee 7, Tallinn. Opening hours Tue–Sat, 12–18
Opening of the exhibition on the 15th of October at 4 p.m.
The performance of Inês Rodrigues Neves “Drawing the Line” will take place at the exhibition opening. Entrance with covid pass.

Just as the warp threads connect the weft, serving as a bridge for each other, this exhibition by the Department of Textile Design invites audiences to ponder the role of textile in today’s and future society. At the exhibition, the department presents contemporary trends that often straddle or meld with the boundaries of other disciplines. That in turn creates a new, multidisciplinary approach where textile can take very different forms: it can convey structure, idea, protest, message, self-expression, pattern or simply colour combination.

The exhibition presents works by students and teaching staff of the Estonian Academy of Arts that investigate the all-encompassing role of textile design. Besides conventional roles, new hybrid forms emerge, presenting new knowledge in the context of artistic research. Emerging technological approaches are demonstrated, in which textile, interwoven with digital properties or technology at different levels, mediates collaborative processes in design of social interaction.

The exhibition has three conceptual threads, which intersect each other:

Textile as STATE(MENT)

#critical and conceptual practices

Textile as LAB

#experimental practice #flirting with science #biotextiles #new materials and structures

Textile as WELLBEING

#design that values the environment and well-being #sustainability #recycling #healthcare #social responsibility #therapy

Participants:

Frank Abner, Arife Dila Demir, Katrin Kabun, Liisbet, Karjel, Kadi Kibbermann, Mari-Triin Kirs, Kristi Kuusk + Ana Tajadura-Jiménez (Madriidi Carlos III Ülikool) + Aleksander Väljamäe (Tartu Ülikool), Krista Leesi, Kille- Ingeri Liivoja + Juulia Aleksandra Mikson, Greth-Ann Loog + Riina Samelselg + Anete Vihm, Inês Rodrigues Neves, Nithikul Nimkulrat (OCAD UNIVERSITY), Marin Nooni, Kärt Ojavee + Johanna Ulfsak, Ingrid Helena Pajo, Maria Kristiin Peterson, Piret Roos + Liisa Torsus, Zane Shumeiko, Marie Vihmar + Sirje Sasi (TLU), Piret Valk, Varvara & Mar + Sebastian Mealla, Carl-Rasmus Õunaste

Curators: Varvara Guljajeva (HKUST(GZ)), Kristel Laurits, EKA Department of Textile Design

Exhibition design: Varvara Guljajeva
Exhibition technical support: Tehniline Direktor
Graphic design: Jesus Rodriguez Santos
Translation and proofreading: Gepard OÜ
Exhibition team: Kristi Kuusk, Varvara Guljajeva, Krista Leesi, Kadi Kibbermann, Eelike Virve, Frank Abner, Juulia Aleksandra Mikson, Johannes Luik, Piret Valk

Supporter: Cultural Endowment of Estonia

Exhibition Catalogue: https://issuu.com/artun/docs/softnegotiations_catalogue_lowres

Join us for the opening of “Glass Struggle”, a solo exhibition by Sten Eltermaa on September 28, at 5.30 PM at EKA Gallery! 

Glass Struggle is an ongoing artistic research project based on glass as material, paradoxically fragile and extremely resilient at the same time. Glass is used in high-security buildings, and even the Pope drives around in a vehicle protected by bulletproof glass. The semantic field of glass plays an increasingly pervasive role: these days, we are all transparent, constantly looking at our own reflections on our screens, while having virtually no access to our own delicate data, which in many ways is used to control and even enslave us.

In the context of institutions and corporations we can also talk about glass as a symbol of democracy – a reference to open and equal dialogue between the people and those in power. Likewise, it refers to corporate totalitarianism and divergence of social strata. Glass Struggle is based on the semiosis of the viewer and the seen. 

The exhibition is accompanied by the online publication www.struggle.glass, which is also seen as part of one of the sculptures (“A Satellite Deviated from the Orbit”, in collaboration with Maria Lee).

Texts: Maria Lee, Sten Eltermaa

Exhibition design: Arvi Anderson, Sten Eltermaa

Graphic design: Maria Muuk

Website: Maria Muuk, Patrick Zavadskis

Translation: Madis Kuuse (ENG), Olesja Semenkova (RUS)

Thanks: Maria Lee, Arvi Anderson, Krista Loorits, Lauri Eltermaa, Sten-Erik Toos, Tõnis Vassar, Urmo Mets, Madli Ehasalu, Roman-Sten Tõnissoo, Pire Sova & EKA gallery, b210 architects, Kauss Architecture, KUU architects, Kolm Koma Architects, Ilmamaa Publishing House

Special thanks: Karmo Migur, Maria Muuk, Kadi Meriluht, Mary Magdalene

Supporters: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, MEISTRI, Salibar, Klaasissepa, joogipood.ee, nanoPruul, ÕIE, 3DLaser

The exhibition is part of the satellite programme of the Tallinn Photomonth contemporary art biennial.

Exhibition in the showcase of EKA Library. 

The artists’ book “How to shoplift books” by David Horvitz is a guide on how to steal books. It details 80 ways one can steal a book, from the very practical to the witty, imaginative, and romantic.

This project by David Horvitz with Edition Taube is an ongoing translation and publishing work that started in 2013. For each language, they collaborate with a publisher from the corresponding language region. The latest book in the series, the Estonian translation, was published with Lugemik Publishing, translated by Keiu Krikmann and edited by Indrek Sirkel.

All the translations published so far are on display in the showcase of the Library of the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Greek, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Lithuanian, Danish, Korean, Georgian, Hebrew, Romanian, Swiss-German, Russian, Japanese, Turkish, Serbian Cyrillic, Serbian Latin, Hungarian, Icelandic, Swedish, and Estonian.

David Horvitz (b 1982) is an American artist based in Los Angeles who uses art books, photography, performance art, and mail art as mediums for his work.

The exhibition is organised by Indrek Sirkel, the Professor of Graphic Design of the Estonian Academy of Arts and the head of Lugemik Publishing. With thanks to David Horvitz, Jan Steinbach, and Mait Väljas for their kind support.

Happy reading, happy shoplifting!

More information about the book.