History

The Chair of New Media is the successor to the E-Media Centre established by Ando Keskküla in 1994. In the 2000/2001 academic year, the master’s programme in Interactive Multimedia (IMM) was instituted, which was accredited by the EU in 2003. The E-Media Centre organised international workshops, conferences and festivals. The international Interstanding Festival (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001) was
organised with the Center for Contemporary Arts Estonia, which stimulated new discussions and exchanges of ideas between artists through conferences, workshops and exhibitions. The E-Media Centre also regularly managed smaller events, i.e. specialised workshops, symposia and lectures. The Center invited international professionals and artists to give lectures and collaborate with the students, artists and the general public. At these events, the local students and artists acquired skills in various fields of new media.

In 2004, the E-Media Centre organised the electronic art symposium called ISEA2004 (International Symposium of Electronic Art) in cooperation with m-Cult (Helsinki) and the Center for Contemporary Arts Estonia. The E-Media Centre participated in various collaborative projects, studies, residency programmes and cooperative networks. The E-Media Centre was an active member of NICE (the Network Interface for Cultural Exchange). NICE provides a common base for new media initiatives in the Baltic region, such as, the series of workshop-events and symposia organised by RAM (Re-Approaching New Media). The E-Media Centre participated in the NIFCA (Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art) residency programme and in other projects in cooperation with the Center for Contemporary Arts Estonia, the Estonian Artists’ Association, the Art Museum of Estonia and others. The educational multimedia product called Virbits was created at the E-Media Centre, and was financed by grants from the Tiger Leap Foundation and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Virbits is a virtual primer in CD-Rom format, which is a tool for the adults who teach children to read. The target groups for Virbits are the kindergarten groups preparing for school and first-graders. The people involved in the E-Media Centre were Ivika Kivi, Mare Tralla, Dagmar Kase, Kristel Sibul, Tuuli Lepik, Raivo Kelomees, and many others.