The annual absolute top event of young Estonian art, design, architecture and art culture, the Estonian Academy of Arts’ TASE Grad Show opens in one week.
The main exhibitions of TASE ´24 will be opened on Wednesday, May 29th at 4:00 p.m at the Estonian Academy of Arts and at 6:00 p.m at the Tallinn Art Hall.
The focus of the TASE theses festival is the exhibition of EKA students’ theses, in which graduates of the faculties of architecture, design, art culture and fine arts participate. The main exhibition is accompanied by a versatile satellite program with exciting special exhibitions, defenses, TASE Film and much more. In parallel with the exhibition, the TASE ’24 website tase.artun.ee will also open.
On Wednesday, May 29th at 4:oo p.m rector Mart Kalm welcomes the young architects and art scholars in the main building of the academy, where the theses exhibitions of the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Art Culture are located. The festival will be opened by the mayor of Tallinn, Jevgeni Ossinovski. After viewing the theses presented in the building, the visitors will be guided in the form of a procession to the Tallinn Art Building on Freedom Square, where the theses exhibitions of the Faculty of Design and the Faculty of Fine Arts are located. Upon the processions’ arrival at 6:00 p.m the awards ceremony will begin, during which the Young Artist, Young Applied Artist and Young Designer Awards will be announced. The ceremony is followed by a visit to the exhibition and musical performances.
This year, human-centeredness prevails in the treatment of EKA theses – they deal with being human and observing man-made problems – the creators’ focus is on man and his existence. To illustrate the so-called glasses with which young creators look at the zeitgeist, among others, hypersensitivity, emotional heritage, social integration, body, sense of security, violence, everyday rituals, mental and physical health, spirituality and environment are the keywords. Across faculties, people are viewed in today’s world, in today’s living environment, according to the creative field given by the majors.
The autobiographical work of Daria Morozova, a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts with a bachelor’s degree in Painting, deals with the difficult but necessary topic of Russian-speaking Estonian identity. Katerina Sarapova from the Photography major uses light boxes to observe our dependence on screens and smart devices, while Mia Tohver, a student of the same major, analyses the production of well-being using photographic means.
This year, the master’s theses in Architecture and Urban Planning of the Faculty of Architecture stand out for their sensitive social and societal nerve and the corresponding intellectual platform and spatial intervention. Several works deal with the issues of the availability of housing and the versatility of its use, trying to move the issue of housing away from the speculative development model that has been common in Estonia until now, aimed at the average buyer. For example, in her work, Darina Nossova investigates how to reduce the (green) gentrification accompanying sustainable urban renewal using the example of the Pelgulinna settlement. However, Diana Drobot deals with the utilisation of former mining landscapes, i.e. “adaptation to subsidence”, using the example of the shrinking Kohtla-Järve.
In the field of Interior Architecture, Päär-Joonap Keedus‘ thesis “Self-Architecture. Master’s Diary” examines an approach that was once customary and may become normal again in the future, where both consumer objects and living spaces are created by the user or the community themselves. As a result of the master’s thesis, the project of a residential building converted from the Vilsandi gantry windmill was completed. The main keywords in Interior Architecture are making sense of the existing living environment, using it optimally and adapting to changes in the near and far future.
In the Faculty of Design, the focus of theses is psychological and emotional tensions, which are addressed through identity, accessibility and user experience. Sustainability is highlighted through both heritage and material research – among them, several works deal with algae-based material development. In Textile Design bachelor’s theses, students deal with questions of identity, searching for it through the connections between ancestors, nature, surrounding people and material. Master’s student Kristina Oja’s thesis topic is the knitting collection “I was lost” inspired by old family pictures, glass major student Õnne Paulus deals with material agency, and Elle Kannike explores the topic of the value and appreciation of objects by studying the “heritage of the object”.
The Faculty of Arts and Culture has its thesis entitled “Heritage is Popular!” formulated the Cultural Heritage and Conservation motto, attitude and state of Karola Mursu, master’s student of EKA’s Heritage and Conservation, as observed by docent Riin Alatalu, head of the master’s program of EKA’s heritage protection and restoration department. Kristel Akerman deals with the problems and opportunities of Tallinn’s old town in the light of contemporary urban planning ideologies.
Kaisa Maasik, the main organiser of the TASE ’24 thesis festival: “We are happy that a large part of the graduates will be able to show their works in the Tallinn Art Gallery this year as well, and we hope that this will also draw attention to the fact that the art nest, which is important to all of us, has been empty for the second year, waiting for the start of renovation works. Compared to last year, in addition to the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Tallinn Art Gallery, TASE takes place in many other locations, which I definitely recommend everyone to attend.”
On the opening day of TASE ’24, the exhibition is open to visitors at the Estonian Academy of Arts from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and at the Tallinn Art Building from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Throughout the festival, in the period 30.05.–14.06. TASE ’24 is open every day from 12:00 p.m to 6:00 p.m.
Detailed information about the main part of the exhibition, the satellite program and the opening party can be found in the TASE ’24 program on the website of the Estonian Academy of Arts and on the event’s Facebook page.