Calendar

Mental Vitamin Week is back and happening next week! From November 18–22, we will host various exciting activities to bring some fun and relaxation to the long and tiring school days.

**MONDAY, 18.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Fruit in exchange for your phone
– 12:00–18:00 Sauna in the school courtyard
– Gaming in A300

**TUESDAY, 19.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Health shots
– 12:00–18:00 Sauna in the school courtyard
– Gaming in A300
– Scream room in the ÜE tower
– 19:00 EKAAJU quiz (in the atrium, registration required)

**WEDNESDAY, 20.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300
– Confession room and worry box (5th floor box)

**THURSDAY, 21.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300

**FRIDAY, 22.11.2024**

– Final morning run of the week at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300

On Thursday, 21.11, at 19.00 Yujie Zhou will open their solo show White Shadow at Vent Space, all welcome! 

On Friday, 22.11 at 17.00 they will give an artist talk at EKA in room A302.

The exhibition White Shadows interweaves personal memory and political identity with collective ideologies. Featuring a series of handwoven Jacquard tapestries and video works, the artist Yujie Zhou explores the complex interplay between their autobiographical experiences and systems of discipline. Through these works, Zhou seeks to transform what once symbolized uniformity into something deeply personal and reflective.

White Shadows is centered around the notion of shadow. In Chinese, the etymology of the word photography has it translate as the action of capturing shadows, in contrast to that of drawing with light. It is on this regard that shadows hold great significance in the work of the artist, these are the lens through which they conceive an alternative way of seeing –one symbolizing both erasure and shelter. This duality heightens the tension of pairing an urge to resist with the subtle self-cersorship that is present in/all-throughout their body of work.

Yujie Zhou is a Chinese visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. They navigate performativity and a decoded notion of language through photography, textiles, video, and publishing. Based on the juxtaposition between their nationalist upbringing and their current life, their practice interrogates dominant historical narratives and power structures while reframing collective individuality.

Zhou completed a Master’s Degree in Arts with a Major in Photography and a Minor in Textiles—Materials and Structures at Aalto University in 2023. Selected solo exhibitions include QWERTY at Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland (2023), Four Women at Photographic Centre Peri, Turku, Finland (2023), and White Shadows at Taidekeskus Mältinranta, Tampere, Finland (2024). Group exhibitions include MoA 23 at the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland (2023); Make Me Find You at alpha nova & galerie futura, Berlin, Germany (2023); and Disrupted Narratives at the Singapore International Photography Festival, Singapore (2024). Select awards include the FUTURES Photography Talent 2024 nomination by Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway; the Finnish Art Society’s Young Artist Grant (2023); Shortlist of PhMuseum 2024 Photography Grant’s Main Prize; nominated artist for Plat(t)form 2023 at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland. Selected Residencies include Kone Foundation’s Saari Residency Fellowship (2024); and an 11-month Artist-in-Residence at HIAP (2024).

The workshop seeks to break this taboo by reconnecting poop with nature and fostering multi-sensory engagements with biomaterials to explore more-than-human connections.

November 9 – workshop only for people with chronic gut diseases

November 23 – workshop open to everyone

11.00–13.30

Registration Link

Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen’s new mixed reality production, Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain, premieres on November 14 at the University of Tartu Library and will be open until November 28. This VR experience draws inspiration from materials collected from the public during the installation Held in Human at the EKA Gallery in the fall of 2023.

“Something is changing, I can no longer make sense of what here means, as I increasingly feel that while I am here, I am also always a little bit there. There, where my thoughts are, there where my imagination roams — and not only mine, but someone else’s as well, simultaneously. It is real. I am always inside a body, in this form that makes me visible and touchable; yet I am also always in a space, where no one can see me. It is a space of thought, an invisible space, but also an ever-present network, a movement. I am present, held in human.”

Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain is a mixed reality performance, a collective thought space where linguistic thinking meets the instinctive physique. It is a physical reading experience, a choreography of thoughts that you can experience within your own body using mixed reality glasses. Plug in — let your body and thoughts carry you.

Authors: Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen

Mixed reality solution: Norbert Pape

Sound design: Mihkel Tomberg

Graphic design: Jaan Evart

Room design: Mari Möldre

Photographer: Alissa Šnaider

Producer: Anu Almik, elekrton.art

Premiere: 14.11.2024 at University of Tartu Library

Next performances: 15.-28.11.2024. UT Library is open Mon-Fr 9-21 ja Sat-Sun 12-18

Festivals: 26.-27.10 showing PAD festival Wiesbaden Germany

Supporters: Estonian Ministry of Culture, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn city, Dortmund Academy of Theater and Digitality, Estonian Academy of Arts through the ACuTe project, Erasmus program, VARES Valga Architecture Residency, University of Tartu

The production was developed as part of the ACuTe project, in which EKA is one of the partners.

EKA Museum exhibition “Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Study at the Estonian Academy of Arts”
19.10.–29.11.2024
Open Tue–Sun 12–6pm, free entry
Opening: 18.10.2024 at 5pm

In celebration of the 110th anniversary of the Estonian Academy of Arts, a significant retrospective exhibition has been organised, highlighting a theme that resonates with all who have studied here or are currently students. The depiction of the human figure – through drawing, painting and modelling from live models – has always been a cornerstone of art education, and the Estonian Academy of Arts, along with its predecessors, exemplifies this tradition.

The exhibition of the EKA Museum, titled “Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Study at the Estonian Academy of Arts”, showcases works created in the school’s studios and stored in its archives. This collection includes standing, sitting and reclining nudes, clothed models and figure groups, as well as drawings of hands and feet and other anatomical details. The selection highlights the diverse and varied ways in which the human figure can be depicted, emphasising different approaches and techniques. Academically polished images with intricate backgrounds are presented alongside monumental human representations that challenged the traditional canons at the turn of the millennium. The exhibition features both black-and-white and colour works, where classifying them as drawings or paintings based on technique or medium is no longer significant in this context.

The exhibition primarily draws from the EKA Museum’s collection, although only a small fraction of the works accumulated over the decades could be included. To represent the early decades of the school’s history, additional pieces were sourced from the Art Museum of Estonia and private collections. Figure study has also been a central theme in sculpture. However, since the original collection of the sculpture department has been lost, curatorial efforts were necessary to locate works representing three-dimensional art. Despite being in the minority, sculpture is still represented in the exhibition. Additional works were requested from artists engaged in figure study during the early 21st century to cover the period between the conclusion of the methodological collection of works at the turn of the century and the establishment of the EKA Museum in 2019. As figure drawing has been an integral part of the curriculum across all disciplines at the academy, the selection process aimed to reflect this diversity.

The exhibition features 138 artists showcasing a total of 187 works. The chance to glimpse into the formative years of well-known artists and designers is undoubtedly intriguing, while the masterpieces of lesser-known or unknown creators offer their own delightful surprises. The arrangement of the exhibit enhances this excitement by juxtaposing works not along a traditional chronological timeline, but instead focusing on the harmony and interplay between the pieces.

The artists participating in the exhibition:

Eero Alev, Jüri Arrak, Raivo Behrsin, Britta Benno, Teddy Böckler, Rem Dementjev, Olga Dubrovskaja, Herald Eelma, Jaan Elken, Herlet Elvisto, Merike Estna, Margarita Feofanova, Nikolai Guli, Heikki Halla, Gerda Hansen, Inga Heamägi, Hugo Hiibus, Aleksander Igonin, Ants Jaanimägi, Andrus Johani, Aivar Juhanson, Iris Jurma-Kangur, Sandra Jõgeva, Pille Jänes, Villu Järmut, Heli Jürissaar (Kase), Jüri Kaarma, Katrin Kaev, Catlin Kaljuste, Maria Kallau, Anu Kalm (Anderson), Elin Kard, Gleb Karlsen, Saskia Kasemaa, Alice Kask, Eve Kask, Jüri Kask, Maret Kernumees, Ando Keskküla, Kaalu Kirme, Tiiu Kirsipuu, Raoul Koik, Epp Maria Kokamägi, Ellen Kolk, Luule Kormašova, Nikolai Kormašov, Orest Kormašov, Aimar Kristerson, Mart Krull, Epp Kubu, Viive Kuks, Leili Kuldkepp, Laura Kõiv, Andrus Kõresaar, Tõnis Kärema, Annika Künnap, Allex Kütt, Vello Laanemaa, Heldur Lassi, Pille-Riin Lass, Tõnu Lauk, Emil Lausmäe, Malle Leis, Tea Lemberpuu, Ly Lestberg, Mihkel Liinat, Silvi Liiva, Bruno Lillemets, Ivika Luisk (Kivik-Luisk), Anu Maarand, Aet Maasik, Viktor Madison, Ülle Marks, Vladimir Matiiko, Aarne Mesikäpp, Rein Mets, Gregorio Migliaccio, Peeter Mudist, Maarit Murka, Tõnu Mäsak, Arseni Mölder, Reigo Nahksepp, Mall Nukke, Liisa Nurklik, Lydia Nüüd, Evald Okas, Kaido Ole, Jaan Paris, Ede Peebo, Imbi Ploompuu (Karu), Urmas Ploomipuu, Mari Prekup, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Aapo Pukk, Kaie Pungas, Brenda Purtsak, Laura Põld, Matti Pärk, Katrin Pärt, Liisi Pääsuke, Tiit Pääsuke, Tiit Rammul, Tiina Reinsalu, Uno Roosvalt, Eesi Rosenberg, Peeter Rudaš, Sirje Runge (Lapin), Tõnis Saadoja, Hugo Sepp, Kati Simpson, Piret Smagar, Jaak Soans, Tõnu Soo, Aleksander Suuman, Silja Šergalin, Juri Šestakov, Vladimir Taiger, Mari-Liis Tammi-Kelder, Endel Taniloo, Anne Tapper, Olga Terri, Evi Tihemets, Tiina Tiitus, Ilmar Torn, Margus Tõnnov, Maria-Kristiina Ulas, Peeter Ulas, Anne Vaher, Katrin Vaher, Valentin Vaher, Silver Vahtre, Mall Valk (Sooster), Janika Vesberg, Heldur Viires, Hanna Vinter, Ekke Väli, Eduard Wiiralt, Elisa Margot Winters

Curated by: Reeli Kõiv
Exhibition design and co-curation by: Britta Benno
Graphic design by: Pärtel Eelmere
Assistant:Anna Birgitta Erikson

The exhibition is accompanied by an eponymous catalogue featuring large reproductions of all the displayed works. In addition to a historical overview relevant to the theme, the book is enriched with interviews from drawing instructors Tiit Pääsuke, Matti Pärk, Maiu Rõõmus, Maria-Kristiina Ulas, Ülle Marks and Tõnis Saadoja, discussing the significance and meanings of learning to depict the human figure. These interviews are complemented by an essayistic reflection on figure drawing at the academy by printmaker and drawing instructor Britta Benno. Additionally, recollections of their student years from Peeter Ulas and Herald Eelma, gathered by Jüri Hain, are also republished.

The catalogue is authored and compiled by Reeli Kõiv, the head of the EKA Museum, and includes a foreword by Rector Mart Kalm.

The publication is a bilingual edition that combines both Estonian and English in a single volume, with language editing by Elo Rohult and translation by Epp Aareleid. The 288-page catalogue was designed by Stuudio Stuudio and printed at Tallinn Book Printers.

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.

The exhibition “Joint Double” by Jüri Kermik engages with the dynamics of the design process and its involvement in looking forward and looking back. “It originates from my long-term interest in regional design and my experience of places I consider home, Estonia and Suffolk,” shares Kermik.

In 2017, having settled to live and work in Suffolk, Kermik noticed similarities and differences between Estonian and Suffolk chair-making traditions. The lightweight vernacular chairs, marked with signs of the conditions they evolved from – whether bodgers’ outworking camps in the woods or seasonally operating village workshops, featured variations of the common frame construction. While observing similarities in the construction of these chairs, one unique difference stood out for the designer. Instead of the seat formed by spindles placed between the legs, a typical Suffolk chair has its seat frame jointed to the front legs from above. Kermik’s designs for Suffolk Chair I & II, and the Wedding Chair explore the design opportunities offered by this joint and the thresholds it sets for structural interventions, proportions and ways of sitting.

In parallel with the “Joint Double” project, Kermik started to work on the site of his ancestral farmstead on the Sõrve peninsula in Saaremaa. The process of building a small hut Mikuelu allowed him to experience how the space could be reimagined. “While constructing a new space, I was unearthing the old. Through the processes of digging and moving earth I found buried components of the activities of the inhabitants and evidence of the layout of the site as it had been.”

Tools and objects are connected to land cultivation and farming: plough blades, cowbells, parts of horse bridles, woodworking chisels and rope-making spikes. Some of these unearthed things will be re-used in constructing the new Mikuelu, and some will be presented in this exhibition as an ‘’archaeological toolbox’’.

Compiled and designed by Jüri Kermik
Graphic design: Stuudio Stuudio
Production team: Kai Lobjakas, Ketli Tiitsar, Toomas Übner

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The exhibition is part of the Tallinn Design Festival programme.

We are pleased to invite you to participate in BLACKOUT, an event organised by the Jewellery and Blacksmithing Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the beginning of professional metal art education in Estonia.

Although the name of the university and the department has changed several times over the last hundred years, the fact remains that we have been teaching metalwork at a high level for a hundred years in a row. This is a good enough reason to call together friends from here and abroad to discuss where we have come from and where we are going.

Alongside the exhibition at the Narva Art Residency, a symposium, excursions, and sauna will encourage and initiate the discussions. All these activities are brought under the common title of BLACKOUT.

We do not imply mind-blindness or a serious hangover by this, but rather posing the question of how to arrive somewhere without knowing exactly where you’re going, as the essence of artistic quality lies in capturing the invisible. In discovering something surprising for yourself and others. The fear of being lost vanishes because even without knowing what you seek, you’ll recognize it when you find it.

At the symposium on October 25–26, we will approach the above-mentioned question from three different perspectives: PRACTITIONER, THEORIST, and EDUCATOR. The speakers will explore questions such as:

How do you create a relationship with students that would help them open up and inspire the courage to explore the world? How do I ask the right questions to discover something new and recognize the right things for myself? How do I deal with suspense? How do I maintain the courage to continue searching and working in a situation, where setting too clear goals could be an obstacle?

Speakers: Jorge Manilla (KHIO/NO), Olaf Hodne (KHIO/NO), Erinn M. Erinn (KHIO/NO). Cox (US), Daniel Strandow (HDK Valand/SWE), Siri Tolander (HDK Valand/SWE), Tarja Tuupanen (FI), Jenni Sokura (LAB/FI), Flora Vagi (MOME/HU), Taavi Hallimäe (EKA), Urmas Lüüs (EKA), Sander Haugas (EKA), Taavi Teevet (EKA), Hansel Tai (EE), Liisbeth Kirss (EE), Erle Nemvalts (EE).

Participation in the symposium is free.

The event will be held in English.

Pre-registration is required at the following link: https://forms.gle/6djfdmw41XYnLtXd6

Timetable:

Friday, 25 October

10-12 Narva sightseeing for guests

14-18 presentations

19 Exhibition opening, party

Saturday, 26 October 

11 – 14 presentations

16 Narva sightseeing

Sauna and socialising in the evening

Information about the event will be updated as it becomes available.

Location:
Narva Art Residency (NART)
Joala 18, 20103, Narva

Contact: metall@artun.ee

Exhibition of small-edition books dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the EKA graphic art print studio. 

In 1924, a printing workshop  was opened at the Tallinn Industrial Art School, where Leopold Triumph took up his post as master. Two years earlier (1922), a printmaking department had been established, under the direction of Günther Reindorff until 1943.

For half a century, the face of Estonian book design was shaped by Paul Luhtein, who, after graduating from the Tallinn Industrial Art School in 1930, and after a few years of further training in Leipzig, took up teaching commercial graphics and book design in 1932, a post he held until 1982. Enno Ootsing was then head of the Department and the book studies, with breaks until 2005 (in the meantime, the Department was headed by Aarne Mesikäpp from 1983 to 1988 and Heinz Valk from 1988 to 1989). From 1938 to 1971, typography was taught by the legendary book historian and typographer Hans Treumann. From 2005 to 2023, Aarne Mesikäpp, who taught at the ERKI and the EAA for 55 years, was a master printer and typography lecturer. In the field of book illustration, Vive Tolli, who taught from 1982 to 2005, was a major influence. Urmas Viik, head of the department from 2005 to 2015, gave priority to book illustration.

During the Soviet period, students studied for six years, specializing in either book designer, book illustrator, commercial artist (tarbegraafika), poster designer or printmaker in the third year, with book designer and illustrator being particularly sought after (competitive) The department had its own printing house, but all copies were invoiced and passed through the Glavlit (Glavnaya literatura, in Russian more precisely Главное управление по охране государственного тайн в печати) or censorship. Every evening the master sealed the door of the printing house. 

The division into departments began to disappear in the department in the late 1980s. With today’s curriculum and volumes, the focus of the graphics department is on contemporary art and graphic techniques, but letterpress printing is still popular, and typography and the basics of graphic design are taught. Since 2006, an artists’ book course has been taught by Eve Kask. The binding was taught for many years by Lennart Mänd, from 2023 by Eve Kaaret. With few exceptions, the artist’s books will be produced in one-off editions and in author’s binding based on the idea of the whole. 

This selection of small-edition publications includes examples from the years 1946-2004. The books were produced in the department’s printing house, mostly as coursework or theses by students. There are also group works. There are some books designed by tutors (P. Luhtein, E. Okas, H. Treuman, A. Mesikäpp). Among the teaching works there are works by later prominent artists such as Anu Kalm, Silvi Liiva, Naima Neidre, Enno Ootsing, Urmas Ploomipuu, Andres Tali, Marje Üksine and others.

The book editions in the exhibition range from five to fifty (125 in one case and 300 in another, in most cases between 15 and 25). The student has chosen the literature work, made type-setting, designed and illustrated it himself. In most cases, the illustrations are also printed by the author. The printing techniques used for the illustrations include relief printing (linocut and woodcut), intaglio printing (ofort, aquatint) and lithography. Since the 1950s, the edition has been printed by Mihkel Enn, a master printer, and bound by Elsa Oolma, a typesetter (or a letterpress master), who also taught hand-lettering to students and helped prepare the type-setting for printing. 

The selection was made by Marju Vahter, Head Specialist of the Library, Karin Oolu, Head of the Library, and complemented by Professor Liina Siib, Head of the Graphic Arts Department, and Associate Professor Eve Kask. Exhibition graphics is done by Markus Laanisto.

Text by Eve Kask

Graduated from the Department of Graphic Arts by the degree of Book Design, ERKI, 1984. 

The last student of Paul Luhtein and the first student of Vive Tolli 

Exhibition of the Department of Accessory and Bookbinding
of Estonian Academy of Arts

“Captivating bind” at EKA Library
05.10 – 05.12.2024

Satellite of the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial “The Fine Lines of Constructiveness” Tallinn Applied Art Triennial.

The artist’s books of seven students of the accessories and bookbindings department are completed during the studies. These are stories from the chain of memories of the authors formed into bindings.
When starting the course, the goal was to reach deeper than a mere cosmetic level in binding. As soon as the initial beauty methods no longer worked, the students were forced to look into the book as if into a mirror. Who reflects back from there? We tried to find ways to tell stories through binding, and how to bind the reader. We looked at bookbinding as a bridge between the reader and what is being read, which wordlessly mediates thoughts.

–Urmas Lüüs

Participants in the exhibition:

Anna Abrosimova, Hanna Eliise Lahe, Meeli Kombe, Julia Korovina, Helina Raud and Jürgen Sinnep.

Tutors: Urmas Lüüs and Eve Kaaret 

ENKKL’s “Last Award”
EKA Billboard Gallery 29.08.–08.12.2024
Open 24/7, free
Opening: 29.08.24 at 6 pm

The legendary Weekly Award of the Estonian Young Contemporary Art Union (ENKKL) will have its symbolic end at the EKA Billboard Gallery. The group work was made during ENKKL’s summer school at Muhu. We invite all visitors and other passers-by to put their hands on it. Now you too have the opportunity to be a part of the Estonian art scene. You could be the next star artist! It’s warmer together. Together is better.

Participating artists: Kärt Heinvere, Irma Holm, Erik Hõim, Kadri Joala, Liisa-Lota Jõeleht, Saara Liis Jõerand, Loora Kaubi, Kärt Koppel, Nele Kurvits, Katariin Mudist, Marto Mägi, Eke Ao Nettan, Sandra Puusepp, Kertu Rannula, Johanna Reinvald, Mia Maria Rohumaa, Raahel Rüütel, Inessa Saarits, Lisette Sivard, Sonja Sutt, Rebeca Žukovitš, Aimur Takk, Annabel Tanila, Margaret Tilk, Elo Vahtrik, Mattias Veller

The project is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.

On Thursday, 21.11, at 19.00 Yujie Zhou will open their solo show White Shadow at Vent Space, all welcome! 

On Friday, 22.11 at 17.00 they will give an artist talk at EKA in room A302.

The exhibition White Shadows interweaves personal memory and political identity with collective ideologies. Featuring a series of handwoven Jacquard tapestries and video works, the artist Yujie Zhou explores the complex interplay between their autobiographical experiences and systems of discipline. Through these works, Zhou seeks to transform what once symbolized uniformity into something deeply personal and reflective.

White Shadows is centered around the notion of shadow. In Chinese, the etymology of the word photography has it translate as the action of capturing shadows, in contrast to that of drawing with light. It is on this regard that shadows hold great significance in the work of the artist, these are the lens through which they conceive an alternative way of seeing –one symbolizing both erasure and shelter. This duality heightens the tension of pairing an urge to resist with the subtle self-cersorship that is present in/all-throughout their body of work.

Yujie Zhou is a Chinese visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. They navigate performativity and a decoded notion of language through photography, textiles, video, and publishing. Based on the juxtaposition between their nationalist upbringing and their current life, their practice interrogates dominant historical narratives and power structures while reframing collective individuality.

Zhou completed a Master’s Degree in Arts with a Major in Photography and a Minor in Textiles—Materials and Structures at Aalto University in 2023. Selected solo exhibitions include QWERTY at Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland (2023), Four Women at Photographic Centre Peri, Turku, Finland (2023), and White Shadows at Taidekeskus Mältinranta, Tampere, Finland (2024). Group exhibitions include MoA 23 at the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland (2023); Make Me Find You at alpha nova & galerie futura, Berlin, Germany (2023); and Disrupted Narratives at the Singapore International Photography Festival, Singapore (2024). Select awards include the FUTURES Photography Talent 2024 nomination by Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway; the Finnish Art Society’s Young Artist Grant (2023); Shortlist of PhMuseum 2024 Photography Grant’s Main Prize; nominated artist for Plat(t)form 2023 at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland. Selected Residencies include Kone Foundation’s Saari Residency Fellowship (2024); and an 11-month Artist-in-Residence at HIAP (2024).

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.

–

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

A conference from the series “Studies in Contemporary Culture”, dedicated to Andrus Kivirähk’s novel from 2000 with the Estonian title “Rehepapp ehk November” and its multiple adaptations in various media, will be taking place on November 25th at Tallinn’s Writers’ Building (Harju 1). The conference is organized by the Research Group of Contemporary Estonian Culture in collaboration with the Estonian Writers’ Union.

The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the autumn of 2024 under the general title S*cial – Values in the built realm.

The lecturers will focus on the ongoing shift in planning practice, where considerations other than pure economic viability increasingly play a role in decision-making.

On November 28 Petra Marko will hold the lecture “Meanwhile City – The power of temporary interventions in long-term change”.

Petra Marko is an architect and placemaking expert dedicated to creating people-centric cities and public spaces. She serves as Chief executive of the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava, driving strategic architecture, urban planning and participatory placemaking initiatives to enhance quality of life. She’s known for leading Marko&Placemakers, an urban design practice in London and campaigning to unlock London’s small sites. An advocate for greener cities and active travel, Petra has co-authored VeloCity and Meanwhile City – a best practice and how-to guide for temporary interventions.

Mattias Malk, curator of the autumn lecture series, PhD student and visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, describes the main theme of the lecture series as follows:

Inclusion, the valorisation of social space and the changing role of architects, especially in the public sector, are gaining ground in Europe’s spatial development, but things are still moving slowly in Estonia. So far, our economic growth has been based on environmental degradation and, despite rigid market-driven planning, we are among the weakest in the EU in resource use. However, the foundations of a smarter spatial policy, which is more profitable than profit, are still undefined and untested. 

One of the aims of the lecture series is to define and rehabilitate the word ‘social’ in Estonian spatial policy, including the social responsibility mentioned in the new planned public procurement. All the invited lecturers deal with the issues of space and sociality in their daily work and will share their experiences of the changing role of architects through examples. 

The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture. All lectures are in English and free of charge.

Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee

The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Traditional Christmas Fair of Estonian Academy of Arts takes place 08.12.2024 11:00–17:00 at EKA building Kotzebue 1.

All of the EKA students, workers and alumni are very welcome to sell their products.

PRICE LIST FOR THE SELLER:

EKA students/workers 20€
EKA alumni 50€
Table rent 10€

Last day for registration is 05.11.2024

Information about the participation fee will be sent to those who got to the fair no later than 11.11.2024. On the same day, the EKA Student Council will also announce the designers and artists who will be attending the fair in the description of the Facebook event and consistently on our social media platforms.

REGISTER HERE

On 9 December at 14:00 Hasso Krull will defend his thesis “Cosmic Trickster in Estonian Mythology” (“Kosmiline trikster eesti mütoloogias”).

The public defence will be held in EKA (Põhja pst 7), room A501.
The defence will be broadcast on EKA TV.
The defence is in Estonian.

Supervisors: Prof. Virve Sarapik, (Estonian Academy of Arts), Dr. Margus Ott (Estonian University of Life Sciences)
External reviewers: Prof. Ülo Valk (University of Tartu), Dr. Jaan Undusk (Under and Tuglas Literature Centre)
Opponents: Prof. Ülo Valk, Dr. Jaan Undusk

An Estonian mythology, does it really exist? Yes, but only on one condition: it exists, if the Estonian landscape equally exists. Cosmic trickster is the creator of the Estonian landscape. Therefore, the Estonian landscape is a mythical landscape, appearing and becoming visible to us after we have acquired the mythical narrative.

Until today, the Estonian mythology has been described either following a taxonomic or a concentric model. Neither of them should be underestimated. I propose a new concentric model focusing on the cosmic trickster. He often acts as one pole of a creator pair.

Trickster was already active in a primordial creation time, when everything was still in flux and even the stones were soft. Landscape carries many visual signes of his activity: rocks and stones, sources, rivers and lakes, mountains and valleys. This landscape is different from the modern landscape, that is dominated by a homogenuous space without any mythical dimension.

The treatise is divided into four parts. First part analyzes the concept of the trickster. Second part describes the course of mythologial studies in the 19th Century. Third part explores the creation myth, where the central protagonist is the trickster. Fourth part observes the return of the trickster in literature. Finally there is an exodus, outlining a project of a mythical ecology.

The thesis is available HERE.

Defence Committee: Prof. Andres Kurg, Dr. Anu Allas, Prof. Krista Kodres, Dr. Anneli Randla, Prof. Hilkka Hiiop, Prof. Aigi Rahi-Tamm, Prof. Eneken Laanes