SAAL Biennale 2023: “Held in Human” at EKA Gallery 21.08.–13.09.2023

Taavet Jansen, Liis Vares „Held in Human“
21.08–13.09.2023, Tue-Sat, at 12.00–18.00
Opening: 21.08, at 18.00
EKA Gallery, Kotzebue 1

Join us for the exhibition “Held in Human” opening on August 21 at 18.00! The exhibition and accompanying events are part of SAAL Biennaal programme.

“Held in Human” is a performative installation where one tiny idea is made to sprout and can be fed with everything that one freshly born should know and experience. This growing idea is safe and warm in the gallery, like in a mother’s womb. The audience can manipulate the concept during its growing period, visit it at EKA Gallery, participate in the tours and virtual ultrasound examinations, and see traces of other people’s interventions.

The authors delve into how meaning is created, and responsibilities are assumed within a transient community, exemplified by a collective art project. The team constructs a metaphorical tunnel, likened to an umbilical cord, bridging the gap between the virtual and the tangible realms. Once the mist of artistic creation clears, this conduit enables everyone, irrespective of their geographic position or connection to ‘reality,’ to interact and connect with each other.

“You enter the exhibition hall like a body cave; the actions only express treachery. One and all-determining meaning is sought in the entrails.” – Ene Mihkelson

Events:
21.08, at 18.00 – exhibition opening
24.08, at 18.00 – exhibition tour
25.08, at 22.00 – Liisbeth Kala, Germo Toonikus “Making Sense”
30.08, at 16.00 – “Bodystorming”

Language is not a problem. More information: https://saal.ee/en/performance/held-in-human-1823/

Liis Vares is a choreographer and artist. At the center of her practice is the contemporary body. Attention is her ‘dancer’ with whom she dances in the black box, white cube, and on the grayscale online platform. She plays with borderlines between physical and mental, between personal and social. By following her research question: how does it feel/what does it mean to be in a body, she is diving more and more into transmedial spheres of art and being.

Taavet Jansen is an innovative artist and creative researcher specializing in digital and experimental performing arts. He co-founded the art collective e⁻lektron, is a lecturer at the UT Viljandi Culture Academy, and is a doctoral student at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Traditionally working within the confines of black box theater, Jansen’s recent work has expanded into diverse digital platforms, reflecting his evolving interest in the intersection of art and technology.

Authors, directors: Taavet Jansen, Liis Vares
Light designer: Jari Matsi
Sound and video designer: Taavet Jansen
Dramaturgs, choreographers: Liis Vares, AI
Performers: Germo Toonikus, Liisbeth Kala
Software developer, web designer: Kristjan Jansen
Producer: Kati Saarits
Co-producers: EKA, e⁻lektron, ACuTe (co-funded by the European Union)

Persuading Hard Matter

Sophia Hallmann, Loora Kaubi, Mattias Veller, Oliver Wellmann

15.07–10.08.2023

Opening 14.07 at 6 pm

Join us for the exhibition Persuading Hard Matter opening on 14.07, 6 pm at EKA Gallery! The entrance to the exhibition is via Kotzebue street.

The metaphor of “softening stones” (kive pehmeks rääkida) conveys the idea that a person is able to affect or manipulate even the most resistant and solid objects, much like speaking can lead to an emotional breakthrough or change.

In this exhibition, the artists found common ground in dealing with what is larger than themselves: be it phenomena that go far back in time or those that are situated in the minds of groups. Stones can be viewed as the embodiments of still-enduring old ideas. Some of them have since eroded into the dust of prehistory, others still stand like monuments. As time has passed, many have become burdens, but they are often too heavy to cast off of our collective shoulders. Systems of belief have learned to resist change by cultivating delusions in the minds of their believers.

In Sophia Hallmann’s work “Hyperstimuli”, sugar has been transformed into glass-like thorns. Her installation juxtaposes the fragility and sweetness of the material with the prickliness of the thorn shape. These contrasting aspects evoke the concept of sweet pain. Appealing also to the senses of taste and touch, the work deals with the complex relationship between pleasure and discomfort. Isomalt sugar has been transformed into a seemingly luxurious glass-like object. Because both the branches and sugar are organic, they will eventually decompose, breaking the illusion of eternal security that luxury creates.

Persuasion is a tool for shaping reality. It can be used to create an illusion of safety, which is a delusive contentment. Loora Kaubi’s work addresses the domination of a patriarchal system through violent architecture. In her installation, Kaubi performs a contorted body walking in bridge position towards the viewer, suggesting the mental damage done by conforming to oppression. In “Mind and hand follow an evil path” objects combined with choreography are used to reflect on feelings of hostility and discomfort. Is it the outside world that one must be protected from or should we protect the outside from the world within? The fences come across as material representations of the fear that is omnipresent for anyone not standing safely at the top of the power hierarchy.

On the topic of domination, the practice of storytelling can be seen as a tool that liberates from the burden of having no voice. It encourages us to claim the right to be heard and express things as we desire them to be, under the guise of objectivity. Oliver Wellmann’s work circulates around mythic traditions, exploring their controversiality. The work „Raunen (Fires)“ stems from the ongoing performance cycle “Raunen” (ger. ‘whispering the truth’), in which dark rural worlds blend with elements of the auto-fictional. Hay is a material that often self-ignites, eventually causing major fires.

Another grand story is the mythic narrative of the nation, which looms over the individual like a massive rock. Mattias Veller expresses frustration at having to accept it and all of its inconsistencies. Individually, he is unable to coax the rigid national mythos to soften, so he decides to turn the tables. In “The Donkey in Estonia” he demonstrates the absurdity of the ways in which collective identity is shaped. He is interested in how belief works and how to fool the gullible.

The works in “Persuading Hard Matter” can be seen as the artists’ interpretations of the tensions between themselves and overwhelming forces. Be it acceptance, toleration, protest or domination, some kind of persuasion always occurs. Its effectiveness can never be known in advance.

​​Sophia Hallmann (b. 1995) lives and works in Berlin, where she studies sculpture and installation at the Berlin University of Arts. In her work she deals with different moulding techniques and casting processes, where the relationship between the depicted object and the material used plays an important role. Often her works evoke a sense of tension with the human body. During her Erasmus exchange at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Sophia Hallmann participated in the Young Sculptor Award Exhibition 2023 at the ARS Project Space and won the 3rd prize. In addition, she has participated in several group exhibitions in Berlin and received a scholarship from the Tutsek Foundation.

Oliver Wellmann (b. 1991) is an artist living and working in Berlin who is currently studying at the University of Arts Berlin. His artistic practice interlocks internal sources with external ones or those that have frequently been abandoned. The imagery in his work distinctly revolves around rural areas, folkloric traditions and spiritual empowerment such as witchcraft. Oliver’s artistic exploration of witchcraft in a contemporary context raises questions in a society that thirsts for meaning and spirituality, but where both are simultaneously classified as vanishing phenomena. In 2023 he exhibited extracts of the performance cycle „Raunen“ in Iceland and will continue to do so in Estonia, followed by Denmark in the fall.

Loora Kaubi (b. 1998) is an artist working in Tallinn. She holds a BA degree from the Estonian Academy of Arts’ Fine Arts department and did part of her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. She has also attended Casa Lü residency in Mexico City. Kaubi’s practice revolves around the (female) body and the societal relations and power structures that are involved with it. Wandering between the real and the imaginary, in her work she approaches life as a spectacle and focuses on creating a scene through which to perform intense emotions. Kaubi has been awarded the Artist of the Week Award of the Estonian Young Contemporary Art Union and has participated in exhibitions and performances in Tallinn, Narva, Haapsalu, Valga, Põlva, Vienna and Mexico City.

The recurring topics in Mattias Veller’s (b. 1998) artistic practices are physical labour and the relationship between human and material. Conceptually, he is rather minimalistic and technically he is precise, often applying time-consuming manual approaches. Veller is currently most interested in collective consciousness and history. He has been awarded the Artist of the Week Award of the Estonian Young Contemporary Art Union. His works have been shown in group projects in the ARS Project Space and Uus Rada Gallery (2023), EKA Gallery (2022) and in a duo exhibition in Infinite Life Gallery (2021).

Supported by: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Student Council of UdK Berlin, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Tallinn

The artists would like to thank: Ulvar Kaubi, Saara Liis Jõerand, Elss Raidmets, Patrick Zavadskis, Mirje Veller, Riina Veller, Karl Linnasmägi (OÜ NovaElement), Valge Kuup OÜ

Each year, the Estonian Academy of Arts Research and Development Office, in conjunction with the Tallinn Strategic Management Office, holds an applied research and development projects competition to motivate the Academy’s members to apply to a greater extent the results of their academic and research work in the public, business and third sectors; to increase the quality and extent of knowledge services provided by the Academy to society and businesses and to raise public awareness of the application of the Academy’s know-how in the economy and society.

The author(s) of the best project are awarded 1000€. If numerous outstanding works are submitted for the competition, additional work(s) will be awarded.

The competition is open for EKA’s students, whose course or graduation project has reached the stage of developing an applied output, i.e. the results of the work can be applied in businesses or other organisations. The competition welcomes applied research or projects by all employees and researchers.

The works must be completed between 01.09.2022–31.08.2023.
To submit a project to the competition a completed form together with additional materials must be sent to koostoo@artun.ee no later than 14 September 2023. The e-mail addresses of all authors of the work must be included among the e-mail recipients.

See last year’s winners HERE.

Materials for applying:

Procedure for Competition of Applied Research and Development Works

Submission form

On 30 June at 5 pm the group exhibition “Through fog and stones”, with works by Katarina Kruus, Liina Leo, Eugenio Marini and Ingrid Helena Pajo, will open in the monumental gallery of the Tartu Art House.

In the exhibition, the artists will regather to weave their creative journeys into one living and breathing organism. As a follow-up to the exhibition projects “Roaming” (ARS Kunstilinnak, 2022) and “DOKKING Station” (Vent Space, 2021), this joint project is reaching into blurred intervals, into the mist.

Fog, a cloud of suspended water droplets, reduces the transparency of the air. Fog as an image of obscurity can be seen as a confusing factor, as a phenomenon that obscures one’s view. At the same time, there is also potential hidden in the fog: an opportunity to hide and let thoughts find shape, like in a cosmic cloud in which stars are born.

“Through fog and stones” opens these intermediate areas and hiding places, in which one can be away or can become. These places may also be states, movements in which everything stands still. The blink of an eye between exhalation and inhalation. Moments when the old skin is falling off, but new skin has not yet begun to grow. Staying in an in-between state can be both stimulating and stagnating, glowing like light and as solid as stone.

Ingrid Helena Pajo (b. 1996) explores original textile technologies through gathering and weaving. What she finds form an integral part of this journey of discovery, highlighting the importance of the journey and the process. She is fascinated by the potential of material arts to make sense of the experience of human life. In 2021, Pajo graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a specialisation in textiles (MA) and was awarded the title of young textile artist of the year by the Estonian Textile Artists´ Association that same year.

Eugenio Marini (b. 1995) is an artist from Rome who graduated in fine arts from the Liceo Artistico Ripetta, studied sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma and worked with several artists in Italy and abroad. He resides alternately in Estonia, Italy and Greece, and works in sculpture and installation, using mostly found objects and materials.

Liina Leo (b. 1993) combines several media of contemporary art in her work, primarily dealing with the exploration of hostile space and today’s alienating environment. She is a graduate of Central Saint Martins in Contemporary Photography, London. She has previously participated in and organised several exhibitions in Estonia and abroad, for example at the Unit1 gallery in London, and the EKA gallery and VENT space in Tallinn, and has participated in the Bauhaus Fest in Weimar, Germany and the YTAT triennial in Lodz, Poland.

Katarina Kruus (b. 1995) is a multidisciplinary artist-designer who studies, observes and mediates the transformation of materials from one state to another. She focusses on biomaterials and natural pigments, while thinking about desirable future landscapes. She graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a specialisation in textiles (BA) and is currently obtaining a master’s degree there. In addition, she has studied at the Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art.

Graphic design: Johanna Ruukholm

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

The exhibition will be open until 30 July.

Exhibition “Wälljapanek” by the students of the Department of Graphic Arts opened at Aparaaditehas Balcony Gallery on the June 15th.

“Dear compatriots! Let us travel back 150 years in time. One might think that it no longer concerns us in any way, but how we tell history TODAY and what we tell about it affects us more than we might think. This is not a museum, but an exhibition. The display of the works of eight artists introduces those lands of the Estonian national awakening that have not been nurtured since then. The awakened flowers of the meadow can confidently raise their heads towards the sun and sing themselves visible through their creativity!”

Participating artists: Johanna Rannu, Kärt Heinvere, Eleri Muhkel, Nils J. Rammo, Lily Tilk, Nana Schilf, Pavel Dodatko, Helena Pass.

The exhibition will be on display at Aparaaditehas Balcony Gallery (rõdugalerii) from 15.06.23-09.07.23 and open from Wed-Sun from 12pm – 6pm.

Visiting the gallery is free of charge.
The Balcony Gallery (rõdugalerii) is located above the Aparaat restaurant.

The gallery can be accessed from door no. 7 both through the Fahrenheit 451 book room and directly from the second floor.

On June 15th at 6pm we invite you to EKA Graphic Art students exhibition “Wälljapanek” opening at Aparaaditehas Balcony Gallery.

“Dear compatriots! Let us travel back 150 years in time. One might think that it no longer concerns us in any way, but how we tell history TODAY and what we tell about it affects us more than we might think. This is not a museum, but an exhibition. The display of the works of eight artists introduces those lands of the Estonian national awakening that have not been nurtured since then. The awakened flowers of the meadow can confidently raise their heads towards the sun and sing themselves visible through their creativity!”

Participating artists: Johanna Rannu, Kärt Heinvere, Eleri Muhkel, Nils J. Rammo, Lily Tilk, Nana Schilf, Pavel Dodatko, Helena Pass.

The exhibition will be on display at Aparaaditehas Balcony Gallery (rõdugalerii) from 15.06.23-09.

07.23 and open from Wed-Sun from 12pm – 6pm.
Visiting the gallery is free of charge.

The Balcony Gallery (rõdugalerii) is located above the Aparaat restaurant. The gallery can be accessed from door no. 7 both through the Fahrenheit 451 book room and directly from the second floor.

On Friday, the 16th of June, at 17:30, MARTYN ROBERTS, the founder of Fashion Scout, will be giving a lecture at EKA (room A 501). The lecture is part of the Transform4Europe Week program.

Over the past 17 years, Martyn has developed Fashion Scout into one of the world’s most recognised and acclaimed independent platforms for international fashion designers, and the largest independent platform at London Fashion week under Martyn’s direction, Fashion Scout has also delivered showcasing events and Business Accelerator Programmes in UK, France, Estonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, Armenia, Kenya, Sri Lanka and China.

The masterclass, titled BRAND POSITIONING AND IDENTITY, BUILDING VALUE AND BRAND COMMUNICATIONS, will explore how emerging fashion and accessories brands can build their brand identity, creating value for their clients and communicating this in crowded media scene. Martyn will delve into how emerging brands have successfully developed their brand positioning, how to identify target markets and how to price their designs. This is a subject he has delivered and discussed at leading universities and fashion weeks around the world.

The panel discussion “Reflections on the Act of Improvement in the Context of Sustainability” within the Transform4Europe week will be conducted by Marta Konovalov, Maris Taul and Anna-Maria Saar.

The open discussion focuses on how remediation can promote sustainability and circularity.

In the discussion round, the audience is invited to discuss their role in the relationship with textiles and clothing — are we consumers, owners and wearers or are we in a nurturing relationship?

The discussion round will take place in EKA room B511, on June 15 from 15:00 to 17:00.

Human-centred design alone is no longer enough. To deal with the wicked problems of the 21st century and beyond, we need to explore new ways of building empathy and igniting creativity. 

Join us for our graduation project showcase and witness the outcomes of twelve designers’ half-a-year journeys as they explored various challenges and addressed sustainable development goals by pushing the limits of what interaction design can be.

SHOWCASE

At Yanu Robot Bar, Rotermanni 14

Open daily 7–10 June

Opening party 7. June at 19:00

Join the talented students behind the work and their mentors, play around with the prototypes and enjoy drinks, music and a night full of inspiration!

PROJECT PRESENTATIONS

At EKA Main Auditorium, Põhja pst 7

Thursday, 8 June

Interactions within Ourselves

9:10 Alma Yareny Duriez Urías: Fiction of our dreams as a tool for collective imaginarium

10:00 Katrin Kirsikka Janelle Koskela: Wear my anger

10:50 Pietro Ercolino Vizzadelli Barcucci: A monkey in a spaceship

Interactions with People and Services

12:30 Natsumi Nonaka: Discursive Design for Critically Embodying Gendered Experiences in Japan’s New Graduate Recruitment Practices

13:20 Quinn Darby Feller: Mending Relationships: Repairing garments through playfulness and collaboration

14:10 Helen Staak: Supporting cardiology patients to be active participants in their communication and treatment process at the II Cardiology Department in North Estonia Medical Centre

Friday, 9 June

Interactions with Products

9:10 Görkem Bozkurt: Trinteract—an Open-source 3D Input Device for Navigating Digital Spaces

10:00 Thomas Hartnell: HempCentric—From Hemp Fields to Green Builds

10:50 Jakob Päll: Ordinary drives in extraordinary ways—How to enhance the experience of a daily commute drive with a smart scenario for a Volvo car?

Interactions with Systems

12:30 Külliki Kesa: Estonian Packaging Design Guide—Creating Meaningful Interventions with the Help of Systemic Design

13:20 Paulina Juárez Badillo Chávez: The paradox of online identity verification

14:10 Sigmund Abou Chrouch: Uncovering biases in design research through Experiential Narratives

Come, join us in Yanu Robot Bar for the showcase, and in EKA for two days of inspiring presentations and discussions and learn about the latest trends in interaction design. 

FB: 

https://fb.me/e/3HzHy6lcp