“Inside Me, Unveiling Us” at EKA Gallery 17.01.–09.02.2023

Aleyna Canpolat, Andrea Gudiño, Alp Eren Özalp “Inside Me, Unveiling Us” at EKA Gallery on 17.01—09.02.2023

Opening: 17.01 at 4 pm

According to Andy Goldsworthy, we often forget, that we are nature. When we lose our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves. The authors of the exhibition Aleyna Canpolat, Andrea Gudiño, and Alp Eren Özalp come together from different sides of the world Turkey and Mexico and study at EKA in the Urban and Animation departments. In the exhibition “Inside Me, Unveiling Us” they are asking how do we perceive a place, where we feel belonging, that embraces us as who we truly are. Nature tends to create a common roof for foreigners and locals. There are no various borders, languages, or countries. Nature is the only entity, that seems to be embracing us fully.

The exhibition invites the participants to explore connection points between their own identity and nature through physical and audiovisual elements. Each element is a different mixture of textures, animated territories, and anonymous silhouettes. The exhibition provides a periphery for visitors to reflect on their own emotions through different organic elements, words of unpredictable wishes, and shadows of daydreams and ambiance.

Aleyna Canpolat (b.1998) is an architect and designer who is currently studying in the Estonian Academy of Arts in the Urban studies department. She graduated with a MA level in architecture from Yıldız Technical University in 2021. In her creative practice, she is focused on biophilic and sustainable design. Throughout her education, she has curated many exhibitions and group discussions with ‘Mimarlık Bunun Neresinde?’. She has won different awards in several competitions, that she has participated in. 

Andrea Gudiño (b.1993) is a Mexican director, animator, and photographer. Her work is based on the experimentation of mixed media animation techniques such as stop-motion, cut-out, rotoscope, and 2D. She is currently studying in the Estonian Academy of Arts animation MA program. 

Alp Eren Özalp (b.1997) is a Turkish architect and designer who is currently studying at the Estonian Academy of Arts in the urban studies department. He graduated from the architecture department at Yıldız Technical University in 2020. He has worked professionally on urban planning and architecture and was awarded for creating a smart village project, which was then built in Azerbaijan. For this, he developed a design and a way to use wooden products using wood carving techniques. 

Maria-Kristiina Ulas will open her personal exhibition Clue Whizzing from the Left in Hobusepea gallery at 18:00 on Wednesday, January 11th, 2023. Exhibition will stay open until February 6th, 2023. 

“Contingency can be enlightening, a quiet nudging towards the bright side. A fresh opportunity to understand despite the fact that the remains of memory are floating in the void. The vigor of comprehension vividly explodes, clues assist us to take a turn and not to stop, to move on, to change direction, your manner will change with ease and screech, way of life becomes alive, world view will be readjusted. Direct awakening within the flow of clues – a clue from the left, a clue from the right, from the top of one’s head and under the soles of one’s feet. Fresh allusions choose the vibrations of freedom, ripples of light, murmurs of water. Purposeless destiny is constantly being weighed again and again. Why does the devilish suspicion of criminal offence undermine the hollow skulls? Where does the wary fear come from?

Disgusting proliferating foul intolerable reek is belligerently tapping in the left ventricle of one’s mind but the implacable clue is whizzing by from the left and takes you to the awakened fields. Outside political efforts, above, beneath machinations, higher, deeper, there is a silent warm sea rippling inside, and will remain the keeper of all mornings. Clues take us to understandings and every understanding must be confirmed by a trace, otherwise it will disappear into thin air, will be lost in non-existence, will be forgotten and one cannot reach it any more. A human being – an alert beast.”

Maria-Kristiina Ulas

Maria-Kristiina Ulas graduated from the department of graphic art at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1991 while following the footprints of both of her parents – her mother Concordia Klar (1938–2004) and father Peeter Ulas (1934–2008) were well-known Estonian graphic artists.

Already during her academic studies Maria-Kristiina Ulas excelled at her extraordinarily unique drawing – this diverse medium has remained Ulas’s main expressive means until the present day. Maria-Kristiina Ulas’s emergence in Estonian art life in 1990s coincided with the pivotal era of changing paradigms. On one side, her artistic nature fitted well with the mythologicalness and neoexpressionistic powerful figurativeness of the second half of 1980s; on the other side, the borders of art were broadening and new freedom arrived both in formats and techniques. Ulas expanded the borders of drawing as an attribute of expression while powerfully bringing the medium to the fore among big art and giving common sketching, pre-work or study a wider dimension. Maria-Kristiina Ulas’ drawing manner, based on classical drawing, has been always free and improvisational, reminding of the style of Ado Vabbe. Her gigantic and colourful drawings, balancing on the verge of figurativeness and abstraction, immediately caught attention and received acknowledgement. Later, Ulas’s figurative world, charged with playfulness and unconcealed eroticism, has increasingly acquired mysticism and surreal elements. With theatrical downrightness, the artist has developed her unique style of self-mythology while creating startling characters and enchanting loaded compositions where the expressiveness of line prevails over colourful surface.

Maria-Kristiina Ulas’ artwork were first publicly displayed in 1988. Since then, she has held around twenty personal exhibitions as well as participated in several group exhibitions both in Estonia and abroad. For many years, Ulas has been worked as a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts and led several courses outside the institution as well as held drawing actions at the exhibition openings. She is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association (since 1991) and the Association of Estonian Printmakers (since 1992). In 1989–1993 Ulas was a member of Uue Graafika Grupp. She received Kristjan Raud Art Award in 1992 and G Galerii Art Award in 2002. In 2006, Ulas was entitled with the Award of Noted Artist at the 12th Asian Art Biennial. In 2022, she was selected the Graphic Artist of the Year. Maria-Kristiina Ulas’ artwork are part of the collections of the Art Museum of Estonia and Tartu Art Museum.

Reeli Kõiv

Exhibition is supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Vunder Skizze.

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

EKA Contemporary Art MA program invites prospective students to join the Online Open House on Monday, January 30, 2023 at 18.00 EET (local Estonian time). This will be an opportunity to hear more about the program, to meet and ask questions directly from the faculty. 

The Online Open House will be hosted on Zoom, the link will be e-mailed to all registrants 2 hours before the start of the event.

Register HERE

‘One never sees the sun in a dream’ is the solo exhibition of artist Loora Kaubi.

It presents a selection of older sculptural works and paintings, new materials and video work, transformed in two spatial installations. The exhibition opens 12 January 2023 at 7 p.m. in the gallery of the historical sculpture building in Raja.

Kaubi brings together a body of work that deals with a continuous sensation of in-betweenness. At the core lies the practice of lingering: to last for a long time, or the delicate action of slowing down towards an end. When the artist pauses before the end, (and takes this final point out of the picture), her work stands still by tactics to escape the everyday, morbid habits and the impossible, yet intriguing attempt of an eternal sleep. She compares the body with a substance that will decompose as well as compose, actively dissolve, gather and shed the same things off again. What sensations are brought up during a persistent ‘not-doing’, and how can one feed and admire such a process?

The exhibition contains a performance of contemporary dancer Elle Viies. It is curated by Belgian, Tallinn-based curator Laura De Jaeger. The graphic design and visual identity is created by Taylor “Tex” Tehan.

Loora Kaubi (1998) is an artist working in Tallinn. He has acquired her bachelor’s degree in painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts and furthered his education in the sculpture department of the Vienna Academy of Arts. Kaubi’s practice revolves around the (female) body and the societal and social relations related to it. Wandering between the real and the fictional, in his works he approaches life as a spectacle and focuses on creating a scene through which to perform intense emotion. Kaubi has received the weekly prize of the Union of Estonian Young Contemporary Artists and has participated in exhibitions and performances in Tallinn, Narva, Haapsalu, Valga, Vienna and Põlva.

EKA Doctoral School is hosting an online info session about doctoral studies at EKA on February 8, 2023, at 15:00 EET (local Estonian time) . 

Info session provides a good opportunity to hear more about doctoral studies at EKA, available programmes, admission requirements and procedure, etc; also meet and ask questions directly from people behind the Doctoral School and the programmes. The info session will be hosted online over Zoom.

RECORDING OF THE INFO SESSION HERE

The Estonian Academy of Arts offers following PhD level programmes for international applicants:

• Architecture and Urban Planning
• Art and Design
• Art History and Visual Culture
• Cultural Heritage and Conservation

Admission period for international PhD applicants for 2023/2024 starts on February 1st, 2023. Deadline for submitting application is March 31st, 2023.

Admission requirements for PhD programmes can be found HERE.

More information:
Irene Hütsi
Doctoral School coordinator
irene.hutsi@artun.ee

EKA Interaction Design MA programme invites prospective Master’s students to join the online info session on Friday, February 3, 2023 at 16:00 EET (local Estonian time).

Register HERE.

More information about the Interaction Design MA (IxD.ma) programme:

• https://www.ixd.ma
• https://www.artun.ee/ixd
• https://www.facebook.com/IxD.ma

Admissions period starts on the 1st of February 2023 and application deadline is 6th of March 2023.

https://artun.ee/admissions

“Art and the City” – a live action play in Telliskivi Creative City – is inviting you to come and enquire what art and creativity do in a modern capitalist city. How is creativity and art used to make cities of today, who is the creative class and how can one enter the creative city? 

Urban studies and architecture students of EKA address the questions revolving around the role of creativity in a city via an immersive role play, inviting the player to see Telliskivi Creative City through seven different characters’ eyes. How would a retired worker of the former factory see the place today, when the citadelle of a secret factory with its monotonous work has been opened up into a diverse creative village with no walls around? How is it to be an artist in a gallery that doesn’t any more represent the value of art space as a critical force or antithesis but rather acts as a tiny particle in a greater creative soup? Or how could a young designer who recently moved to Estonia enter the area as a creative workforce, not merely a consumer? Etc, etc.

If you’re ready to play, meet us in Telliskivi on Sunday, 18. December between 12 and 3 PM. Come and win with us: there will be wonderful prizes for the best players! 

EKA Animation MA programme invites prospective master’s students to join the programme’s online info session on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 15:00 EET (local Estonian time).

This will be a good opportunity to hear more about the programme and to meet and ask questions directly from the people of animation department – both the teaching staff and the current students.

The online info session will be hosted online over Zoom and the link will be e-mailed out to all registrants 2 hours before the start of the event. (ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/95686410177)

If you would like to attend, please register online through the form below.

Register HERE

More information about the Animation MA programme:

• https://www.artun.ee/animation
• https://www.facebook.com/EKAanimatsioon
• https://vimeo.com/ekaanima

Admissions period starts on the 1st of February 2023 and application deadline is 6th of March 2023.

https://artun.ee/admissions

EKA Design Showcase gala once again brings to the audience the best cooperation projects of EKA students from the past year with companies and public sector organizations. We welcome all current and future cooperation partners of EKA and those interested in future design!

REGISTRATION

Concepts, prototypes and ready-to-go solutions for companies and organizations such as PERH (North Estonia Medical Centre), Thermory, Tallinn City, INVL Eesti, Saku Vald and others will be presented during the presentation by the students of the Faculty of Design of EKA and Design & Technology Futures (joint curriculum of TalTech and EKA). For the first time, the projects created within the framework of LAETUS, the new business cooperation program of the Faculty of Design of EKA, will be presented.

The Estonian Academy of Arts has accumulated a very strong wealth of experience in carrying out cooperation projects over the years. The LAETUS cooperation program launched in 2022 has further expanded this field of activity. The program brings together EKA’s design field courses and business challenges of companies, offering synergy and fruitful cooperation.

According to Agris Peedu, chairman of the board of the long-term cooperation partner PERH, the cooperation with EKA has been very effective: “Not only have we received fresh ideas and useful recommendations for some existing activities, but thanks to EKA students and their supervisors, we have also identified bottlenecks that we have grown too accustomed to. We recommend a similar cooperation to everyone. Not to mention the positive energy that comes with the students and stays with us for a long time.”

Come to EKA Design Showcase and find new knowledge and inspiration on how to take your organization’s products or services to the next level with the help of new generation design and open innovation in cooperation with EKA!

Please register for the event HERE. 

PROGRAMME

16.00 Greetings and introduction. Moderators Urmas Lüüs and Karin Kiigemägi

16.05 – 16.20 Welcoming words by Ruth-Helene Melioranski, Dean of the Faculty of Design 

16.20 – 17.30 Presentations of EKA collaboration projects:

– “Welcome: Easying Hard Times” – Interaction Design MA students and North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH)

– “Journey: Colonoscopy” – Design & Technology Futures MA students and North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH)

– “Patient Referral Pathway” – Design & Technology Futures MA students and North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH)

– “For the Peace of Mind” – Interaction Design MA students and INVL Life Insurance

– “Look Down” – Interaction Design MA students and Tallinn Strategic Management Office

17.30 – 17.45 Coffee break

17.45 – 18.45 Presentations of EKA collaboration projects

– “Growing Area” – Product Design MA students and Thermory

– “BLOB” – Product Design MA students and Thermory

– “Estoplast Lighting Project” – Industrial Product Design BA students and Estoplast

18.45 – 19.00 Coffee break

19.00 – 19.50 Presentations of EKA collaboration projects:

– “Tallinn Quest” – Digital Product Design BA students and Visit Tallinn

– “Dopamine” – Digital Product Design BA students and Visit Tallinn

– “Development of a Pedestrian-Friendly Signage System for the Saku Sports Center” – Industrial Product Design BA students and Saku vald

– “Creation of the Concept of a Mobile Youth Center in the Municipality of Toila” – Product Design MA students and Toila Parish

– “Tallinn Children’s Home House Guide” – Product and Environment Design BA students and Tallinn Children’s Home

19.50 – 20.00 Conclusions and thank you

20.00 Networking, snacks

20.30 EKA building tour

Presentations are in Estonian and English, without translation.

It is possible to participate both on site at EKA (room A101) and watch the broadcast at http://tv.artun.ee/ or on Facebook.

We look forward to hearing from all current and future cooperation partners of EKA and those interested in future design!

Additional information:
Karin Kiigemägi
Enterprise relations and project coordinator of EKA
karin.kiigemagi@artun.ee

Event is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.