SISU 2024 – Time Capsule — Estonian Academy of Arts

SISU. Poster: Anna Kaarma

SISU is a major event in the field of Estonian interior architecture and spatial design, which deals with topics related to interior architecture. The symposium has become a meeting place for recognized theorists and practitioners in the field of (interior) architecture from all over the world. This year’s SISU will take place from the 13th until the 20th of June in the premises of the National Archives film archive in Pelgulinn. The focal point of SISU is an exhibition and the accompanying symposium, which will take place on 13th of June at 5.00 p.m. The title of this year’s exhibition … And Nothing is Forever refers to the question of temporality in spatial design. Participants from all over Europe were asked to open up the current state of their profession through one artefact that was to be sent to Tallinn with the smallest size box of the international postal service. Both found objects and works created especially for this event will be on display at the symposium. However, the participants had to take into account the fact that after the end of the exhibition they wouldn’t get back their works. The objects will be put back in the boxes and they will remain in the building as a unified time capsule.

The curators of the Time Capsule project, Aet Ader, Karin Tõugu and Pavle Stamenovic, invited 100 individuals and offices from Estonia and abroad to participate in SISU this time, and half of them responded with an artefact. Among the participants are interior architects, architects, designers, artists, urban activists, material researchers, furniture makers, creative researchers as well as performance artists, all of whom have come into contact with the field of interior architecture in one way or another. Attempts have been made to capture the spirit of the era and the profession both through text-based manifestos and ephemeral mock-ups.

In the exhibition, the artefacts enter into a dialogue with the cells of the Ristiku 84 building, which was built as a prison for the Tallinn garrison in the 1950s. It is a unique horseshoe-shaped prison, which reflects the 18th century English enlightener Jeremy Bentham’s idea of a penitentiary as a panopticon. Although the neoclassical prison underwent a thorough renovation in the 1990s when it was converted into an archive, the cells on the first floor were left intact. Films have been shot in these rooms, and architecture enthusiasts have been able to get to know the house as part of the annual Museum Nights, but the house is unknown to the general public. It may happen that it will stay that way, because it is not known what the state will do with the building after the Film Archive moves out. It is not a listed building, moreover, the building is in poor condition, has a somewhat tainted history and is located on a valuable plot. Based on current practice, the entire complex – along with the “buried” SISU 2024 time capsule – is threatened with demolition. But is demolition and building from scratch the kind of spatial culture that representatives of the profession want to see themselves – this question will be answered at the exhibition and the symposium, where all participants will have their say.

The SISU exhibition open at 3 p.m on the 13th of June. At 4 p.m there will be a guided tour in the Film Archives building led by its director Eva Näripea. The symposion will take place from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. The exhibition is open from the 14th to 20th of June, Mon-Fri 12 p.m to 3 p.m.

SISU is kindly supported by the Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Culture, Film Archive of the National Archives of Estonia and the Estonian Association of Interior Architects. In addition to the curators, Gregor Taul and Annamari Nael from the EKA Department of Interior Architecture and graphic designer Anna Kaarma belong to the organizing team of the symposium.

Initial participants list:

45 degrees (Greece/Germany) – https://www.forty-five-degrees.com/

Hanna Loora Arro

Ljubica Arsic (Serbia/Switzerland) – https://ljubicaarsic.com/

Masayo Ave (Japan/Germany) – https://www.masayoavecreation.org/

Jean Jacques Balzak (France) – https://www.instagram.com/jeanjacquesbalzac/

Laurens Bekemans (Belgium) – https://bcmaterials.org/

Katarina Bonnevier (Sweden) – https://mycket.org/

Janka Csernak (Hungary) – https://mome.hu/en/people/janka-csernak

Aleksandr Delev (Germany) – https://www.aleksandrdelev.com/

Davor Eres (Serbia) – https://ifdt.bg.ac.rs/dt_team/eres-davor/?lang=en

Failed Architecture (Holland) – https://failedarchitecture.com/