Calendar

You are warmly invited in the exhibition “Respiratory Rate” by Chloé Geinoz and Eleftheria Irene Kofidou opening on the 12th of December at 19.00 in Vent Space.

The artists are interested in the poetical connotations that draw inspiration from the space’s prior use as the ventilation room of the Tallinn Art Hall Gallery (Tallinna Kunstihoone). A week long residency period creates the possiblity to work on site and bind together the room’s history with the artists’ personal experiences and memories. The goal is to build a sound installation that reflects their thoughts regarding controlled airstream, breathing as a right and its violation. The installation consists of a collage of previously recorded sounds and site specific recordings, as well as sculptural pieces intertwined with ready made objects. The artists wish to create a space that enables and encourages interactive relations between the viewers and the installation.

Exhibition is open 12-23.12 and 27-30.12
12-15

Chloé Geinoz (b. 1998) is a Tallinn-based interdisciplinary artist from Switzerland, Fribourg. Her main areas of interest are video-performance, video installation, photography and performance.
The subjects that particularly attract her attention revolve around the occult, spirituality, nature, witchcraft and mystery.

Her work is based on a series of investigations and reflections combining art, literature and science, prior to the production of her video work.

In 2022 she graduated with a BA in Visual Arts in Ecal (Lausanne, Switzerland) and since 2023 she is currently studying Contemporary Art MA at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Eleftheria Irene Kofidou (b. 1995) is a Greek artist based in Tallinn, who is mostly working with installations, performance art and text. Her art practice is often interconnected with poetry and focuses around processes of layering meanings, sociopolitical connotations related mostly to her background and exploring ways that language triggers movement.

Eleftheria obtained an MFA in Visual and Applied Arts from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) in 2021 and she is currently studying Contemporary Art MA in the Estonian Academy of Arts (2023 – ).

You are welcome to the opening of Krista Leesi’s exhibition In Spe. Saint Victor and the Four Dragons at Draakon gallery on Thursday, November 28, at 18.00. The exhibition will remain open until January 4, 2025. 

The exhibition draws inspiration from the martyrdom of Saint Victor, as portrayed on the main altar of St. Nicholas Church in Tallinn. The altar, crafted in the workshop of Lübeck master Hermen Rode, was brought to Tallinn 543 years ago.

“The times are tense, even frightening.
Such that every means and possibility must be put into service.
Why not even mythical creatures and medieval patron saints.
Tallinn’s patron saint was Saint Victor.
He is often depicted on altars alongside Saint George, the dragon slayer.
But Saint Victor did not slay dragons.
Perhaps dragons might protect the knightly saint and us instead?”

Krista Leesi is an artist and designer with a distinctive textile art practice and extensive teaching experience at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She stands out in the field of textile art with her conceptual approach, often exploring the multi-layered meanings of language (as the author of tekkSTIILIkunsti SÕNAraamat). Leesi graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1993 and has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Estonia and abroad since 1992. Her first solo exhibition was in 1999. Leesi’s work encompasses both distinctive unique creations and practical small productions. Her works are part of the collection of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. Her works can be encountered in several museum collections around the world: in Tartu Art Museum, the China National Silk Museum (Hangzhou, China), the Contextile Contemporary Textile Art Biennial (Guimarães, Portugal), and World Textile Art (Miami, Florida, USA).

In 2019, Leesi was awarded the annual award by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia for her work. In 2020, she won the main prize at Contextile, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary textile art biennials. In 2021, her site-specific exhibition Verbarium, which conceptually connected language and visuals, was shown at Tartu Art Museum. Leesi has been named Textile Artist of the Year four times and is a member of the Estonian Textile Artists’ Association and the Estonian Artists’ Association.

www.kristaleesi.ee

The artists gratitude goes to: Heino Prunsvelt, Kadi Kibbermann, Äli-Ann Klooren, Leelo Leesi, Mari-Leen Leesi, Aivi Valliste.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Exhibitions at Draakon gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, and Liviko AS.

On December 6th from 6 pm A-Galerii will open its annual exhibition of Estonian contemporary jewellery, abstract objects and applied art that leaves plenty of room for interpretation. The materials used in the pieces range from various metals, textiles, and glass to organic materials. The exhibition concept embeds people and social practices addressing what kind of role and meanings given to objects play in curating our own personal reality.

A piece of jewellery and an art object is a valuable and layered conveyor of culture. It has symbolised belonging to a social, religious or political group functioning as a bind in between and a force guiding people to behave in a certain way. Therefore, assigning meaning to a physical object can be very efficacious on a personal and group level. There is a possibility to give meanings to an object that it originally did not have without the viewer.

Through objects, one can propose a hypothesis about the creation of the future. This activity enables us to break away from habitual meanings in relation to items and to consciously play around with them. This is proof that the future has not been fixed even though it might seem this way sometimes. The exhibition encourages the viewer to think about realistic and fictional scenarios about the future through dreaming and interpretation. With this practice new ideas and important meanings are being created.

The exhibition is open from December 6, 2024, to January 11, 2025.

You are invited to the opening of Andra Jõgis’ exhibition “Seven Years of Watermelon Sugar” at the Okapi Gallery on December 10th at 6 PM.

The theme of the works in Andra Jõgis’ “Seven Years of Watermelon Sugar” exhibition is time, and how life can only be lived one day at a time. There are no shortcuts or cheat codes, no skipping over Mondays or slowing down Fridays. Every day must be lived one by one, and perhaps therein lies the value of the ordinary. The series on display includes seven works, each composed of approximately 365 individually crafted cubes, meaning each piece contains a year’s worth of glass sugar cubes. 

The title of the exhibition, inspired by Richard Brautigan’s book In Watermelon Sugar, also alludes to Jõgis’ contemplation of repetition and how we fill our days. Is filling one’s life with similar activities or materials — like endless reruns of the same show — a form of dedication or a kind of madness? How much time is reasonable to give away?

Andra Jõgis is a glass artist who has been working in the Glass Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts since 2020, currently as an associate professor and head of the department. She also completed her Master’s degree there in 2014. She regularly participates in exhibitions with her independent works, both in Estonia and abroad. Jõgis’ art is mostly narrative, addressing themes of the everyday and the fragile nature of life. In addition, she is one of the three designers of the brand MSK Glass, which creates functional glass forms.

Thanks: Okapi Gallery, Estonian Academy of Arts, EKA Glass, the Jõgises, Alyona Movko-Mägi, MSK Glass  

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia

 The works of EKA students offer a new look at Estonian design classics at the exhibition Selected Interventions

On the 29th of November, the exhibition Selected Interventions will open at the Estonian Museum of Applied Arts and Design. Selected Interventions is a collection of new works and dialogues within the museum’s permanent exhibitions by the MA students of Craft Studies of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The MA programme brings together people from various backgrounds and with a deep interest in materials and making. The Craft Studies curriculum expands on understanding contemporary crafts and advances professional development, critical expression, and artistic research into materials, processes, concepts and identities. 

Through this unique intervention, the exhibition examines the works of applied art and design classics on display in the permanent exhibitions Collected Works and Introduction to Estonian Design.

Based on their background and interests, each student selected a piece, a series of works, or an artist to have a closer dialogue with. They were encouraged to respond with new pieces based on past techniques, approaches, materials, stories, aesthetics, forms, and more. This project consists of interventions that redirect our attention, study the heritage or add a new layer of meaning. 

“I was intrigued by the opposition of qualities Rait Präät’s work gives; the glass was no longer used as glass but as a layered cake, painting each floor with a different life. Prääts’ work made me question the choices we make about storing memory in our bodies and minds. What do we put in the frame? What do we perceive?” explains Craft Studies student Sofiya Babiy. 

Selected Interventions includes work by Sofiya Babiy, Iohan Figueroa Rojas, Rait Lõhmus, Juulia Aleksandra Mikson, Alyona Movko-Mägi, Katariin Mudist, Maarja Mäemets, Kati Saarits, Hannah Segerkrantz, and Elias Sormanen. 

The project was supervised by Juss Heinsalu and Kärt Ojavee.

Selected Interventions is a satellite exhibition of the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial.

The exhibition tours conducted by students of Craft Studies will take place on 30.11 at 13:00 (in Estonian), 7.12 at 13:00 (in Russian) and 14.12 at 13:00 (in English).

More information: Sandra Nuut, tel: +372 58717871

Follow the announcements at etdm.ee 

Students of the Estonian Academy of Arts will open the exhibition of experimental printed fabrics “Viridis (T)exitus / Green (T)exit” at the Tallinn Botanical Garden Visitor Center on December 16 at 5:00 PM.

17.12.2024–30.01.2025

Kassandra Laur, Eleonor Tingas and Nikolai Keller, 3rd year students of the EKA Textile Design department, will present experimental textile works inspired by processes, rhythms and textures occurring in nature. 

The three artists, having different life experiences and approaches, experiment with nature-inspired processes, rhythms, and textures, telling stories of myths, life traces, and future urban biodiversity. The works on display reflect dialogues between natural forms, urban space, and human creativity. The young artists use experimental techniques to offer their personal interpretation of natural processes. These works offer an opportunity for stillness, opening a door for the discovery of three artistic visions. We welcome you to discover nature along with the authors. 

The experimental printed textiles were created in the course Printed Textile Design 2, supervised by Lylian Lainoja and Piret Valk. Digital printing was done by Kiustuudio. We would like to thank Maria Erikson, head of the EKA graphics workshop, and Taavi Teevet, head of the metal workshop. Graphic design by Diana Tammets

The textile design specialty, which celebrates its 110th anniversary this year, is part of the EKA BA curriculum Fashion, Textile and Accessory Design.

https://www.artun.ee/en/curricula/textile-design/

Kassandra Laur‘s lithography print “Ubinapuud” (Apple Trees) is inspired by an old, wild apple garden where century-old trees still bear fruit despite their great age. Their trunks bear scars from the clotheslines and swings once tied to them. Despite the marks left by people and the passage of time, these trees continue to grow. Sometimes it is the weight of their own heavy load of apples that breaks their branches and boughs. These trees contain a deep vitality, and even if their trunks are sawed halfway through, it may not be the end—they can heal themselves and keep bearing fruit.

For this artwork, old worn sheets have been used, which, like the ancient apple trees, have also seen their share of days. At some point, the sheets and the trees even crossed paths outdoors, when laundry dried on lines strung between the apple trees.

Nikolai Keller’s fictional archaeological rust print “Andalusia Behemoth” describes how archaeological excavations leading up to the construction of the new EKA building were interrupted by a spectacular find – the long-lost and sought-after shroud of the Andalusian Behemoth.

The fossils of the mythical creature found wrapped in cloth shed light on many, yet-unsolved myths and stories in Biblical history. The workers who discovered the remains fell into a state of unexplained and paralyzing nightmares the night after the discovery.

The find raises questions of how it got there. It is believed that a Reval merchant acquired the rare piece of cloth during the time of the Hanseatic League. It is known that valuable goods and treasures arrived here via the League’s trade routes. The cloth has sparked enormous interest, and the Estonian archaeological community and international researchers continue to investigate the case.

The work was exhibited at the opening of the new academic building on EKA Day https://www.artun.ee/en/eka-textile-celebrates-its-birthday-with-the-fictional-archaeological-textile-behemoth/

Eleonor Tingas’s digital print technique “Rhythms and Forms of Life” explores the interplay between nature and urban space, expressing it in a richly detailed and sensitively balanced visual language. The grey and rectilinear forms of the industrial urban landscape gradually merge with the varied and dynamic patterns of wildlife. The restrained geometry of buildings and streets reveal flowing and organic lines that seem to suggest the growth of plants and flowers, evoking the harmony of nature’s invasion and rebirth. The work invites the viewer to experience the contradictions and possibilities, and the rhythms and forms, of the coexistence of nature and man, creating a visually and emotionally affecting whole.

The exhibition is open until the 30th of January 2025.

Opening hours the Visitor Centre of Tallinn Botanical Garden https://botaanikaaed.ee/en/opening-hours/

On Friday, January 3rd 2025 at 17:00 the group exhibition “Abundance” opens on the second floor of T1 shopping center (next to the central atrium).

The exhibition includes works by Emily Greenwood, Ulvi Haagensen, Cecile Hübner, Heleliis Hõim, Erki Kasemets, Sandra Kosorotova, Gary Markle and Sigrid Viir.

“Abundance” delves into the themes of invisible systems in the age of consumerism. By organizing an exhibition in a shopping center, a question of dealing with the existing surrounding arises. How do we work both with and against the overwhelming presence of consumerism and capitalism? The exhibition acts as a space to take time, observe and briefly escape from the sea of information. It aims to slow down visitors and make them reflect on their surroundings.

The exhibition is curated by Piret Arukaevu, Sylvia Burgess, Maia Hellman, Kaur Järve, Marite Kuus and Mariam Mestvirishvili as part of the Curatorial Studies Seminar, led by Brigit Arop, at Estonian Academy of Arts.

Exhibition is open from 03.01–17.01.2025.

Open hours:
Tue–Fri 16:00–20:00,
Sat–Sun 12:00–20:00

Finissage event on Friday, January 17th at 17:00, programming will begin at 17:30.

Information about public programming during the exhibition will be announced on the Facebook event – https://www.facebook.com/events/2404807066531874

Graphic design by Andrew Hill.

The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Academy of Arts, department of Art History and Visual Culture and Craft Studies.

Special thanks to T1 Mall of Tallinn and SUHE bar.

On 20 January at 15:00 Risto Paju will defend his thesis “The Art of Late Medieval Stone Carving in Tallinn: Fragments – History and Interpretation” (“Tallinna hiliskeskaegne raidkivikunst. Fragmendid – ajalugu ja tõlgitsemine”).

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

Supervisor: Dr. Anneli Randla (Estonian Academy of Arts)
External reviewers: Prof. Kersti Markus (Tallinn University), Dr. Erki Russow (Tallinn University)
Opponent: Dr. Erki Russow

Thesis is available HERE.

There are works of art and architecture that draw attention with their exceptional state of preservation, but there are also many that have survived only as fragments. This thesis examines the 15^th– and 16^th-century carved stone fragments from Tallinn, which are located in the collections of the Tallinn City Museum and the Tallinn City Urban Planning Department, as well as in situ within the city.

The main body of the thesis consists of published articles, each focusing on a selected fragment and aiming to reconstruct its original whole based on existing data, and place it into its historical context. The final part of this thesis discusses the exhibition of fragments in the Carved Stone Museum, which opened in 2016 under the Tallinn City Museum, and suggests approaches for future exhibitions. The analysis is based on the studies by Jacqueline Lichtenstein and Cesare Brandi concerning the relationship between the fragment and the whole.

Defence Committee: Prof. Hilkka Hiiop (Head of the Committee), Dr. Anu Allas, Prof. Krista Kodres, Prof. Juhan Maitse, Prof. Kurmo Konsa

EKA Design Showcase will take place on January 23, 2025.

For the eighth year, we are celebrating the best collaboration projects of Estonian Academy of Arts students with companies and public sector organizations. All EKA cooperation partners and future design enthusiasts are welcome.

Register for the event here

The presentation will feature innovative product and service concepts, prototypes and ready-made solutions created by EKA Faculty of Design students over the past year for companies and organizations such as Bank of Estonia, Ministry of Finance, Granitop, City of Tallinn, etc.

The projects to be presented have grown out of the EKA Faculty of Design’s entrepreneurial collaboration program LAETUS, which brings together fresh ideas from a new generation of designers and challenges from companies and public organizations.

The most impactful and innovative projects will also be awarded.

You are welcome to the Design Showcase and gain new knowledge and inspiration on how to take your organization’s products or services to the next level in cooperation with EKA through new generation design and open innovation.

PROGRAM
(The exact program will be announced soon)

The approximate schedule is as follows:

14:00 EKA house tour (pre-registration)

15:00 Exhibition opening in the lobby (photo wall, media, interviews)

16:00 Presentations of collaboration projects

19:00 Approximate end of the event

The presentations will be in Estonian and English, without translation.

It is possible to participate both on site at EKA (room A101) and watch the broadcast at EKA TV.

Video reminder from last year’s Design Sowcase gala