Exhibitions

Edith Karlson (EKA Sculpture and Installation BA and Contemporary Art MA) has created the scenography for Hanna Kritten Tangsoo and Sigrid Savie’s show “COWBODY/ Oh wow, it’s you!”, which will be premiered on December 5 at Kanuti Gildi SAAL.

COWBODY/ Oh wow, it’s you! engages with shifting focus from extraordinary to the habitual. Bringing together expectations and outcomes, it smoothes into a world where intimacy is exercised from a distance and sometimes only half a sentence is just enough. Sigrid and Hanna Kritten invite the audience to witness a hotpot of dance, sculpture, music and fitness trampolines where in a form of self-defense two bodies enjoy finding the struggle, or struggle to find joy.

Two rather young women. The voice between their thin lips sounds incredibly low. Their seemingly fragile, passive bodies gasp with intensity. They do not offer services but serve. Serving paradoxes, transformations and power. They are self-regulating, self-regenerating. Concrete and figurative. In life-size. They surprise and are surprised. They whisper roars. They play with domesticated forms – crawling, skipping – making the bushes go upside down. 

A very daily routine of believing in a moment where everything will be just fine. Belief that is somehow holding everything loosely together. You are a subject to forces you cannot understand that drive you apart. You are a real person. Don’t worry. The oxygen is flowing. So now you can finally let yourself go, can’t you?

You are maybe always on my mind.

Hanna Kritten Tangsoo is a Berlin-based choreographer and lighting artist. She studied dance at Viljandi Cultural Academy 2011-2014 and graduated BA Dance, Context, Choreography Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz/ HZT Berlin 2014-2017. During her studies at HZT she started to work as a theater technician at the university and thus came into contact with lighting design. In 2021 she participated in the ETC Electronic Theater Controls Ltd Fred Foster Student Mentorship Program International branch program. Hanna Kritten is one of the co-founders of Suddenly, a performing arts collective based in Berlin. Since 2017 Hanna Kritten has been a freelance artist in both dance and lighting.

Sigrid Savi is a freelance performing artist based in Berlin and Tallinn. She graduated choreography/dance teaching at Viljandi Culture Academy 2015. She has presented her first solo work Imagine There’s a Fish (Sōltumatu Tantsu Lava) in Glasgow, Riga, Berlin, Hammerfest, Kiev, Nuremberg and Vilnius. Savi presented her second solo work Pushing Daisies (Kanuti Gildi SAAL) at the International performing arts festival SAAL Biennaal 2019. Savi has collaborated with Jon Konkol on not this pillow fight in New York (Panoply Performance Lab) and Berlin (grüntaler9) and with Edith Karlson on Let’s get lost I know the way (Sōltumatu Tantsu Lava, Tallinn Art Hall) at Tallinn Art Hall.

Choreography: Hanna Kritten Tangsoo, Sigrid Savi
Music, sound design: Markus Daßau
Scenography: Edith Karlson
Dramaturgy: Ruslan Stepanov
Lighting Design: Hanna Kritten Tangsoo
Project management: Maarja Kalmre
Technical support: Henry Kasch
Co-producing: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Hanna Kritten Tangsoo, Sigrid Savi
Supported by: Fonds Darstellende Künste aus Mitteln der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen von NEUSTART KULTUR Germany, Cultural Endowment of Estonia
Special thanks to: Heneliis Notton

Language no problem

Premiere on December 5th 2022 at Kanuti Gildi SAAL

Performance on December 6th will be followed by an artist talk led by Kai Valtna

Urban Studies will host a zine launch on Tuesday, December 6th at 7 p.m., presenting the final outcome of Urban Studies’ Studio 3. 

This semester, the students of the second year of Urban Studies have been dealing with the theme of “urban nothing”. What disappeared in this case is “the pizza from the box”, and a non-zine has been materialised, featuring individual contributions, inspired by various urban voids.

To celebrate the last studio ever of MUR21, Urban Studies Department is hosting a launch event to give everyone a taste. 

The boxes will be the first to inhabit the new “EKA Zine Library” – if you have any laying around that you might wanna add to the archive, bring it with you. 

Studio 3 was taught by Helen Runting and Leonard Ma.

Contributions by Nora Soo, Paul Simon, Jarþrúður Iða, Nabeel Imtiaz, Luca Liese Ritter, Christian Hörner, Carl-Magnus Meijer, Paula Veidenbauma

December brings an opportunity to experience, in an exhibition format, works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects: every day there will be a fresh crop of university students’ works on display in the gallery.

Works in contemporary art, prints, installation, sculpture and painting curricula will be on display. On each morning of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

SCHEDULE

1.12. Drawing, supervisors Matti Pärk, Maiu Rõõmus

2.12. Drawing, supervisor Eero Alev

3.—4.12. Scenography, supervisor Mark Raidpere

5.12. Drawing, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja

6.12. Drawing, supervisor Britta Benno

7.12. Photography, supervisors Annika Haas, Kadri Otsiver

8.12. Photography, supervisor Taavi Piibemann

9.12. Photography, supervisor Kalle Veesaar

12.12. Graphic art, supervisors Liina Siib, Eve Kask, Maria Erikson, Len Murusalu, Martinus Daane Klemet, Viktor Gurov

13.12. Graphic art, supervisors Kadi Kurema, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Aarne Mesikäpp, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar

14.12. Painting, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja, Mart Vainre

15.12. Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Mihkel Maripuu, Jaan Toomik

16.12. Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Alice Kask, Mart Vainre

17.12. Sculpture and Installation, supervisors Taavi Talve, Laura Põld

19.—22.12. Contemporary Art, supervisors Anu Vahtra, Jaan Toomik, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, John Grzinich, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Marge Monko, Taavi Piibemann, Eve Kask, Maria Erikson, Kristi Kongi, Sirja-Liisa Eelma

Vent Space Gallery
Opening of the exhibition on November 26, 5-8 p.m.

The joint exhibition of Brit Kikas and Dana Lorên Vares looks at shedding the skin as a constant rebirth. Through repetition, jewelry art and graphics come together, bringing to the viewer tactile changes that form endless chains and patterns.

“There was one girl of us

We talked a lot among ourselves

We had no brothers or sisters, and neither did our father and mother

We didn’t grieve very often

Sad evil calls for beating

Besides, we knew that the parents are alive, they are hidden in a secret bunker made in the forest

We lacked upbringing, so to speak

We didn’t give anyone up

Two burning spots melted under our feet every spring

Only later did I realize that I live in the singular”

-Ene Mihkelson

Brit Kikas (1997) – He is a Master’s student of Contemporary Art of the Estonian Academy of Arts and is currently on exchange studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Finland. In 2022, Kikas was the co-curator of the youth exhibition “Slow maneuvers” of the 18th Print Triennale in Tallinn at EKKM, and in 2021 he organized his first solo exhibition “Corpora Prima” at Positiiv gallery. Previously, Kikas has participated in several group exhibitions, such as “Soft Narratives” (2020), “Spring Exhibition” (2021) in the Kunstihoone gallery. In addition, Kikas has also participated in several international group exhibitions “Book” (2021) at Kaapelitehda in Helsinki, “Blended Intensive Project” (2022) at Neuer Kunstverein Wien in Vienna.

Dana Lorên Vares (1998) Studied at the Estonian Academy of Arts in the magistracy of the department of jewelry and blacksmithing. In 2017, he staged his first dance performance “My name is how I call myself” as a collaborative project. During his undergraduate studies, he participated in several group exhibitions “Künnis” (2020), “TASE’21” (2021). During his master’s studies, Vares’ work has been represented in several joint exhibitions “Valus on” (2021), “B-106” (2022); several of them also international cooperation projects: “Notes on fashion and gender” (2022) and “Second chance” (2022). In addition, Vares has taken part in the dance production and performances “IHA” (2019), “Minevik, jag mina set samadan” (2020), “Greenfield: Fyüsis” (2018).

The exhibition is open from November 27 to December 3, from 2 to 6 p.m.

Exhibition of the fall semester’s one-week workshop “Clog—wooden soled sandals” by the Department of Accessory and Bookbinding, Estonian Academy of Arts. The students made their unique footwear out of recycled textiles and industrial leftovers or scrap materials.

Participants:
Angela Aavik, Helina Raud, Hanna Eliise Lahe, Jürgen Sinnep, Katarina Nemcova, Liis Tisler, Marie Willfort, Natalia Wojewnik

Tutor: Kristiina Nurk

Technician: Sirle Rohusaar

Exhibition is open every day from 12-18 in
Estonian Design House +, 0. Floor, Suur-Karja 14, Tallinn

‘It’s Lonely in the Metaverse’
Egle Ehtjen, Kelli Gedvil, Kristen Rästas, Sten Saarits
11.11.–11.12.2022
Rapla County Centre for Contemporary Art 

Four artists will create an audiovisual participatory exhibition in the hall of the Rapla County Centre for Contemporary Art, exploring the soul of the ‘metaverse’, a recently popular medium that uses various spatial and virtual reality technologies. Platforms for virtual worlds are a hot topic both in the crypto world and, increasingly, in the ‘normal world’, through ‘fear-of-missing-out’ advertising campaigns promising new social, investment and entertainment environments on the internet. Behind the exaggerated promises of the future, however, today’s meta-worlds besides their edgy commercial undertones are lonely, not that interactive, and full of digital gambling and collective tokens. ‘It’s Lonely in the Metaverse’ is the interpretation by the four artists of the significant contrast between the advertising hurricane and the virtual landscapes that fall into its shadow.

Graphic design: Henri Kutsar

The artists would like to thank: Markus Tiitus, Alexei Gordin, Ian-Simon Märjama, Hendo Kidron, Leegi Kiis, Marek Gedvil, Tiina Vändre, Laura Suur, Anna-Liisa Männik, Ingrid Algma, Ingrid Kääramees, Linda Zupping, Jüri Ruut, Mirko Känd, Erko Ever, Kristjan Koskor, Anni Koskor, Katarina Koskor, Ander Koskor, Kennet Lekko, Estonian Academy of Arts

The exhibition remains open until 11th of December, Tue–Sun 3–6pm.

This exhibition is funded by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Location: Rapla County Centre for Contemporary Art. Tallinna st 3b (3rd floor of Espak building), Rapla

“It’s like the earth it is our body it is our bed”

Sara Blosseville

We are very excited to announce our next exhibition: a solo presentation by artist Sara Blosseville.

Sara Blosseville is a French artist living in the woods of Vantaa. She works mainly with images, sculpture and publishing. She graduated from University of the Arts Helsinki in 2021.

This solo exhibition features works part of her ongoing sculpture project « Children of Compost », which is an exploration of the material world as a fecund humus at different states of growth and decomposition, where all the bodies and objects are considered as holders of life energy. The aim is to use only material that she makes, grows, finds, that’s recycled or second-hand, and the starting point for has been giving a new life to beautiful objects crafted by her farmer elders.

The show will run Nov 17 – 22 14.00-18.00, with an opening reception at 6pm on Thursday, November 17.

Exhibition To Sense the Light, You Must Close Your Eyes, with the works of the painter Kristi Kongi and printmaker Mare Vint, opens in the large gallery of the Tartu Art House.

At first glance, the handwriting of these too very individual authors seems almost contradictory. Mare Vint’s metaphysical, nearly black-and-white landscapes demand that their discreet tension be quietly contemplated. Kristi Kongi, however, yanks the viewer into her endlessly colourful world, where deep dark tonal gradients are interspersed with pastel variations and, by including the space surrounding the works of art, she emphasises the comprehensive nature of her oeuvre.

But colour and its (almost complete) lack have something in common: light. Both artists have used it in their works directly and indirectly. Although light is a shared theme, they offer viewers different ways and opportunities to perceive it. As a result, a wandering rhythm of different times and places is created in the gallery, where colour and colourlessness start to highlight each other in unison.

The curator Peeter Talvistu proposed a joint exhibition to the artists way back in 2018 and both authors enthusiastically agreed. “For me, both of them have a similar immersive approach and I have never felt that their works would compete in the gallery space. Instead, I saw this as an experience where two sides would support each other. Unfortunately, Mare’s health deteriorated and she is no longer with us to shape the final outcome. Kristi, however, has had many years to contemplate Mare’s oeuvre and has been inspired to make new works and to compose the actual exhibition.”

Kristi Kongi (b 1985) has studied in the Tartu Art College and the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has been awarded the Sadolin Art Award (2013, currently the AkzoNobel Art Award), the Konrad Mägi Award (2017) and the Annual Award of the Visual and Applied Arts Endowment of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2021). During the period 2022–2024, she is one of the receivers of Estonia’s artist’s salary. Although Kongi has recently had exhibitions in Tartu in the Kogo Gallery, her works last appeared in the Tartu Art House in 2013.

Mare Vint (1942–2020) graduated from the Estonian State Art Institute as a glass artist but is primarily known as a printmaker and drawer. Besides the Kristjan Raud Award and the Fifth Class of the Order of The White Star, in 2019 she received the lifetime achievement award from the Visual and Applied Arts Endowment of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. In 1987, she held a joint exhibition with Andres Tolts in the Tartu Art House.

The exhibition’s graphic design is by Tuuli Aule.

Thanks: Ahti Lill, Gristel Mänd, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Akzo Nobel and Eventech.

The exhibition takes place in dialogue with the Kogo Gallery project “Laura Põld with Andres Tolts. Common Threads, Polar Bear and Elephant” (25.11.2022–28.01.2023, curator Šelda Puķīte). On 10 December at 3 pm a walk and talk between the artists and the curators will begin in the Kogo Gallery and conclude in the Tartu Art House.

“To Sense the Light, You Must Close Your Eyes” will remain open until 11 December.

On Friday, 11 November at 6 p.m. Erik Alalooga opens his solo exhibition “Liberated Machines” in the monumental gallery of Tartu Art House.

The artist invites everyone to bathe in an undulating sound array because the monumental gallery is filled with acoustic machines. Large and small, acoustic and amplified, soft and aggressive, fast and slow objects allow you to experience different sound patterns in an unlimited range of combinations.

The artist explains: “During the campaign to liberate the machines, we managed to give a new identity to ten car windscreen wiping engines and five disco ball engines. Never again will they have to perform the dull movements of scrubbing water droplets and bird droppings from the windshield or spinning a silly mirror ball for nights on end for the joy of sweaty and squirming bodies. Monotonous rhythms have been replaced by dynamic ones. Instead of direct or alternating current pulsating incessantly through the grooves, the machine beats in the unpredictable rhythms of a random generator. By forever abandoning the claustrophobia of an engine compartment or the loneliness of a night club ceiling, instead forming systems with their companions and creating kaleidoscopic rhythm patterns in order to dominate the space. Man is only an observer here.”

Erik Alalooga (b 1974) is a visual artist, performer, director, sound artist, teacher and cultural organiser living in Tallinn. He graduated the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) with a bachelor’s degree in sculpture and acquired a master’s degree in interdisciplinary arts. Since 2018, he has been studying at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater doctoral studies. He has worked as an associate professor of the Interdisciplinary Art Department of EKA (2006–2010) and as the head of the Performing Arts Department (2010–2013). He currently works as the head of the EKA sculpture studio. Alalooga has presented exhibitions, performances and experimental concerts in Estonia, the Nordic and Baltic countries, Germany, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, France, the USA, and Australia.

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
The exhibition is open until 11 December.

Kaisa Maasik’s new solo exhibition The Human Sponge in the Age of Screens is open from Thursday, November 3, 2022 at the ARS Showroom Gallery. The new project dealing with the susceptibility of children and the way kids mimic everything they see and hear, brings together video footage filmed by kids themselves. The exhibition will remain open until November 29.

Something that the gathered material has in common is its influences from mass media, the mainstream film and music industry. From the 2000’s onwards, filming equipment like video, web, digital and phone cameras became more affordable. Ever since then, kids have had a way to record different re-enactments of what they see on screens. The artist adds: “The endless creativity, sincerity and enthusiasm of children in the work is amazing, but it’s clouded by the violence in most of the scenes. When mirroring their surroundings, kids have a way of showing us what society is like in general.”

Graphic design by Nora Pelšs

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Artists’ Association.

3.–29.11.2022
Mon–Fri 12–18, free entry
NB! The exhibition is exceptionally open on two Saturdays: 19.11 & 26.11 at 13–16
ARS Showroom gallery
ARS Art Factory
Pärnu mnt 154
11317 Tallinn
www.arsfactory.ee

More info:
Kaisa Maasik
kaisamaasik@gmail.com
5396 2524
https://fb.me/e/9IVyk3ha4