Students’ final projects
Tallinn ● An online channel with weekly animated episodes ● An artist group working with the topic of sustainable materials in architecture ● Site-specific installations in public spaces A concert-screening
Vilnius ● Community building in Vilnius districts: creative workshops in a variety of districts in Vilnius ● Zine Jam “Marmelade”: 20 artists selected through open call gather in a specific space and creates zines for 48 hours straight on themes related to the city/space where the jam is happening. ● “Mission: Siberia” creative workshops ● Socially integrated project “Chain”: a project to raise awareness about homeless dogs by attracting people to a building where street art is being made while inside an interactive installation on homeless dogs takes place ● Collaborative, sight-specific art project ● Yoga rave in Morocco: project aims to organise yoga rave parties (discos without alcohol and drugs) in Morocco ● Exhibition “Aesthetics of Social Failure” in project space Studium P (Lithuania): project aims to prepare a manual on safe behavior on social networks and also to create an exhibition on the theme. ● Kurk Kurk – creative printmaking and bookbinding workshops that are led through one year (2016) in festivals and cultural institutions
Copenhagen ● personal projects for Rundgang 2017 ● applications or artist statements ● project about the Baltic Sea and the North Sea which will be exhibited in Great Britain ● applications for financing the reconstruction of a former artist-run project space at Charlottenborg ● project about historical cultural exchange between Lithuania and Denmark.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
During the course we tried to encourage cooperation between students and the project spaces, but it didn’t seem to work too well. The first year we tried to start the collaborative projects during our crash course in Tallinn and, in the second year, during our presentation and networking event in Nida. In Nida, five mini-presentations were held in a manner we could call performances, and many participating students showed their works in exhibitions/events like EAA Tase, VAA Rundgang, and RDAA Rundgang. Two students from the Copenhagen event successfully applied for a residency in Nida. Also, there is an open call coming up in autumn 2017 for the EAA gallery in Tallinn, which we are going to promote among participating students.
A crash course was held in Tallinn January 4-8, 2016. This was led by Kulla Laas and Aap Tepper (Rundum Artist-Run Space) with 23 participants from Denmark, Lithuania and Estonia.
The objectives were: 1) Provide necessary practical tools for carrying out one’s art practises 2) Encourage the start of own-initiative projects and see art projects as more than something based on the institutional gallery system and existing infrastructure. Instead work with a goal to create a new situation according to one’s own needs and desirable working conditions.
Goal: To develop/imagine a plan for an initiative/project/organisation/event/artist group/festival/etc. that develops, improves your working/living conditions
Outcome: The first part of the week was more theory oriented and the latter concentrated on mapping ideas and group work. During evening seminars students showed great interest in each other and from this we saw a group emerge. On the last day we summarized the ideas students had worked on. Two major lines of interest emerged: 1) the idea to start a student-driven network, and 2) to start a collaboration between the academy galleries. The underlying topic that came out of the course was that students wanted to look outside of their small art scenes (bubbles) and thought that meeting and collaborating with students from other schools would be help their practises progress.
Conclusion: Levels of experience in such a large group of students varied a lot, which made it hard to get to a single, specific outcome. Some of the students had already been doing self-initiated projects for a while and saw the intensive course as a way of networking and finding new collaborations. The course was a good way of sharing experiences by introducing individual initiatives. The crash course didn’t work as planned, because not all the students who participated in the crash course continued with the main course later on.
During the project partners’ meeting in May 2016, we decided to make the intensive networking- and presentation-oriented course after, and not before, the main course. We hoped that when the students already brought their own projects, they could find partners by presenting them to each other at the Nida Art Colony.
ArtCar project’s presentation and networking event in Nida, May 3-7, 2017. We asked all students to bring one project to Nida so they could realize it there, or to collaborate with each other if needed. We had 20 participants from EAA, VAA and RDAA, as well as representatives of project spaces and course leaders.
The objectives were: 1) Get to know each-others practises, 2) Get to know the real life of project spaces and artist-run spaces, 3) Encourage the start of own-initiative projects/exhibitions internationally and locally, 4) Find international collaborators among each other
Goal: To develop/imagine a plan for an initiative/project/organisation/event/artist group/festival/exhibition/etc., and present it on the final day to the group.
Outcome: The first part of the event was getting to know each other and everyone’s practises; people started to form groups. On the last they all the groups and some individuals presented what they had worked on during the three days.
Students’ projects in Nida:
1) “Building a hole / digging a dune.” A collaborative, process-based performance that was documented and then presented to the group. It dealt with site-specific cognition on the Nida peninsula.
2) The Danish duo presented their project – a fictive narration of how finding a space to work can become more energy absorbing than working itself.
3) The international exhibition program, “Happiness.” A group of students plans to realise an exhibition program in a variety of locations in all three countries. They presented potential exhibition spaces and funding possibilities.
4) An individual project of one student who further developed his experimental printmaking by trying out different copy-machine printing and folding possibilities.
5) Another individual project of a student who brought her self-made virtual reality glasses to Nida and integrated the dunes of Nida into her work.
Conclusion: The event was a good way of getting to know how different universities and students work, as well as learning about project spaces. The networking and presentation event didn’t work quite as planned, though we got more actual results than in the crash course in 2016. Even after e-mailing and Skype calls, it seemed all the three countries had a bit different idea of what this event should be about.
For the future: more clear and precise leadership from the main project manager.
LOCAL EXHIBITIONS
Many exhibitions and public events/installations were realized during our two years.
Estonia
Robin Nõgisto – showed his painting and video during the TASE’17 exhibition
Tase’17 photos are here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Eestikunstiakadeemia/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1558671077497272
Jenny Grönholm – had her solo exhibition at Hobusepea Gallery, Tallinn http://www.eaa.ee/hobusepea/english/enindex.htm and is curating, with Johann Pajupuu, a showcase-space in a public room
Johanna Mudist – made small drawing during her walk in Nida which she will use in her artistic practise. Presented her paintings and drawings in the TASE’17 exhibition. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Eestikunstiakadeemia/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1558671077497272
Johann Pajupuu – curating with Jenny Grönholm showcase-space in a public room
Ann Rieberg – realized her idea of a public installation on the beach
Lithuania
Zine Jam “Marmelade”: 20 artists selected through an open call gather in a specific space and create zines for 48 hours straight on themes related to the city/space where the jam takes place. This project was realized in Nida Art Colony in 2016. Here are some photographs from the workshop and a brief description of the goals of the project: http://vda.lt/en/study_programs/undergraduate-ba/graphic-art/graphic-art-undergraduate/activities/creative-workshopsprojects/the-zine-jamm
Kurk Kurk is creative printmaking and bookbinding workshops, which are led throughout one year (2016) at festivals and in culture institutions. Here is their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kurkurk/
Denmark
Isabella Martin. MFA. Worked on a project for Rundgang http://www.kunstakademiet.dk/en/activities-news/current-events/rundgang-2017 and on a larger project about the Baltic Sea and the North Sea which will be exhibited in Great Britain.
Sophie Meuresch. Exchange student from Germany. MFA. Worked on a project for Rundgang.
Anne Sofie Skjold Møller. BFA. Worked on a project for Rundgang and applications for financing the reconstruction of a former artist-run project space at Charlottenborg.
Signe Boe Pedersen. MFA. Worked on a project about historical cultural exchange between Lithuania and Denmark with Marie Raffn. Created applications for Nida Art Colony (granted) and other residencies for research during the course. Teaser video for Rundgang https://vimeo.com/221545079
Hannah Sehl. Exchange student from Germany. MFA. Worked on her thesis, and after Nida she has been working with Adam Fenton on a collaborative project for Rundgang.
Adam Fenton. MFA. Working with Hannah Sehl on a collaborative project for Rundgang.
Sophia Vanhala. BFA. Worked on a project for Rundgang.
Marie Raffn. Graduated. Collaborative partner of Signe Boe Pedersen. Working on a project about historical cultural exchanges between Lithuania and Denmark. Created applications for Nida Art Colony (granted) and other residencies for research during the course.
The project is funded by Nordplus Horizontal