MA Contemporary Art thesis projects 2025

This spring, 15 young artists are graduating from the MA Contemporary Art program at the Estonian Academy of Arts. 13 of them are exhibiting their MA thesis projects at TASE ‘25 graduation show at Rävala 8 and two at the community garden of Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM), Kursi 5.

Rävala 8, III floor:
KitKit Para: ‘Shrek and The Aphrodite Beans’, supervisor Anu Vahtra, reviewer Anna Jensen
Yuko Kinouchi: ‘embodiment – -> de-zombification’, supervisors Madis Kurss and Else Lagerspetz, reviewer Taavi Suisalu
Brit Kikas: ‘Touch’, supervisors Tõnis Jürgens and Else Lagerspetz, reviewer Piibe Kolka
Viktoria Martjanova: ‘Visit’, supervisors Anita Kremm and Anu Vahtra, reviewer Sten Saarits

Rävala 8, II floor:
Eleftheria Kofidou: ‘Rapprochement’, supervisors Laura Cemin and Else Lagerspetz, reviewer Evelyn Raudsepp
Tea Lemberpuu: ‘Impersonal self-portrait. The daily choice to be seen or to hide’, supervisors Anu Vahtra and Maris Karjatse, reviewer Hasso Krull
Gerda Hansen: ‘One Piece at a Time’, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja and Else Lagerspetz, reviewer Lilian Hiob-Küttis
Liza Tsindeliani: ‘Trauma Made Me Hot’, supervisors Paul Kuimet and Maris Karjatse, reviewer Anna Škodenko
Chloé Geinoz: ‘Water, fountains and witches’, supervisors Liina Siib and Maris Karjatse, reviewer Elo-Hanna Seljamaa
Mia Felić: ‘What Goes Around’, supervisors Piibe Kolka and Maris Karjatse, reviewer Tõnis Jürgens

Rävala 8, I floor:
Kristi Vendelin: ‘Põletab, närib, ronib’, supervisors Kaspar Tamsalu and Maris Karjatse, reviewer Hanna Piksarv

Rävala 8, basement floor:
Vitor Pascale: ‘Room for Play’, supervisors David Ross and Else Lagerspetz, reviewer Jaanus Samma
Joel Jõevee: ‘selfportrait’, ‘self portrait 2’, ‘birthing pains’, ‘intimate separation’, supervisors Holger Loodus and Taavi Varm, reviewer Peeter Laurits

Community garden of EKKM, Kursi 5:
Yvette Bathgate & Jake Shepherd: ‘a space to gather, a place to grow’, supervisors Yvonne Billimore and Joss Allen, reviewers Ann Mirjam Vaikla and Sandra Pihlapson (Kosorotova)

Also participating in TASE ´25 exhibition: Lara Brener, Eri Rääsk, Iryna Tanasiichuk, Aivar Tõnso, Paula Vool

This year the thesis committee consists of five members for the Estonian graduating group and of six members for the international group. The core members are: artist and filmmaker Ingel Vaikla, curator and head of CCA Estonia Maria Arusoo, artist and educator Taavet Jansen. For June 3, they are joined by two more Estonian speaking members: artists and educators Marge Monko and Mart Vainre. For June 4 & 5, they are joined by three international members: writer, editor, and independent researcher Eric Otieno Sumba, and artists and educators John Grzinich and Léann Herlihy.

Maria Arusoo is a curator and dramaturge. Since 2013, she has been the director of the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art and the commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She holds an MA in Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London, and has worked as an assistant to Martin Creed. Arusoo has curated numerous exhibitions and conferences, published widely, taught at the Estonian Academy of Arts and SAIC, and edited several art publications. Her current projects include a solo exhibition by Edith Karlson in Vilnius (2025) and the Estonian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026), featuring Merike Estna.

Taavet Jansen is an interdisciplinary artist whose work integrates movement, digital technologies, and interactive performance. His practice focuses on blurring the boundaries of art at the intersection of the viewer’s physical and digital presence. Jansen has situated his work in various environments, including theatre, galleries, and virtual spaces—his current focus lies in audience engagement in hybrid spaces and mixed reality. He is currently completing a PhD at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Ingel Vaikla is an artist and filmmaker based in Brussels. Her practice focuses on the representation of architecture in relation to communities, working with video, 16 mm film, and found footage. Rather than depicting architecture as sculptural form, she explores its existential and ideological dimensions. Vaikla has been a resident at HISK in Ghent and WIELS in Brussels, and is currently completing her doctoral studies at PXL-MAD/UHasselt. Her works have been shown internationally, including at IDFA, Kunsthalle Wien, EKKM, Bozar, Videonale, and Manifesta 13.

Marge Monko is an artist based in Tallinn, working with photography, video, and installation. Her work engages with historical events and is informed by psychoanalysis, feminist theory, and visual culture studies. Recent projects examine romantic discourse and its manifestations in advertising and commercial design. Monko has participated in the HISK program and artist residencies in New York, Vienna, Hong Kong, and São Paulo. Her works are held in several major collections, including MUMOK, Folkwang Museum, Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, FRAC Lorraine, and the Art Museum of Estonia.

Mart Vainre is an artist living and working in Tallinn. He combines traditional painting techniques with digital tools such as image editing, 3D scanning, and modelling. His works explore the interplay between human and machine-generated visuals, reflecting on the interface between humanity and contemporary technology. Vainre holds a BA in painting and an MA in new media from the Estonian Academy of Arts and has exhibited in solo shows as well as curated exhibitions at KUMU and the Tallinn Art Hall.

John Grzinich (he/him) is an audio-visual artist based in Estonia. His work integrates sound, moving images and site-specific installations to explore perceptions of sound and space, seeking resonances between people and places. Grzinich’s recent focus questions our anthropocentric views through performative and fixed media works by combining earthly agencies, expanded listening practices and participatory engagement.

Léann Herlihy (they/them) is an artist, researcher, and educator based in Dublin. Their practice engages with trans*, queer ecological, feminist, and abolitionist theory, spanning performance, video, sculpture, text, and radical pedagogy. Herlihy critiques normative frameworks of identity, focusing on collective agency and resistance beyond binary categories. They lecture at the National College of Art and Design and are a recipient of multiple Arts Council of Ireland awards. Recent exhibitions include Precarious Joys (Toronto Biennial, 2024), The Salvage Agency (TULCA, 2024), and PLAYING GOD (Innsbruck International, 2026). Herlihy is a studio artist at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios and currently in residence at Fire Station Artists’ Studios.

Eric Otieno Sumba is a writer, editor, and researcher based in Berlin. His work draws on social theory, political economy, postcolonial studies, and art criticism. He is editor for publication practices at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW). Recent editorial projects include Destination Tashkent and Echos der Bruderländer (2024, HKW & Archive Books). As a curator, he co-developed Riverberi (2024) with Spazio Griot at Mattatoio in Rome. His writing has appeared in Contemporary And, Frieze, Camera Austria, Text zur Kunst, The Guardian, and others.