Events

October 22th, 12–16 in Paljassaare.

More info in Urban Studies, Estonian Academy of Arts facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/urbantallinn

First year students of Urban Studies have spent half a semester exploring Paljassaare, the strip of land that takes one to the end of Tallinn, to the place where all the waste of the capital city ends up… and where all the high-flying visions of eco-city by the sea are waiting to be fulfilled.

On coming Sunday students will make an interim summary of their studio journey so far and are expecting everyone interested to join them on a four-hour walking trip through the peninsula’s pasts, present and futures, to discover and make sense of today’s Tallinn’s Wild West .

The 17th conference from the series Studies in Contemporary Culture, dedicated to one of the key Estonian literary works from the transition era, Emil Tode’s groundbreaking novel Border State, will take place on October 16th, 2023, at the Writers’ House in Tallinn (Harju 1).

The conference is organized by the Research Group of Contemporary Estonian Culture (EKA KVI, TLÜ TÜHI and TÜ) in collaboration with the Estonian Writers’ Union, and funded by Estonian Research Council (grant PRG636), Cultural Endowment of Estonia and EKA’s Research Foundation.

Transform4Europe Open Dual Lecture: “Dissonant Heritage: Re-evaluating the Soviet Legacies”. 

On October 17, the Estonian Academy of Arts will organize an open conversation/ lecture with two speakers, where academic knowledge and practitioner are discussing about the dissonant heritage from the Soviet Legacies

The dual lecture will explore both local and transnational aspects of dissonant heritage in relation to Soviet legacies. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, Russian political behaviour, both in present and past, has been discussed across Europe and beyond as never before, including scrutinising Soviet and Russian-related heritage as one of the reactions to the aggression. This has resulted in creating new and opening up old conflicts between different communities. On the other hand, the situation gives a much needed opportunity for countries and memory groups to acknowledge their collective suppressed conflicts, provoking discussions that had been put on hold for decades. In this delicate process, transregional exchange of comparative experiences is substantial, paving the way for balanced discussions and cross-disciplinary expertise on heritage protection. 

On behalf of EKA – Anu Soojärv

Her field of research is Estonian monumental art in the Soviet era, focusing on the role of public monuments in identity formation of local communities. In her everyday work she is mapping and documenting public monuments and works of art from the perspective of preservation and data gathering. She is a doctoral student and a junior researcher in EKA at the department of Cultural Heritage and Conservation. 

You are invited to the Summer Hall (Suvesaal) of Maarjamäe Castle, doors open at 4:30 p.m. 

The event will be broadcast live on YouTube, but you can definitely have a more exciting discussion experience when you join us in Tallinn, at Maarjamäe!

NB! The event will be in English.

On October 27, we will celebrate the 109th anniversary of the Estonian Academy of Arts and the 100th anniversary of EKA ceramics with a joint big party, where we welcome all our alumni, students, employees and friends! There will be a big reunion – dear gatherings and, of course, also new joyful acquaintances.

For the second time already, a charity auction of the creations of EKA alumni and students will take place, half of the proceeds of which will be collected for the award fund for young artists and designers, the Leo Rollin support fund for the ceramics students, and the other half will go to the authors. Explore the works coming up for auction HERE.

You will see Keithy Kuuspu’s performance, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of EKA’s ceramics studies, an exhibition curated in cooperation with EKA’s museum, and ceramic-themed art by Mihkel Ilus.

We will eat a cake baked and designed by Maria Ader Bailey, an alumna of the painting major of EKA, listen to the beats and tunes of musicians and DJs from EKA’s music fund, sing karaoke with alumna Helina Risti, and of course dance!

There will be a tour of the EKA museum showcasing alumni works and a tour of the EKA building, for which we ask those interested to pre-register separately here.

Tickets for the event can be purchased in advance at a reduced price of €5 for students and €7 for others until October 24th, and supporter tickets for 109€ on Fienta here.  After that, tickets will be 7€/10€ respectively, sold on Fienta and on location. GET TICKETS HERE.

Let’s get together!

PROGRAMME

• 17.30 Doors open. EKA Shop, student bars in the lobby and gallery
• 18.00 Celebrating 100 years of EKA ceramics studies, welcome from the ceramics department, presentation of ceramic instruments: Clelia Piirsoo and Linda Viikant in room A501
• 18.00 EKA museum Metfond art tour, i.e. alumni artworks in the building (Registration link)
• 19.00 Rector’s welcome speech in the EKA gallery and assembly hall
• 19.15 EKA student Keithy Kuuspu’s performance in the lobby and courtyard
• 19.30 EKA Ceramics 100 exhibition opening (2nd floor)
• 19.45 Opening of Mihkel Ilus’ exhibition (3rd floor)
• 20.00–22.30 EKA auction in the Assembly Hall (A101)
• 20.00–21.00 EKA building tour (Registration link)
• 20.30–22.30 Drawing class with the legendary teacher Maiu Rõõmus (rõõm A306)
• 20:00–02:00 Music from the archives of former and current EKA students: DJ Inga Tislar; DJ duo Janek Murd and Erkki Tero aka Eesti Pops; DJ Andres Lõo, in the atrium
• 20.00–00.00 Video game station + weird and interactive music at EKA New Media Arts. Guest performance by Aubery Lis (as Astro The Fox)
• 21:00 to 23:00 Alumna Helina Risti’s karaoke hall (room A202)
• 23.00 CAKE, the work of painting alumnus Maria Ader Bailey, in the Gallery

(the programme may change)

All ERKI, Tallinn University of Arts’, and EKA alumni, students, lecturers, colleagues, and friends are welcome!

GET TICKETS HERE!

AUCTION

Explore the works coming up for auction HERE.

Ceramic artworks will be offered for bidding with a starting price of €100, while the rest will start at €109. The artist will receive 50% of the selling price, and the remaining 50% will be donated to the Young Artist and Young Applied Artist Prize Fund, as well as the Leo Rohlin Foundation, supporting young ceramic artists.

If you wish to participate as a buyer in the auction, please register here: https://forms.gle/3YtnRJUrLgaj3A8XA. (You can also register in person before the start of the auction)

If you cannot attend the auction in person but are interested in bidding on a specific piece, please use the registration form above to indicate the artist’s name of the desired work and the maximum amount you are willing to bid for it. The auction team will place bids on your behalf with the goal of acquiring the artwork at the best possible final price.

For any questions, please contact: eka@artun.ee

Now that September has flown by we can finally celebrate the traditional hazing of EKA freshmen – foxes!

All EKA students and lecturers and friends of EKA are invited!

This year’s theme is PROPAGANDA.

Register your course here

20.00 – dj loveknot

21.00 – performances

In connection with the Delft University of Technology architecture course in Tallinn and EKA, Dr. Willemijn Wilms Floet gives an open lecture about Hofje – the type of building common in the Dutch cultural space, on October 12th at 18:00 in the hall of EKA.

The lecture unravels the secrets of the Dutch Hofje: how to direct the urban atmosphere; what can we learn about collectivity; how is this tradition taken forward by architects reflecting on the archetype and contemporary societal conditions?

The Dutch Hofje – a hidden green intimate courtyard enclosed by repetitive houses for singles – is a very inspirational typology for those working on sustainable social inclusive and green urban living environments.

In contrast to courtyards that were part of, for example, monasteries or speculative exploitation buildings, which were only built in a certain period, the architecture of charity hofjes effortlessly survived the late Middle Ages, the early capitalist era, the Enlightenment and the era from the industrialization period to the development of the post-modern service society. Up to the present time, dominated as it is by neoliberal ideas and market forces, the hofje remains a source of inspiration for (social) housing.

The hofje is deeply rooted in Dutch culture and therefore in Dutch collective memory. Time and again, it is put on the table by not only architects and policymakers, but also socially committed property developers or developers of luxury projects, because of all the positive connotations that surround it.

Dr. Willemijn Wilms Floet, assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology is teaching and researching how to make city out of buildings.

She developed her expertise in the documentation and analysis of architectural projects, notably: A Hundred Years of Dutch Architecture (Dutch 1999, English 2002, Chinese 2009). In 2009 she was involved in the organization of the exhibition ‘ From Berlage to Koolhaas_ a hundred years of Dutch Architecture’ in the CAFA Art Museum Beijing. Willemijn is the co-author of the Zakboek voor de Woonomgeving (2001) and editor of Het ontwerp van het kleine woonhuis (2005) and Architectuurgids Delft (2011).

Willemijn obtained a joint PhD degree Villard d’Honnecourt from Venice Faculty of Architecture (IUAV) in 2012 and TU Delft 2014. This architectural study on the Dutch almshouse typology reveals the secrets of green courtyards hidden within the perimeter block, by means of drawing. This resulted in two books ‘Het Hofje Bouwsteen van de Hollandse stad, 1400-2000’ (2016) and Urban Oases; Dutch Hofjes as Hidden Architectural Gems (2021).

Within the global community of the Faculty of Architecture Delft University of Technology she is a leading figure in carrying on the Delft method of plan analysis in-form-ing design, relating knowledge and creativity.

Since 2021 she is initiator and leader of the research programme Architectural Pedagogies at the department of architecture, building a broad platform to reflect upon design education.

The open lectures are intended for students and professionals of all disciplines, not just the field of architecture. All lectures take place in the large auditorium of EKA, are in English, free of charge and open to all interested parties. Be there!

Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Department of Architecture and Urban Design of EKA brings to the audience in Tallinn every academic year about a dozen unique practitioners and valued theoreticians of the field. You can watch lectures from previous years on YouTube or www.avatudloengud.ee

How is knowledge about the city produced and to what ends? What methods help broaden perspectives on the city? How to learn from urban space and represent the results?

Urban Studies year I students invite you to the final presentations of the “Art and the City” course, which has focused on creative urban methods. Entitled Momentum Montenegro, the evening of presentations delves into the social and material aspects of the first microdistrict of Mustamäe.

As Estonia’s first panel house district, it pioneered a new spatial configuration and quickly became an iconic dream destination in war-ravaged mid-century Tallinn. However, the implementation of this housing model has been heavily critiqued since its inception. Now, four houses from the I micro-district have been earmarked for a neighbourhood renovation pilot project seeking to upgrade the buildings as well as the space between them.

The presented projects focus on the public space between these four panel houses, not with the aim to prove something but to learn something.

The course is tutored by Mattias Malk.

Event on Facebook

In autumn 2023, the open architectural lectures will take place under the title Mobile Masters. The theme brings architects and theorists to Tallinn, who analyse architecture’s flexibility and the mobile practices of architects, spatial designers and artists.

Gregor Taul, the curator of the autumn lectures, introduces the program with the following words: “Architecture stands at a significant crossroads. Ten-year-old buildings are demolished and taken to the landfill. The lifespan of an interior design project is five years at best, if that. These bleak facts do not inspire confidence in a discipline that requires so many resources in light of such a short time perspective. What does ‘better not do anything’ mean for spatial design? What might ‘mobile architecture’ refer to or who is a ‘mobile designer’? How can moving people or things be a positive spatial practice?”

On September 28, Keith Murray will be on the EKA main hall stage in Tallinn with the lecture “MOBILITY: Abstract/Actual/Affect”

Keith Murray is a Zimbabwean born architect, designer, sculptor and jewelry artist who has lived in the UK since 1988. Murray trained as an architect in Cape Town, South Africa and has worked as an architect and lecturer in South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, London and Brighton. About ten years ago, Murray retired to Suffolk on the east coast of the British Isles, where he built an eco-house for himself and his partner and has focused on making sculptures and jewelry from natural and found materials.

Keith Murray introduces his lecture in the following words:

The talk draws on personal experience/interests/thoughts of the last 50 years. Divided into three topics mainly to give some structure, but these will overlap and interweave, as they do in real life. 

ABSTRACT – From the Industrial revolution to the Technological revolution, in the last 150 years everything has got faster and faster. This acceleration has affected all aspects of our lives. Including Art, especially Sculpture (Calder is an obvious topic, but Caro and Smith are also looked at), literature, poetry. 

ACTUAL – Mobility in Architecture discussed using a few selected examples. Things now made, materials and techniques used, changing demands, some for good, some for bad. Just how bad is becoming more and more obvious, so responsible awareness and action is essential. 

AFFECT – Immigration and emigration, the spread of knowledge but also the awareness of things lost, left behind but impossible to forget. 

The open lectures are intended for students and professionals of all disciplines, not just the field of architecture. All lectures take place in the large auditorium of EKA, are in English, free of charge and open to all interested parties. Be there!

Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Department of Architecture and Urban Design of EKA brings to the audience in Tallinn every academic year about a dozen unique practitioners and valued theoreticians of the field. You can watch lectures from previous years on YouTube.

Autumn lectures

– September 28  at 6 pm Keith Murray (https://www.instagram.com/keithmurray5199/)

– October 26 at 6 pm Alexander Roemer (https://constructlab.net/)

– November 23 at 6 pm Laurens Bekemans (https://bc-as.org/)

– December 7  at 6 pm Katarina Bonnevier (https://mycket.org/)

The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Curator: Gregor Taul

www.avatudloengud.ee

The ceramics department of EKA is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. This exhibition is one of the events. The large-scale ceramic forms exhibited in Viimsi Artium have been completed as a first-year study project of the EKA Ceramics Department.

The works planned and built during March and April have been fired in the beginning of May in the anagama-type kiln located in Tohisoo manor park in Kohila. The special feature of the kiln is that it is heated with wood and the objects to be fired are in direct contact with the flame, one firing lasts on average 50 hours and the kiln cools down in 4-5 days.

Participating current and former students: Anna-Liisa Villmann, Merilyn Kasemets, Keily Kerem, Lilian Maasik, Elisabeth Tönne, Sanna Lova, Kristel Kärdi, Linda Viikant, Mari-Ann Maask, Maria Kim, Kätriin Reinart, Marta Vikentjeva, Gaida -Erica Pärn, Helen Griffiths, Ethel Ütsmüts.

Subject supervisor and exhibition organizer: Karin Kalman

The exhibition will remain open until October 19.

The opening of the exhibition “Abandoned Landscapes: Kohila Paper Mill” will take place on September 16th at 12:00 in the wood pulp room of the Kohila paper mill.

The Department of Architecture at the Estonian Academy of Arts, in collaboration with the Department of Heritage Conservation and Restoration, organized the interdisciplinary workshop “Abandoned Landscapes” for the twelfth time this spring. The workshop aims to find contemporary solutions for unused building complexes. This year’s workshop, professional studio, and exhibition were created in collaboration with the Kohila community and the NGO Kohila Paper Mill, who have taken it upon themselves to value the paper mill, which has stood empty for 20 years, as a landmark.

The exhibition held in the paper mill’s premises showcases projects and models created by second-year students of the architecture and urban planning program at the Estonian Academy of Arts. These projects explore how to value and revitalize the historical Kohila paper mill. The exhibition is accompanied by a specially created sound installation.

At the exhibition opening taking place on September 16th at 12:00 PM, students will present nine future possibilities for the paper mill, providing answers to questions such as:

1. Can deteriorating industrial buildings be repurposed through circular economy methods?
2. Does the circular economy create new jobs?
3. Can a community and cultural center be economically sustainable?
4. How to engage the community and remain competitive?
5. What constitutes a building’s footprint?
6. What makes a building sustainable?
7. Can and how should demolition be done intelligently?
8. Which historical layers are valuable and contribute to the environment?

During the spring semester, students visited Kohila and the paper mill multiple times, thoroughly analyzing its structural environment and the broader region. They mapped out both opportunities and challenges. Additionally, they worked on the same area in a landscape architecture course, focusing on connecting the paper mill and Kohila’s landscape, as well as conceptualizing and defining the local landscape. The task for students was to create programs and spatial intervention visions that treat the abandoned factory building in ways that have not yet been put into practice.

A significant portion of renovated old factory buildings in Estonia has adopted a similar model: new businesses and office spaces move in, catering to specific interest groups, making the building inaccessible to many due to economic or social reasons. However, everyone wants to connect with the history of their homeland on equal terms. Therefore, a crucial challenge was to develop solutions that offer usability regardless of a person’s financial status, consumption preferences, or age.

The exhibition builds upon the results of the workshop held in January, which brought together students from the fields of architecture, interior architecture, heritage conservation, design, and engineering. The workshop was guided by Riin Alatalu, Triin Reidla, and Aljona Gineiko from EKA’s Department of Heritage Conservation and Restoration; Koit Ojaliiv and Andres Ojari from EKA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Planning; and Simo Ilomets from TTÜ’s Institute of Construction and Architecture.

Workshop details: https://www.artun.ee/kalender/huljatud-maastikud-kohila-paberivabrik/

The projects were developed by second-year students of EKA’s architecture and urban planning program:

Arabella Aabrams, Anabel Ainso, Anu Alver, Fred-Eric Pavel, Alis Mäesalu, Karmo Viherpuu, Tuule Kangur, Darja Gužovskaja, Laura Haki, Frank Kuresaar, Hugo Georg Kalaus, Madis Arp Keerd, Kristian Tigane, Triinu Lamp, Liisalota Kroon, Karl Robin Timm, Laura Venelaine, Karl Perens, and Villem Kai Johannes Laimre.

These projects were developed under the guidance of architects from KUU Architects: Joel Kopli, Koit Ojaliiv, and Juhan Rohtla, with consultation from LCA consultant Anni Oviir.

The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

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