Exhibitions

EKA Museum exhibition “Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Study at the Estonian Academy of Arts”
19.10.–29.11.2024
Open Tue–Sun 12–6pm, free entry
Opening: 18.10.2024 at 5pm

In celebration of the 110th anniversary of the Estonian Academy of Arts, a significant retrospective exhibition has been organised, highlighting a theme that resonates with all who have studied here or are currently students. The depiction of the human figure – through drawing, painting and modelling from live models – has always been a cornerstone of art education, and the Estonian Academy of Arts, along with its predecessors, exemplifies this tradition.

The exhibition of the EKA Museum, titled “Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Study at the Estonian Academy of Arts”, showcases works created in the school’s studios and stored in its archives. This collection includes standing, sitting and reclining nudes, clothed models and figure groups, as well as drawings of hands and feet and other anatomical details. The selection highlights the diverse and varied ways in which the human figure can be depicted, emphasising different approaches and techniques. Academically polished images with intricate backgrounds are presented alongside monumental human representations that challenged the traditional canons at the turn of the millennium. The exhibition features both black-and-white and colour works, where classifying them as drawings or paintings based on technique or medium is no longer significant in this context.

The exhibition primarily draws from the EKA Museum’s collection, although only a small fraction of the works accumulated over the decades could be included. To represent the early decades of the school’s history, additional pieces were sourced from the Art Museum of Estonia and private collections. Figure study has also been a central theme in sculpture. However, since the original collection of the sculpture department has been lost, curatorial efforts were necessary to locate works representing three-dimensional art. Despite being in the minority, sculpture is still represented in the exhibition. Additional works were requested from artists engaged in figure study during the early 21st century to cover the period between the conclusion of the methodological collection of works at the turn of the century and the establishment of the EKA Museum in 2019. As figure drawing has been an integral part of the curriculum across all disciplines at the academy, the selection process aimed to reflect this diversity.

The exhibition features 138 artists showcasing a total of 187 works. The chance to glimpse into the formative years of well-known artists and designers is undoubtedly intriguing, while the masterpieces of lesser-known or unknown creators offer their own delightful surprises. The arrangement of the exhibit enhances this excitement by juxtaposing works not along a traditional chronological timeline, but instead focusing on the harmony and interplay between the pieces.

The artists participating in the exhibition:

Eero Alev, Jüri Arrak, Raivo Behrsin, Britta Benno, Teddy Böckler, Rem Dementjev, Olga Dubrovskaja, Herald Eelma, Jaan Elken, Herlet Elvisto, Merike Estna, Margarita Feofanova, Nikolai Guli, Heikki Halla, Gerda Hansen, Inga Heamägi, Hugo Hiibus, Aleksander Igonin, Ants Jaanimägi, Andrus Johani, Aivar Juhanson, Iris Jurma-Kangur, Sandra Jõgeva, Pille Jänes, Villu Järmut, Heli Jürissaar (Kase), Jüri Kaarma, Katrin Kaev, Catlin Kaljuste, Maria Kallau, Anu Kalm (Anderson), Elin Kard, Gleb Karlsen, Saskia Kasemaa, Alice Kask, Eve Kask, Jüri Kask, Maret Kernumees, Ando Keskküla, Kaalu Kirme, Tiiu Kirsipuu, Raoul Koik, Epp Maria Kokamägi, Ellen Kolk, Luule Kormašova, Nikolai Kormašov, Orest Kormašov, Aimar Kristerson, Mart Krull, Epp Kubu, Viive Kuks, Leili Kuldkepp, Laura Kõiv, Andrus Kõresaar, Tõnis Kärema, Annika Künnap, Allex Kütt, Vello Laanemaa, Heldur Lassi, Pille-Riin Lass, Tõnu Lauk, Emil Lausmäe, Malle Leis, Tea Lemberpuu, Ly Lestberg, Mihkel Liinat, Silvi Liiva, Bruno Lillemets, Ivika Luisk (Kivik-Luisk), Anu Maarand, Aet Maasik, Viktor Madison, Ülle Marks, Vladimir Matiiko, Aarne Mesikäpp, Rein Mets, Gregorio Migliaccio, Peeter Mudist, Maarit Murka, Tõnu Mäsak, Arseni Mölder, Reigo Nahksepp, Mall Nukke, Liisa Nurklik, Lydia Nüüd, Evald Okas, Kaido Ole, Jaan Paris, Ede Peebo, Imbi Ploompuu (Karu), Urmas Ploomipuu, Mari Prekup, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Aapo Pukk, Kaie Pungas, Brenda Purtsak, Laura Põld, Matti Pärk, Katrin Pärt, Liisi Pääsuke, Tiit Pääsuke, Tiit Rammul, Tiina Reinsalu, Uno Roosvalt, Eesi Rosenberg, Peeter Rudaš, Sirje Runge (Lapin), Tõnis Saadoja, Hugo Sepp, Kati Simpson, Piret Smagar, Jaak Soans, Tõnu Soo, Aleksander Suuman, Silja Šergalin, Juri Šestakov, Vladimir Taiger, Mari-Liis Tammi-Kelder, Endel Taniloo, Anne Tapper, Olga Terri, Evi Tihemets, Tiina Tiitus, Ilmar Torn, Margus Tõnnov, Maria-Kristiina Ulas, Peeter Ulas, Anne Vaher, Katrin Vaher, Valentin Vaher, Silver Vahtre, Mall Valk (Sooster), Janika Vesberg, Heldur Viires, Hanna Vinter, Ekke Väli, Eduard Wiiralt, Elisa Margot Winters

Curated by: Reeli Kõiv
Exhibition design and co-curation by: Britta Benno
Graphic design by: Pärtel Eelmere
Assistant:Anna Birgitta Erikson

The exhibition is accompanied by an eponymous catalogue featuring large reproductions of all the displayed works. In addition to a historical overview relevant to the theme, the book is enriched with interviews from drawing instructors Tiit Pääsuke, Matti Pärk, Maiu Rõõmus, Maria-Kristiina Ulas, Ülle Marks and Tõnis Saadoja, discussing the significance and meanings of learning to depict the human figure. These interviews are complemented by an essayistic reflection on figure drawing at the academy by printmaker and drawing instructor Britta Benno. Additionally, recollections of their student years from Peeter Ulas and Herald Eelma, gathered by Jüri Hain, are also republished.

The catalogue is authored and compiled by Reeli Kõiv, the head of the EKA Museum, and includes a foreword by Rector Mart Kalm.

The publication is a bilingual edition that combines both Estonian and English in a single volume, with language editing by Elo Rohult and translation by Epp Aareleid. The 288-page catalogue was designed by Stuudio Stuudio and printed at Tallinn Book Printers.

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.

Exhibition of the Department of Accessory and Bookbinding
of Estonian Academy of Arts

“Captivating bind” at EKA Library
05.10 – 05.12.2024

Satellite of the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial “The Fine Lines of Constructiveness” Tallinn Applied Art Triennial.

The artist’s books of seven students of the accessories and bookbindings department are completed during the studies. These are stories from the chain of memories of the authors formed into bindings.
When starting the course, the goal was to reach deeper than a mere cosmetic level in binding. As soon as the initial beauty methods no longer worked, the students were forced to look into the book as if into a mirror. Who reflects back from there? We tried to find ways to tell stories through binding, and how to bind the reader. We looked at bookbinding as a bridge between the reader and what is being read, which wordlessly mediates thoughts.

–Urmas Lüüs

Participants in the exhibition:

Anna Abrosimova, Hanna Eliise Lahe, Meeli Kombe, Julia Korovina, Helina Raud and Jürgen Sinnep.

Tutors: Urmas Lüüs and Eve Kaaret 

 

There is a lunchtime opening this Saturday at Vent Space, 05. October 13.30 – 15.30. The exhibition will then be open until 13.10 – by appointment, DM @ventspace.project on instagram or email yvette.bathgate@artun.ee to meet at the space.

“Transmissions” by Caitlyn Holly Main

Caitlyn Holly Main is an interdisplinary artist, working with and between text, drawing, moving image, sculptural artefact and printmaking. She is concerned with care and intimacy, notions of emotional labour, consumption and desire. Her recent work is focused around modes of communication – the physical embodiment or remnants of connection.

Expect things like… Mating dances & traffic signals. A medium translating words and sentences and histories from a distant spirit and a Whatsapp message that reads ‘omg NO way!!!!’. A post-it with a lopsided smiling face, echolocations, an act of transcribing, and a sign held above a head during a protest. An enthusiastic gesture, my friends hands point and turn and twist, & the movements punctuate the story that they’re telling me.
Morse code, smoke signals, a phone number written on a napkin with a lipstick kiss. People like echos because they want to hear a familiar voice rippling back to them from the void or the cavern or the tunnel. A lighthouse, a radio antenna, first words and ironic slogan t-shirts. Clicking fingers, waving through the window of a moving vehicle. A kiss blown, a salute, a postcard pinned to the fridge.

Vent Space project space

6/8 Vabaduse Square, Tallinn

Vent Space is an experimental project space of EKA, which offers EKA students a public exhibition space and collaboration opportunities. Many students have had their first solo exhibition at Vent Space, as well as numerous group exhibitions, discussion groups, workshops, concerts and other events.
The international team brings together different disciplines, media, practices and skills, encouraging collaboration, spontaneity, courage and experimentation. 

FB:

https://www.facebook.com/ventspace.project

The exhibition “What happened to all the water in Venus” by Iohan Figueroa, opens at Uus Rada Gallerii (Raja 11a) At 17:00 Hrs
on 05.10.2024, The exhibition will remain open from Wednesdays to Saturdays,
from 13:00 to 19:00 until 19.10.2024

Liquid ideas that disappear fast,
slipping through the gaps of gaze,
almost impossible to grasp,
escaping in between my hands like drops of rain on a surface of glass.
They come and go, leaving behind a sensation —evaporating—
as if my mind has been drenched in something vast and unknowable.
Fluids dripping, never landing, never settling into a form,
always in motion, elusive, impossible to hold on.
The reflection reveals a distorted image, a dissolving glimpse,

reality is a blur, the lines between what is real and imagined
Always fade into a haze.
I stand in the unseen room of this and that but never fully one or the other, never
complete, never completely understood.
Nothing is solid. Everything is in constant change, a perpetual state of circularity.
Moments loop back on themselves, thoughts spiral – I lose track of beginnings and
ends.
I choose the softness of being, I am fluid, like the ideas slipping through my fingers,
like the water that shapes itself to whatever it finds.
What would be left if everything were fixed,
if every thought, every feeling, were permanent?

Iohan Figueroa 1989
Oaxaca, Mexico

Iohan Figueroa is a multidisciplinary artist from Oaxaca, Mexico, they seamlessly integrate sculpture, movement, and environmental elements into their practice. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and its wildlife, they explore the profound connections and interactions between nature and humanity. Utilizing tactile memories as a creative conduit, Figueroa translates these sensory experiences into tangible materials, viewing the body as both canvas and instrument for artistic expression. Their work reflects a deep engagement with the environment, capturing the essence of nature and its relationship with the world at large. Their research focuses on socio-spatial relations, recognizing the ephemeral nature of movement and seeking to preserve it through various means. This exploration reflects a profound understanding of the dynamic interplay between the body, space, gender and society.

Text: Iohan Figueroa, Keithy Kuuspu
Advisor: Keithy Kuuspu
Graphic Design: Seppe-Hazel Laeremans
Exhibitions is supported by: Eka Craft Studies

Wednesday, October 9 th 2024, at 5 pm

Restart. Transformations in Modern Housing Estates

Seminar and exhibition opening

Estonian Academy of Arts, Põhja pst 7, Tallinn

What are the opportunities and challenges for the renewal of post-WWII housing estates? What has been the shift from collective to total private ownership? Young practitioners from across Europe will look at the innovative housing estates of the past from today’s perspective, revealing their architectural background, current uses and the personal stories behind the facades.

Speakers include Elspeth Lee (Superposition), Rajna Avramova, Hedwig van der Linden and Kevin Westerveld (Dérive), Ena Kukić and Dinko Jelečević (E+D) and the Spolka collective. Students from the Faculty of Architecture of the Estonian Academy of Arts present their renovation ideas using the example of typical khrushchevkas in Narva.

The event is organised by the Museum of Estonian Architecture and Architectuul in collaboration with the Estonian Academy of Arts under the European Architecture Platform LINA programme.

The seminar will be accompanied by the presentation of a book on the same topic, edited by Christian Burkhard and Triin Ojari and designed by Indrek Sirkel.
The seminar will be followed by an exhibition opening, designed by Indrek Sirkel and Diana Drobot.

The exhibition will run until October 20, 2024.

The opening of the exhibition A Matter of Scale: Tallinn will take place on Friday, October 11 at 18:00 on the staircase of the EKA lobby.

 

This exhibition presents the results of the TU Delft graduation studio A Matter of Scale – Architecture for the European City: Tallinn, Estonia. Over the course of two semesters, TU Delft students developed projects for Tallinn, based upon a two-fold analysis: contextual analysis on a series of sites along Tallinn’s coastline, and disciplinary analysis, in the form of a precedent study, investigating Tallinn’s architecture. This analysis translates in a strong anchoring of the projects in the local conditions in Tallinn, in several ways: in establishing a relationship with the historical fabric of the medieval town, with industrial heritage, or the residential neighborhoods such as Lasnamäe; in engaging with local materiality and building practices, or with the local political context. Some of the designs can be seen as “counterprojects”, proposing alternatives to ongoing spatial developments.

With the presentation of the results of the studio at the Tallinn Architecture Biennial 2024, we hope to bring new perspectives to the local architectural debate.

Initiative: TU Delft Chair Methods of Analysis & Imagination: Jorge Mejía, Willemijn Wilms Floet, Klaske Havik

EKA celebrates its 110th anniversary with a birthday week. 

 

From November 4th to 8th exhibition tours, lectures and film screenings will take place. The week will end on Friday with the opening of the EKA’s new building, the White House and a birthday party. Departments’ alumni parties will take place on Friday. 

Monday

15.30 Defense of Ulvi Haagensen’s doctoral thesis | Auditorium A-501

17.30 Curator’s tour and model drawing at the EKA museum exhibition “EKA 110 Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts” | EKA Gallery

18:00 New Media 30: Laura Schmidt (DE) – ZKM_Gameplay. The Next Level (Paul Galloway will be joining us from New York city via screen. In English) | Main hall A-101

Tuesday

17.30 Curator’s tour and model drawing at the EKA museum exhibition “EKA 110 Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts” | EKA Gallery

18:00 New Media 30: Ava Imogen Grayson (CA/FI) & John Grzinich (US/EE) – Discussing Sound Art (Ava will be joining us from Helsinki via screen. In English) | B-305

19:15 New Media 30: Jaime Lobato (MX/EE) – The right to forget. Artificial intelligences humanly inspired in contemporary art (Jaime will be joining us from Mexico via screen. In English) | B-305

Wednesday

16.00 Open Lecture by honorary doctor Linda van Deursen | Main hall A-101

17.30 Curator’s tour and model drawing at the EKA museum exhibition “EKA 110 Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts” | EKA Gallery

17.30 Awarding of inners of applied research and development work | The Hole

18.00 Open Lecture by honorary doctor Antoine Picon | Main hall A-101

Thursday

17.30 Curator’s tour and model drawing at the EKA museum exhibition “EKA 110 Clothed and Nude. 110 Years of Figure Studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts” | EKA Gallery

19.00 Cinema: The best of by the Animation Department | Main hall A-101

Friday – PARTY!

16.00 Anniversary assembly and conferment ceremony | Main hall A-101

18.00 Departments’ parties for alumni | EKA Main Building

19.00 Opening of the EKA White House | EKA White House

19.30 Musical performers until the end of the party | Both houses:

• 19.30 – EKA Students Queer Association | EKA white house
• 20:00 – DJ Vaatab jooksvalt | EKA main building
• 21.00 – Karameel | EKA white house
• 21.30 – EKA Chamber Choir | EKA main building
• 21.45 – karaoke with Helina Risti | EKA main building
• 22.30 – Motonormal | EKA white house
• 00.00 – Avemaria | EKA white house

20.30 Auction | Main hall A-101

22.00 EKA 110 gift opening

The programme of events will be updated on a rolling basis.

EKA Birthday Week events are free of charge and open to all.  

 

Events of EKA Departments as part of the EKA 110 Celebration

Monday, November 4th

• 18:00-21:00 – EKA Open Academy Open Lecture: “EKA 110 | How to Collect Art?” (in Estonian)
• 18:00 – EKA New Media 30: Paul Galloway (US) – Video Games at MoMA

Tuesday, November 5th

• 16:30 – EKA Graphic Design + Product Design present: Open Archive of the Design Faculty 1966-1994 (open area on the 2nd floor, A300)
• 17:00 – EKA Graphic Design + Product Design panel discussion: Design Thinking – Establishing Design in Times of Change (EKA lobby)
• 18:00 – EKA New Media 30: Ava Imogen Grayson (CA/FI) & John Grzinich (US/EE) – Discussing Sound Art (room B305)
• 19:15 – EKA New Media 30: Jaime Lobato (MX/EE) – The Right to Forget: Artificial Intelligences in Contemporary Art
• 17:00 – EKA Graphic Art: Exhibition of Nominees for the Edmund Valtman Young Graphic Artist Scholarship (EKA glass gallery)

Thursday, November 7th

• 18:00 – EKA New Media 30: Raivo Kelomees – Metamorphoses of Media Art (room A101)

Friday, November 8th

• 16:00-00:00 – EKA Textile 110: Installation Textile in 110 Squares (room D504)
• 10:00-17:00 – EKA Interaction Design and Animation Departments’ installation Godseed (Kotzebue 10 basement)
• 17:00 – Opening of EKA New Media 30th Anniversary Outdoor Exhibition: Video Installations
• 18:00 – Formal Research Seminar of the Institute of Art History and Visual Culture (room A501)
• 18:00 – EKA Glass Department Book Launch Glass Painting – Painting with Light (room B604)
• 22:00 – EKA Architecture / PAKK – Opening of EKA’s Gift (Kotzebue 2)

Alumni Gatherings on Friday, November 8th

• 17:30 – Ceramic Department Gathering: Viewing of Past Works and Identifying Authors (room B602)
• 17:30 – Fashion Design Alumni and Faculty Gathering, Tour of Workspaces and Works (room D507)
• 18:00 – Formal Research Seminar and Gathering of the Institute of Art History and Visual Culture (room A501)
• 18:00 – Design and Innovation (formerly known as Applied Art) Room Open! Welcoming future and current alumni, instructors, and friends! (room D404)
• 18:00 – Product Design Alumni and Student Gathering and “Cafe” (room C301)
• 18:00 – Interaction Design Alumni and Student Party (room D306)
• 18:00 – Textile Design Alumni and Student Reunion (room D505)
• 18:00 – Photography Department Gathering at Maitselabor. Opportunity to tour department spaces and studios. Wide Angle Gallery Exhibition (room B407)
• 18:00 – Faculty of Architecture Introduction and Social Space (room A400)
• 18:00 – Glass Department Book Launch, Formal Gathering, and Studio Tour (room B604)
• 18:00 – Accessory and Bookbinding Department open! Welcoming future and current alumni, instructors, and friends. Showcasing the accessory and bookbinding studio; recent student work exhibited in the glass display at the entrance. Leather drink bar by accessory artisans! (rooms B510 and B511)
• 18:00 – Jewellery and Blacksmithing Department open! Tour of department spaces and workshops (room B504)
• 18:00 – The Department of Heritage Protection and Conservation invites its alumni and friends to the sculpture conservation studio (room D308)

28.09.–20.10.2024

Dear colleague,

 

I am Marta Konovalov – designer, researcher, craftivist, mender and a gardener by heart, lecturer and a doctoral student at Estonian Academy of Arts. I act like a forager in my garden. I sow confusion to forage knowledge. The garden is a place for mundane practices and my practice-based research. I see a plot of land the same way I see a hole or a stain in a garment – as an opportunity to add layers and to engage. The survival of us, the gardeners, on this planet relies on our response-ability, resilience, care and adaptability, the ability to rethink the garden and our relationships with the garden. 

 

I invite you to the periphery and to my garden at Viljandimaa. With the aim to investigate, entangle, respond, slow down, decompose patterns, regenerate, repair and shift the aesthetics. I will exhibit my practice of textile repair and the research artefacts.

 

28th of September from 14–18 the opening, walkabout with soilshifter Markus Pau, co-creating and delivering findings to textile design

 

3rd and 5th of October from 14–18 exhibiting the research artefacts in dialogue with Viljandi Heritage Festival

 

13th of October from 12–18 exhibiting the research artefacts and the possibility to attend a textile repair workshop

 

20th of October from 14–17 exhibiting the research artefacts, walkabout with artist Jane Remm and the possibility to attend a textile repair workshop

 

We will meet at Saarde talu, Veisjärve küla, Viljandimaa
58,0815866, 25,7876976

Attending the events is for free.

Please let us know when you wish attend:

https://forms.gle/kSHitYeaa8v3FDHC8

 

FB: https://fb.me/e/2im0227Fl

https://www.artun.ee/et/kalender/disainer-edasihoidlik-aednik-marta-konovalov/

https://www.instagram.com/repair_and_regeneration/

This exhibition is part of the project PR02049 ”Artists and designers as researchers, rethinkers and partners of nature in the context of degrowth”  funded by Estonian Ministry of Culture, where we, together with artist Jane Remm, develop creative research methods with the aim to engage with nature.

 

The Viljandi Heritage Festival introduces the phenomena of intangible cultural heritage and opens various perspectives of folk culture knowledge that help find economical solutions to economic and environmental problems; shares tips on how to bring changes to your own life and of course also brings various entertainment.

https://sisu.ut.ee/parandusfestival2024/?lang=en

See you soon,

Marta

 

You are warmly invited to “A little bit calmer than before” by Eleftheria Irene Kofidou

Opening and a performance: 18.09 18:00

Exhibition opening times: 19.09-02.10 on the weekdays 14:00-18:00; 21.-22.09 14:00-16:00; 28.09-29.09 closed

A little bit calmer than before, is an additional instructional comment by composer J. Strauss for his musical piece Don Quixote op. 35 variation VII – The Ride through the Air. As ‘a little bit’ is a vaguely countable amount, it becomes very hard to place it inside a spectrum, unless someone has access to the other variables of the equation. In Kofidou’s installation the composer’s directory line lies out of context, as there is no before, nor afterwards to compare the present moment to, but in a quixotic analogy to her homeland’s socio-political situation.

“I will pay off for my everyday victories by losing the war” states the burnt slogan on the gallery wall, a recreation of a graffiti that existed in Aristotle University Campus, during the artist’s teenage years. As Orthodox tradition has it, during Easter, believers mark the sign of the cross on their door frames, using the flame of the holy light from their candles; an act of shielding the household from evil and a wish for good luck. The campus looks very different now, the once messy wall is now white, the legendary punk squat of the Department of Biology is closed down and a new special police unit is established. The slogan, long gone, is recreated again, burnt on the wall as a tribute to the missing particles, the lost fractures of collective memory. But enough with pessimism in politics; Under its surface, it doesn’t wish to become another loaded message in limbo; fights will be given at any cost, even the cost of an already foreseen outcome. In the Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin mentions “There was a wall. It did not look important (…) But the idea was real. It was important. (…) Like all walls it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on.” There are two walls, one that already exists and another one; fractured and initially horizontal; is it there to dominate or to seal?

The installation becomes a set and the objects act as props for the performance; trying to grasp this certain type of calmness that comes after the strong fumes of anger have evaporated and resides in the process of preparation of oneself; the anticipation for something that is coming and is not calm at all. Is it there to be later broken?

The artist wishes to thank: Anu Vahtra, Ats Kruusing, Eleni Kofidou, Erik Hõim.

Graphic design: Eleni Kofidou

Eleftheria Irene Kofidou (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 on processes of layering meanings, socio political connotations related mostly to her background and exploring ways that language triggers movement.