Exhibitions

13.02-20.02 Alexei Gordin’s exhibition “This School Produces Useless Losers” will be open at Täisnurga Gallery.

The exhibition opening will be held on 12.02. at 18:00.

The exhibition is focused around the adventures of one artist in the world of Delfi comment section. It is said that there is no need to prove anything to anyone on the internet, but reality shows that users always want to prove something and what they say about art does not match what artists think about themselves. So who is right, and why does such a harmless phenomenon as art upset so many people? The exhibition consists of screenshots and found objects to which the artist gave a new meaning using phrases, slogans and puns inspired by the Delfi comment section.

Alexei Gordin (born in 1989) studied painting in Tallinn and Helsinki and currently lives and works in Tallinn.

Although he has a background in painting, Gordin fluently uses different media and works with drawing, photography, video, and performance.

The main subject matter of his artistic practice is absurdly stereotypical thinking and behaviour patterns of people in contemporary mass society. Gordin’s works are almost always narrative in nature and often cover exciting or annoying situations. In the early years of his career, filthy slums, empty industrial landscapes, marginalised and stigmatised social groups, and vulgar jokes constituted the core atmosphere of Gordin’s work.

The harsh reality of the art world has now become one of his main topics and the artist has himself become the protagonist. Scenes scattered with black humour deconstruct the image of the professional art world as something elitist and glamorous.

Gordin has won several photography competitions and in 2017 he was awarded the Young Painters’ Prize in Vilnius.

Täisnurga gallery is a project started in autumn 2023 by Karola Ainsar and Daria Morozova, which focuses on carefully selected intermediate stages and exhibiting newly completed works.

The gallery can be found by entering through the back door of the Painting Department (C201) of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

In Dialogue with Dissonance
ARS Showroom
09.02-01.03.2024
Opening: 08.02 at 18:00

“In Dialogue with Dissonance” invites viewers to engage in a practice of dialogue with the art space, its surroundings, and the unpredictable qualities of sound. “In Dialogue with Dissonance” is an installation that integrates live on-site sound, digital algorithm-based manipulations, and flashing signs bearing incoherent directives for active participation. The exhibition challenges visitors to question meaning-making, modes of interaction, and embrace the unpredictability of an ever-changing space.

The sound composition for 9 audio channels and 1 low frequency emitter was developed on location as a reflection on the space. The composition is only based on automation lanes that direct live input signals through various digital signal processors, the raw sound from passing cars, the space itself, vibrations in the architecture, and feedback events picked up by different microphones are mostly unpredictable. Live sounds are picked up by specialized devices, including a geophone originally designed for seismic measurements and a coil-type microphone that renders electromagnetic fields audible.

Sten Saarits is an interdisciplinary artist who works mainly with time-based media. As an avid field recordist, his installation works often utilize sound compositions comprising spoken words and auditory signifiers, constructing participatory and animated environments. Saarits’ practice commonly explores themes of overstimulation and cultural behavioral norms.

www.stensaarits.ee

The exhibition is supported by Estonian Cultural Endowment and Estonian Artists’ Association

“The Embassy of Utopia: Happiness for Everybody, Free of Charge, and May No One Be Left Behind!*”
EKA Gallery
19.–24.02.2024

Open Mon–Fri 12–9 pm & Sat 5–11 pm (part of the reception), free entry

The Institute of Meetings & Non-Meetings opens the Embassy of Utopia at the EKA Gallery on February 19th. On the final evening of the performative installation, February 24th, one hour after President Alar Karis steps up to the lectern at the Estonia Theatre to deliver Estonia’s most anticipated speech of the year, the Embassy of Utopia will present the year’s most unexpected speech.

The speech will not be written by artificial intelligence or a freelance poet. It will be written by those who gather at the Embassy, those seeking poetic refuge.

“We have dealt with speeches in the Institute’s and Paide Theatre’s previous projects and confirmed that the core of a good speech is a clear message. But the world is not clear, and it seems that every speech, aiming to bring clarity, spreads confusion. Therefore, we decided it was time to turn our backs on clarity and create a speech that acknowledges confusion,” says one of the participating artists, Jan Teevet.

“One might ask, what distinguishes the Embassy of Utopia’s speech from any much-maligned internet forum. The answer can be found in the phenomenon of meeting. From Monday to Friday, when the Embassy’s doors at the Estonian Academy of Arts are open to all passersby, dozens of groups will meet there, not aiming for a mediocre compromise, but to build bold connections between views, crises, and solutions that frame their personal realities today,” adds the Institute’s dramaturge, Oliver Issak.

“A clear message, a clear tax system, a clear line between good and evil — we often think that clarity takes care of everything and everyone on its own, not noticing that clarity can often be uncaring. Clear messages are easier to receive and categorize, but how to organise a reception for doubts?” asks sociologist and artist-researcher Margaret Tilk.

The Embassy of Utopia is open from February 19th–23rd from 12–9 pm and culminates in the Embassy of Utopia’s reception on February 24th at 5 pm.

Entry to the Embassy is free for all, and everyone is free to decide whether it is an exhibition, a theatre production, a workshop, a meeting, a political-poetic consecration, a deep hangout, a minimalist opera, or something else entirely. One may also choose not to decide.

The Embassy of Utopia’s daily life and nightly fiction are created and organised by Oliver Issak, Kairi Mändla, Jan Teevet, Taavi Teevet, and Margaret Tilk.

“The Embassy of Utopia: Happiness for everybody, free of charge, and may no one be left behind!” is the fourth event in the series of actions created by the Institute of Meetings and Non-Meetings. The doors of the Embassy of Utopia first opened in May 2023 at the invitation of the international literature festival Prima Vista and the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024, with the subtitle “Longing for a different reality”, and from September, the Embassy of Utopia’s radio action goes live on Klassikaraadio on the last Sunday of every month. On December 31st, 2023, a 5-hour New Year’s Eve special was broadcasted on Klassikaraadio’s wavelength, “Embassy of Utopia: A Thousand Toasts to the Future”.

The Embassy of Utopia is a sanctuary for positive uncertainty, bold thought, and untamable imagination. 

* The title is based on the novel “Roadside Picnic” by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.

The project is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Drinks at the reception provided by Põhjala Brewery.

More info:
Jan Teevet jan@instituut.art
Oliver Issak oliver@instituut.art
Margaret Tilk marga.tilk@gmail.com
www.instituut.art/utoopiasaatkond

On February 29 at 4:00 pm, the Young Sculptor Award Exhibition 2024 of the Department of Installation and Sculpture of the Estonian Academy of Arts will open at EKKM.

The winner of the Young Sculptor Award 2024 will be announced at the exhibition opening. The award winner will be selected by a 5-member jury independent of the organisers. The competition is open to individual authors with a work completed in 2023, a development of a work completed in 2023 or a new work in the making.

This time, the jury of the Young Sculptor Award 2024 selected 15 works from the 39 entries received.

The nominees are Sandra Ernits, Iohan Figueroa, Chloé Geinoz, Aurelia Grace Talmon, Erik Hõim, Loora Kaubi, Ellen Emilie Laaksonen, Noah Emanuel Morrison, Sarah Noonan, Elise Marie Olesk, KitKit Para, Inessa Saarits, Asmus Soodla, Sonja Sutt and Ats- Anton Varustin.

The Young Sculptor Award and the accompanying exhibition, launched in 2012, aim to highlight and recognise the professional work of young artists working in the field of sculpture and installation.

Previous winners of the Young Sculptor Award include Hanna Piksarv, Sten Saarits, Anna Mari Liivrand, Johannes Valdma, Rosa Violetta Grötsch, Johannes Luik, Siim Elmers, Sarah Nõmm, Junny Yeung and Mara Kirchberg.

The exhibition is open until 10 March, daily from 2pm to 8pm.

The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Academy of Arts, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Põhjala Brewery and Karksi Brewery.

Graphic design by Cristopher Siniväli

On Friday, 2 February at 5 p.m., the joint exhibition “Urge“ by Lisette Lepik and Brenda Purtsak will open in the monumental gallery of the Tartu Art House.

The curator of the exhibition is Kerly Ritval.

The exhibition brings together the artists and the curator to examine the diverse and mysterious nature of love. They explore boundaries and express in art what drives and fulfils human life: love.

Love can’t be truly expressed in words, is invisible to the eye, and is intangible, making it difficult to find, hold onto and let go of. It accompanies a person throughout life as a strongly beating urge.

The curator explains: “Brenda Purtsak’s artistic practice engages with the human body, drawing inspiration, among other things, directly from the operating table. By dissecting the human body with colours, she seeks answers to larger existential questions, such as: What is the biological force in the human body that pushes and pulls us toward each other? Lisette Lepik’s painting practice has focused on the body, sensations, sexuality and related traumas. In this exhibition, the artist expresses thoughts, feelings and fears related to love through her distinctive colour, composition and form language.”

The exhibition invites viewers on an introspective journey and into contemplation about desire, love, touch and fears, as well as the absence of love, searching and discoveries.

Brenda Purtsak (b. 1994) is an Estonian artist who graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a master’s degree in Contemporary Art (2022) and a bachelor’s degree in Painting (2020). She has been working as a lecturer at the Academy since 2023.

Lisette Lepik (b. 1999) is an Estonian artist based in Tallinn. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Estonian Academy of Arts (2022) and furthered her studies in installation art at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts (2019). Since 2023, she has been working as a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Kerly Ritval (b. 1996) is an Estonian curator and critic who completed a bachelor’s degree in art history and visual culture studies (2020) and a master’s degree in curatorial studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts (2023). She also supplemented her curatorial studies in Iceland (2022) and recently furthered her education in New York, assisting in producing the performance biennial Performa (2023).

Graphic designer: Rainer Kasekivi
Poetry used in the exhibition by Andres Anissimov

The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment and the city of Tartu.

The exhibition will remain open until 3 March.

BLACKOUT

Opening 17th January 2024 at 7pm (EET)
Running until January 26th 2024

Scattered around the world, Nua Collective are a group of professional visual artists that collaborate together to create, share and support one another in their journey as artists. Blackout marks their first physical exhibition and they are delighted to continue their international tour in Vent Space.

Presenting the works of 13 Nua Collective artists, the Blackout series looks at climate change through a particular lens—blackout. Or the loss of self security that comes from our reliance on unreliable energy. The works wrestle with our human responses to the insecurity inflicted by the anthropomorphic blackout. This exhibition of lino prints that are unique and in their creation and processing have already travelled the globe and will also feature the premiere of the Blackout Documentary screened at the space throughout the exhibition run.

Together Nua Collective artists make an inquiry about our climate catastrophe and the energy crisis that we continue to face.

On Friday, December 29 at 6 pm we open the solo exhibition “It will take approximately 25 minutes to experience this exhibition, we apologize for any inconvenience” by Sten Saarits. The exhibition will remain open until January 22, 2024.

How much of our valuable time do we unconsciously give for nothing, without receiving anything in return.. Like drifting obliviously, without noticing the surroundings and those around us. The desire to belong is fundamentally a basic human need. Studies suggest that the craving for social interactions arise from the same region of the brain where our need for food is felt, and when we are excluded, the experience is processed in the same brain region responsible for the sensation of physical pain.. And then we activate. Like toys with new batteries. Panic-induced false belonging sets in, and smart devices play a significant role in fulfilling the basic need for connection. The somewhat unsettling sense of non-belonging paves the way for digital non-spaces and fantastic, theatrical realms within it. Humans have the essential need to observe and be observed.. To be seen, heard and considered by others. It is safe to move in packs, each one still lonely, eyes staring to the non-world.. because the possibility for non-world is always present; it is nowhere and belongs to no one.. There is no accountability, neither for actions nor for consequences, I do not participate, I am just an observer.. Slightly calming, somewhat entertaining, but excellent for passing the time.

Our desire to belong pushes us to action, but it cannot happen without sacrifice. Am I willing though.. These are my experiences, my belongings, my people, my thoughts and feelings.. What if the new ones are not coming.. Will I remain stranded here, idle and free-falling in the middle world.. And so we turn, cautiously testing our trust, and walking into the future.. We sort of slowly begin to move, and then we circle back to a core familiar to us.. There is a sense of security when we know that we are for a fact present in a specific place, at least physically. “I’ll wear a reflective vest as well – so if I happen to wander too far, would you mind calling me back, okay?” If someone generous in real life would put these dots down for us, there would be a clear objective and it would be easy.. no need to think much ourselves. And so it often is, that we let our lives be curated by someone else’s dots.. thinking that these are our own choices.

Kristel Saan

Special thanks to Erko Ever, Carmen Kalata, Egle Ehtjen, Madli Kadakas, Tiina Vändre, Mart Joost, Kert Viiart, Kristel Saan, Sirje ja Rein Kuusik, Kertu Rooma ja T1 Keskus.

Exhibition is supported by: Estonian Cultural Endowment

Exhibitions in Hobusepea gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture and Liviko AS.

18.00–18.30
Performative gathering “ “
Yuko Kinouchi, Tea Lemberpuu, Jane Muts, Maria Elise Remme, Jake Rhys Shepherd, Elo Vahtrik

We warmly invite you to slow down with us through a guided participatory gathering.

We were searching for a pause, stillness. So we ran through forests, we slept in caves, we followed the waters. Everything to escape the noise man has created. The rumor about the man-made room for silence reached our ears. We met John. He told us that after a while all you hear is the blood running within you. Heartbeat and all the sounds we were made of. There are things we can’t turn off.

In “ “ we ask you to join us to slow down, pause, and turn the attention within.

P.S. We ask you to leave your shoes and phone outside the room on arrival.

18.30–20.00
Workshop “Leaf Pounding”
Chloé Geinoz, Sven-Aleksander Mantsik, Vitor Pascal, Liza Tsindelian

The ‘Leaf pounding’ (this is the name of the technique of hammering plants onto paper or fabric in order to print them on it) project is a printing workshop using ecological and sustainable materials.

Our workshop is based on the different practices of the people in the group. It was important for us that everyone’s personal artistic touch could be found in the project: Liza uses second-hand materials, Chloé uses plants a lot, Vitor and Sven have a practice linked to printing techniques and critical text.

18.30–20.00
Installation “I Like Earth and Earth Likes Me”
Eleftheria Kofidou, Jana Mätas, Caroline Pajusaar, KitKit Para, Kadri Vahar, Edgar Volkov

The vertebral column is the main supporting structure of the body and mind, as the nerve cells within the spinal cord carry all the signals that are required to sustain the organism. These interlinked systems – all connected with our spine – control our every activity; our waking, dreaming, and sleeping and our stability depends on their successful collaboration. Our tired bones are only resting when lying on this soil, yet the Earth’s skin is becoming more and more occupied. What would become of our body landscapes after all? Our artificial remains shall be Earth’s new spine.

18.30–20.00
“Can I speak to the manager? It’s about the anthropocene”
Yvette Bathgate, Mihhail Boitsov, Katariina Kesküla, Merilin Põldsam, Kristi Vendelin

Collectively we explore interconnection through the process of binding; artworks, papers and text. A short manifesto style text, alongside five artworks will bind our individual expressions together and will be presented in installation and hand bound booklet formats.

The works have been made as part of the “Art in the Age of the Anthropocene” course for the EKA Contemporary Art and Design & Crafts MA students (instructors Sandra Kossorotova, Linda Kaljundi).