Exhibitions

On Tuesday November 12 Ulvi Haagensen will open her solo exhibition “Distracting the workers” in the EKA Trepigalerii (Showcase gallery at Linnahall’s side of Estonian Academy of Arts’s building) at 5pm. The exhibition will be open until 27 November and being a window exhibition it is viewable 24/7. 

“I am working on the line between art and everyday life. With a particular emphasis on the practices of art-making and domestic cleaning, I focus on the places where art and life meet to try to find out what the dividing lines, overlaps and resulting ambiguities look and feel like. Helping me with my work I have three imaginary assistants – an artist-cleaner, an artist-researcher and an artist-bricoleuse. Together we make, clean, think and write. This installation is a view into our working and thinking space,” says the artist Ulvi Haagensen. 

The title of the show is in part a response to the German art critic Julius Meier-Graefe’s concern about art that is decorative, accusing it of being like a “gentle little housewife” merely amusing “tired people after a hard day’s work”. 

Ulvi Haagensen, originally from Australia, has been living and working in Estonia for many years and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Estonian Academy of Arts Faculty of Design.

Thanks to Kaido Kruusamets, Mart Vainre, Aksel Haagensen, Michael Haagensen, Risto Tali, Fiona Davies

Join us for the opening of the solo exhibition and performance on Thursday, November 5 at 8 PM. The exhibition will remain open until November 30.

Vaarik’s sixth solo exhibition is a continuation of her solo exhibition “Possessed” (2017). The expressive, provocative, daring and heartfelt show is about being a woman, a mother, about saving the world, raising children and cuddling. The artist is observing her close relationships and is seeking for conclusions to save the world.

“Skin is our contact with the world. Scroll up to your sleeves and stroke your arm with your hand. This is a feeling. We feel and learn to feel our bodies through strokes, pamper and cuddles. Sometimes there’s no need to overthink! Weird feelings create weird thoughts. But if you know it’s only that–a feeling–and you stop forcing yourself to collaborate with your brain, you can only feel without attributing linguistic meaning. Things are simply as they are. If we start to over-explain something we can mess it up.
We can try to save the world, but if we grow our children to be empathetic, they are doing it naturally. All humans grow inside their moms! I am lucky I was held tight.” – Marta Vaarik

Marta Vaarik (b. 1986) is an artist, photographer and self-proclaimed blond trickster based in Tallinn, Estonia. She holds a BFA degree in painting from the Estonian Academy of Arts and is currently studying Contemporary Art in the same university. She did an exchange program in UDK studying under professor Josephine Pryde. The current solo show at EKA Gallery is her sixth and she has participated in group shows in Berlin and Estonia. She works in the mediums of painting, photography, performance, and video.

Thanks: Sandra Mäesepp, Rebecca Künnis, Ülle Vaarik, Aadam Taaksalu, Andrus Vaarik, Kelly Turk, Margit Lõhmus, Sveta Grigorjeva, Piret Karro, Rasmus Neljand, Krislin Ots, Big Boy, Gunnar Laal, Taavi Lepp, Pire Sova, Johannes Luik, Kersti Heile

Exhibition title: Sveta Grigorjeva

Graphic design: Kersti Heile

The exhibition is supported by A. Le Coq.

On Wednesday, 30 October at 3:30 pm, the exhibition From the Beginning to Today: 1+1 , which celebrates the academy’s 105th anniversary, will open on the 2nd floor of the EKA atrium. About 40 individual works, series or sets of student works by 52 authors are exhibited at the exhibition introducing the different departments of  EKA. All works displayed at the exhibition belong to the EAAM’s collection, whose rich treasures are still waiting to be explored. The exhibition is open on all workdays until 18 November.

The exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of EKA presents all disciplines currently taught at the academy, each with two works: one from the early days of the school and the other from the present time. Liberal arts, including painting, sculpture, drawing, print art, photography, scenography, animation and new media, as well as applied arts, design and architecture, are presented as thematic groups on the three levels of the atrium. Scientific research has not been left out either: a satellite exhibition at the library presents research papers selected based on the same principle.

Although the exhibition presents the entire kaleidoscope of disciplines, the principle of selection – only two works or series from each art field, with the old and the new items displayed side by side – the intent of the exhibition is not to provide a comprehensive overview. On this occasion, the focus is on individual works. Each selected piece creates a visual or substantive connection with its partner, as well as with adjacent works. In this way, works depicting the urban space, such as Ülo Sooster’s social realist graduation project and the PhD student Britta Benno’s hybrid drawing with an animation projection from her Dystopic Tallinn series are shown side by side, and a phone model and drawings from 40 years ago form a pair with the project for a digital ring that would allow lovers to keep in touch over a long distance, etc. The accompanying texts on the labels make it possible to put together a historical picture, piece by piece, which is presented in a more comprehensive form in the publications celebrating EKA’s anniversary.

The exhibition was created in close cooperation with the EKA departments and participating artists.

Curator: Reeli Kõiv

Participating artists, designers, architects and scholars:
Ülo Sooster, Jaan Vares, Bruno Tomberg, Aulin Rimm, Pilvi Ojamaa, Laur Tiidemann, Triin Marts, Edith Karlson, Britta Benno, Ene Pikk, Cloe Jancis, Julia-Maria Linna, Sander Joon, Anu Laura Tuttelberg, Arthur Arula, Varvara Guljajeva (Varvara@Mar), Katrin Kabun, Andra Jõgis, Nils Hint, Henri Papson, Raul Polding, Nesli Hazal Akbulut, Ellen Tamm, Herbert Preisman (Prees), Aino Toppi, Merilin Meremaa, Ruth Huimerind, Kelian Luisk, Merike Männi, Maria Port, Üllar Karro, Risto Bruus, Janika Vesperg, Peep Ainsoo, J. Kurvet, Vello Laanemaa, Irina Tširitš, Tõnu Kallas, Lembit Remmelgas, Leili Rummel, Anneliis Aunapuu, Ülo Kulgver, Raine Karp, Rein Kersten, Ell Väärtnõu, Veiko Vahtrik, Hain Toss, Evgeniya Dolgopolova, Hilkka Hiiop, Mart Kalm, Elnara Taidre, Olesja Katšanovskaja, Mati Kahu

Graphic design: Mikk Heinsoo (StuudioStuudio)
Designer: Maria Kristiina Ulas
Technical realisation: Heldur Lassi

See the entire programme of events to celebrate the 105th anniversary of EKA here: artun.ee/EKA105.

On Thursday, October 10, Jose Aldemar Muñoz will open his solo exhibition “Alchemy” at Vent Space project space at 7 pm. The exhibition will be open until October 13, every day 2–6 pm.

“I am interested in connecting alchemy and the body through the concept of transmutation of matter, soul and spirit. As an expression of the laboratory, I instinctively selected materials to experiment with, such as paper, wool, gold and silver paint, inks and pieces of metal, in order to describe the interaction between fluids, organs and thoughts inside the living body. Eventually, I found a connection between my research into Alchemy and some of Joseph Beuys’ approaches, whereby he sees life as a creative tool in itself and art as a transforming power which attempts to form the individual and collective consciousness.

The installation weaves together different materials, feelings and thoughts: the felting becomes the basis of my research, almost like a trace of the philosopher’s stone which makes me think of the body going beyond its own limits and becoming gold.”

Aldemar Muñoz is an artist from Bogota, Colombia. He graduated in 2013 from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano’s University and he is currently doing a Master’s degree in Contemporary Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Throughout his career, the body has been his subject of analysis. He is interested in researching the invisible realities around the body through understanding how organs, fluids, emotions and feelings respond in daily life.

So far, the results have been a series of drawings, objects, videos and performances on the subject of the body which have been exhibited in Colombia, Argentina and Japan.

The opening of the photography student group exhibition “I can’t be fucked” will take place on Monday, 21 October, at Vent Space project space at 6 pm. Two performances by Hans Jakob Väär will take place as part of the exhibition on 31.10 (in Estonian) and 01.11 (in English) at 6.30 pm. The exhibition will be open 21.10-03.11.2019, every day 1-6 pm.

Participating artists: Kristiina Aarna, Lisann Lillevere, Gerda Nurk, Ania Pażucha, Anna Tamm, Pille-Riin Vihtre, Hans Jakob Väär

Curators: Kati Ots and Aksel Haagensen
Graphic designer: Moonika Maidre

“I can’t be fucked” is a collaboration between students from the photography department, the contemporary art programme and the curatorial studies programme at the Estonian Academy of Arts. In preparation for the exhibition, an exchange of ideas between students was of central importance. The students from the photography department developed their studio projects into what has become a new collective body of work, which expresses the individual practice of each artist while contributing to new thematic directions.

Vent Space is a student project space run by curatorial studies and fine art students from the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), the aim of which is to offer EKA students a public platform for their creative practice.

The exhibition is part of the satellite programme of the Tallinn Photomonth 2019 biennial of contemporary art.

Supported by the Photography Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn Photomonth, EKA Student Council, EKA Gallery, Vaba Kunst MTÜ, Nudist, Õllenaut

Join us for the opening of the exhibition “Self-Care” on Friday, October 11 at 6 PM at EKA Gallery. Participating artists: Andre Joosep Arming, Hanna-Liisa Lavonen, Carol Katkoff, and Mari-Liis Sõrg. The curators of the exhibition are Kleer Keret Tali and Hanna-Liisa Lavonen.

Taking care of oneself could be an activity that you apply consciously to your everyday. For that, you take time out of or contrive that with your daily activities. Despite different interpretations of the word compound (self-care), it still symbolizes the freedom and assured well being of an individual. 

Four artists are deciphering the meaning of self-care and how they vary in different practices coming from the individual points of view. Self-care can be external and internal; mental and physical. Through the prism of being an artist, they are approaching this topic from different sides. 

The exhibition will remain open until November 2 and is part of the Tallinn Photomonth satellite programme.

Thanks to: Andrus Arming, Silvia Sosaar, Sarah Elizabeth Johnston, Hans-Gunter Loch, Aksel Haagensen, Mart Veelmaa, Kati Jõevere, Jana Niglas, Priit Luik, Katre Lehtpuu, Raner Piibur, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Anne Eelmere, Jaan August Viirand, Annabel Konga, Kuldar Nool, Helle-Ly Tomberg, Maria Kurm, Kalle Tali

Supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia

The display of design and architecture schools introduces graduation works and various school projects. In addition to the design schools in Estonia who offer higher education in Tallinn, Tartu and Haapsalu our guests from Kolding Design School, European University in Madrid and Falmouth University are presenting their most successful student projects.

“This course focuses on research of interactions between an individuality and tangible reality being sufficiently modern, to indicate on the immanent presence of the creative spirit, as a condition for all imaginable arts that may rely on their future.” – A. Jakovlev

Students showing their works: Anni Kivisto, Erle Nemvalts , Johanna Tamm, Kaisa Krusenberg, Oliver Kanniste, Anna-Liisa Hanni, Terje Meisterson, Ketlin Kuusing, Greete Rüütmann, Henri Kaarel Luht, Mart Vaarpuu, Aleksandra Kazanina, Andres Mäekallas, Rünno Kulver, Katrin Aasmaa, Kerttu Rannik, Anna Roomet, Siim Simmermann, Cathy Saarm, Maarika Karm, Kristiina Jeromans, Cärol Ott, Triin Tint, Vitali Valtanen, Anna Viik Archanjo

Tutors: Marta Moorats, Aleksander Jakovlev

TOO MUCH / LIIGA PALJU
Triin Kukk and Erinn M. Cox
We always want more. We are constantly overwhelmed and filled with confusion and excitement of
how to think, feel and react to what happens to us and around us. We conjure images and words that
blur the edges of reality, often falling into obsessions where we can’t seem to get enough, to express
enough. We crave reckless love, endless joy, unbounding truths, and fantastical experiences; all the
while unsuccessfully fighting the temptation to fully follow our wants and wishes. But when do we say
something is too much? Where is the line between what is sufficient and what is excessive when our
hearts and guts beg for an endless more?

Triin Kukk is an Estonian jewellery artist, currently obsessed with stones. She finished her MA
studies in the department of jewellery and blacksmithing at the Estonian Academy of Arts this spring. Recently, Triin was awarded with one of the Galerie Marzee Graduate Prizes.
For more about the artist, visit: www.triinkukk.com

Erinn M. Cox is a jewellery artist from the United States, currently residing in Tallinn, Estonia. She
holds a BFA in sculpture and photography from Florida State University, an MFA in sculpture and
installation from the Memphis College of Art, and a MA degree in Jewellery from the Estonian
Academy of Arts. Erinn has exhibited her work internationally, highlighted by her selection for
Schmuck 2018 and recently being awarded one of the Galerie Marzee Graduate Prizes in 2019.
For more about the artist, visit: www.erinnmcox.com

Over the course of two months, the artists will present a transforming exhibition of contemporary
jewellery and objects to contrast their perspectives of what may, indeed, be too much.

Join us for two special events:
Vernissage: Friday, September 13 at 6 pm
Finissage: Friday, November 15 at 6 pm
The exhibition is open until November 18, 2019

A-galerii
Hobusepea 2, Tallinn

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Join us for the opening of ”Terribly Beautiful” on September 11 at 6 PM at EKA Gallery! The exhibition, curated by EKA architecture students Merilin Kaup, Margus Tammik and Ulla Alla, is part of Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2019 and is open until October 9.

Where lies the beauty of a school project? We propose that the most beautiful thing about school project is the venturing, vulnerability and complexity of the process, the notion of getting lost. In the facility for learning, failure is beautiful and ugly matters too! We are shifting focus from the outcome to the process in order to start an in-depth discussion about motives that drive us, values that we believe in, work methods that have served us and bizarre places our mind has taken us when possessed by the project. We want to bring this liminal period into the spotlight because beautiful representations and elaborated briefs can be found all over the internet!

The exhibition brings together master theses, first-year experiments and self-initiated side projects. All projects are essentially critical, either succeeded or failed explorations that are experimental in their approach or rather explore experimentation and play itself as a creative method and a way of learning.

Authors exhibited:
Aleksandr Delev
Alexander Angelov
Aleksandra Lilovska
Marin Markovski
Teodora Todorova
Ralitsa Timeva
Aspasia Strani
Campbell Taylor
Charles Curtin
Miguel Gilarte
Diana Carrillo Silva
Eleonore Devolder
Eugenio Superchi
Maja Piechwiak
Raya Dimitrova
Sara Garcia Santi
Viliam Fedorko

Curators: Merilin Kaup, Margus Tammik and Ulla Alla

The exhibition is part of Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2019 program, which is produced by Estonian Center of Architecture.

Anna Tamm’s solo exhibition “Puppet Warp” will be opened in the Showcase Gallery of the department of photography at the Estonian Academy of Arts since September 4, 2019. 

“Puppet Warp” is an artwork inspired by the today’s situation in domestic policy, illustrating the simple method used for influencing the appearance and form of freely selected object/subject, thus transforming its purpose according to the artist’s needs. However, the radical use of the Puppet Warp tool may turn the original image into something new and unrecognizable.

The title of the exhibition is a direct reference to the digital image manipulation tool in Adobe Photoshop.

Exhibition can be viewed 24/7 and it will be open until October 26th.

Location: facade wall of the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM), Põhja pst. 35.