Open Lectures

On September 29, Jan Edler from the architecture studio realities:united will be on the EKA main hall stage in Tallinn with the lecture “Potential Driven Design”. Brothers Jan and Tim Edle – co-founders of the transdisciplinary art group “Kunst und Technik” (1997–2000) originally operating in Berlin – created the art and architecture studio realities:united in 2000. The studio has gained international recognition with art and hybrid art installations on an architectural and urban scale.   

The Open Lecture Series of the EKA Architecture Faculty will explore Berlin this fall. Johan Tali, the curator of the autumn programme considers Berlin one of the most exciting multicultural metropolises in Europe, a city that has many similarities – both in terms of history and modernity – with the cities of Estonia: “Berlin is loaded. On the one hand, due to its tragic past, the wounds of which have to be actively dealt with in the urban space. On the other hand, due to the hundreds of communities with different cultures gathering in Berlin, and the result is one of the largest culturally diverse hotspots in Europe.”

According to Tali, transnational Berlin can be seen as one of the prototypes of an urbanized society of the future, where a bohemian meets a techno-utopian or an eco-warrior. Berlin is constantly changing, and its architecture firms and practitioners play an important role in steering this change, constantly redefining what we consider important in the urban environment. From September to December, a total of five architects based in Berlin will be on stage in the EKA hall.

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.

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.

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

Curator: Johan Tali

www.avatudloengud.ee

More info:
Tiina Tammet
arhitektuur@artun.ee
+372 642 0071

In the fall of 2022, Narva Art Residency’s international artists are going to give online lectures to tell in detail about the practice of a professional artist, what the everyday life of art residencies looks like, and how to take part in the opportunities offered. It’s a possibility for the wider English-speaking audience to get to know 6 professional artists and learn their tricks and tips as well learn about their artistc practices. Online lectures take place every two weeks starting from the 15th of September. Each time at 18 o’clock in the evening.

The lecture series is broadcasted at the EKA TV webpage – a platform of the Estonian Academy of Arts. The lectures will be available also for viewing later.

EKA TV link:  https://tv.artun.ee/nartavatudloengud/7reYLVjZtv

Schedule:
15.09 at 18.00 Kenneth Bamberg

29.09 at 18.00 Jacque Falcheti 

13.10 at 18.00 TBA

27.10 at 18.00 TBA

10.11 at 18.00 TBA

24.11 at 18.00 TBA

The first lecture is by Kenneth Bamberg, who is spenting a 3-month residency in Narva. He is a Finnish photography artist from the Åland Islands who explores the different angles cultural and traditional ways of expressing masculinity.

The second lecture is by Jacque Falcheti, a singer and songwriter from Brazil. She already took part in the Station Narva festival and will write 6 songs during the time of the residency about Narva.

Open Dual Lecture on Monday: two speakers, one global issue – housing crisis 

On September 5, the Estonian Academy of Arts will organize an open conversation/ lecture with two speakers, where academic knowledge and business experience will join forces to discuss an important topic in both Estonia and Europe – the looming housing crisis. The conversation/lecture will take place in the Botik bar of Põhjala Factory in Tallinn. Doors open at 5.30 p.m., the event with live broadcast starts at 6 p.m.

On behalf of the Estonian Academy of Arts, Dr. Sille Pihlak, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Architecture, Sara Paganin, head of social housing, Finanziaria Internazionale Investments SGR SpA, Conegliano/Milano, will arrive in Tallinn from Italy. The conversation will be moderated by Madle Lippus, deputy mayor responsible for urban planning issues in Tallinn.

The real estate price rally has created a situation in major Estonian cities where there is not enough affordable housing available for either renting or buying. People in households with lower incomes find themselves in a particularly difficult situation – and once they are forced to move further away from their workplaces, to places where housing is cheaper, there will in turn be greater pressure on the city’s transport network, and the ecological footprint of the citizens and thus the city will increase.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the standard project of the so-called Lender’s house was developed in Tallinn, which offered the opportunity to build affordable and need-based housing for people who had just moved to the city. Today, we do not have such a solution for affordable housing. But what would it take to develop it? How to create a standard project of an affordable community-needs-driven apartment building, and what would it require from the developers, the communities themselves, the local government and the state? How to make sure a firefighter and a teacher could also afford to live in Kadriorg, Kalamaja, or in the city center? What should be changed in the structure of our apartment buildings – architecturally – to make housing more affordable, how to divide and share the space? We will talk of all this on September 5th, analysing Italian experience, considering the possibilities provided by contemporary architecture and construction technology, and searching for solutions in dialogue that would be suitable in Tallinn.

The relevance of the topic is evidenced by the fact that two of the seven finalists for the 2022 Mies van der Rohe architecture award, the largest architectural award in the European Union, were community apartment building projects built from wood: the La Borda co-operative building in Barcelona and the 85 social apartments project in Cornellà. There are already communities and developers in Estonia as well, who have set as their main goal the creation of denser, more cohesive, and therefore more resilient communities.

The lecture is open to all interested parties, but community leaders, real estate developers, urban planners, architects and interior architects, and officials dealing with planning in local governments are especially welcome.

This public dual lecture takes place within the framework of the Transform4Europe project: T4EU, consisting of seven universities, operates under the European Universities Initiative with the aim of making European higher education more competitive, based on European values ​​and identity. The focus of the Transform4Europe project is primarily the issues of the digital transformation and digital smart regions, environmental issues and sustainability, social development, community development and inclusion. The housing crisis issue, which will be discussed in Tallinn on September 5, is connected to all these topics.

More information: http://www.transform4europe.eu 

EKA website in Estonian: https://www.artun.ee/akadeemia/rahvusvaheline/t4eu 

What is the essence of the housing crisis? What is the Transform4Europe project? Find out more here and join us at Botik!

Social Design Days

8-9 September, EKA

In Estonia, 40.000 children are affected by mental illness. €164 million worth of food is discarded every year. And there is an urgent need to understand the difficult experience of the over 45.000 Ukrainian refugees that have arrived to our country. How could an expertise in social design help us to deal with these issues?

Twenty-two professionals in the field are meeting at the Estonian Academy of Arts to discuss questions such as: 

• What is the political impact of design?
• Why is design a social practice?
• And can we understand social transformations with design techniques?

The frontiers of design are rapidly expanding within society; In the recent years, design practice has moved beyond the ideation of commercial products and is more and more considered as a set of techniques for engaging with complex problems.  Hence, there is a need to open up the roles of design within wider economic and political issues.

As explained by Bori Fehér, leader of the Social Design Research HUB at MOME: “This event will contribute to giving form to a rapidly expanding field of study, developing new ways of inclusive design and social intervention in Estonia”.

EKA is opening a new MA programme in Social Design. Students will gain an understanding of design as a political force, while expanding their capacity to intervene in contemporary issues and comprehend social transformations.

Experienced colleagues from all over Europe are joining us to discuss the key questions in the field. For instance, Guy Julier has written about activism and the economies of design; Jesko Fezer about architecture and community making; Eeva Berglund about how to research environmental activism; Adam Drazin about design anthropology; Jussi Koitela about hospitality and interdisciplinary projects; Maija Rozenfelde about design institutions; Liene Ozoliņa about social theory; Bianca Herlo about bottom-up politics and civic infrastructures; and Alvise Mattozzi about innovation and sustainability, just to name a few key topics of expertise. 

Likewise, we are organising a series of experimental workshops and fieldtrips with local and international colleagues, exploring a wide range of issues, such as multi-species communication, mental health and indigenous rights.

As a result, Tallinn will become the European capital of Social Design in September.

Thursday, 8 September A-101

10:30 Round table: What can social design promise?

Participants: Bori Fehér (MOME Budapest), Guy Julier (Aalto), Alvise Mattozzi (Politecnico Torino), Ruth-H. Melioranski (EKA)

13:30 Open formats A-307

• Feral Tracking / Multispecies Conversari by Hermione Spriggs (UCL)
• Design for advocacy in the Global South by Nathaly Pinto (Aalto)

16:00 Field visit to Paljassaare by Andra Aaloe

Friday, 9 September A-306

10:15 Round table: When, where, with whom, what for? The social is not singular

Participants: Eeva Berglund (Aalto), Jesko Fezer (HFBK Hamburg), Bianca Herlo (UDK Berlin), Liene Ozoliņa (Latvian Academy of Culture)

13:15 Round Table: How do we evaluate interdisciplinary projects?

Participants: Adam Drazin (UCL), Jussi Koitela (Frame Finland); Maija Rozenfelde (Art Academy of Latvia), Indrek Sirkel (EKA)

15:00 Open Format: Social Design projects in EKA

• Ott Kagovere & Sandra Nuut: snail mail, redesigning the times and spaces that we give ourselves to say and understand things
• Eva Liisa Kubinyi & Maarja Mõtus, mitigating mental health problems among youth 
• Kristi Kuusk, social design for children with special needs
• Urmas Lüüs, loneliness of elderly people

16:15 Field visit to Lasnamäe by Maria Derlõš

Please, register here.

For more details, please contact:
Francisco Martínez
francisco.martinez@artun.ee / +372 58038079

This project of the Baltic-German University Liaison Office is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic Germany.

On September 6, 2022, the Estonian Academy of Arts will organize a conference analyzing the vast scope of possibilities for innovation in the era of digital reality, looking more specifically into the fields of architecture, spatial design, creativity, innovation, and design education in relation to the possibilities offered by the means of digital reality.

PROGRAM

There is no fee for the conference, but you are kindly asked to sign up in advance.

The previous conference of the Estonian Academy of Arts Faculty of Architecture dissecting digital reality took place in 2019. In the years since, the world around us has changed – many say, irreversibly.

The pandemic hit the global economy and culture with unprecedented force, forcing all to restructure our lives, businesses and leisure habits. The global wave of lockdowns catalyzed e-commerce, distance learning and work-from-home, as well as all digital platforms. Innovations in digital reality have gained momentum and have now become a source of completely new possibilities.

The concept of innovation radiates throughout the economy and culture today. It has been argued that for innovation to be radical, it must be design-based. We can trace logical steps from creativity and invention to design and innovation in our lives. It can be assumed that the design thinking that was highly promoted in recent decades was a bit premature. Only now, with the emergence of digital reality, has it become fully meaningful – through digital platforms, most human labor is being pre-designed.

At the conference, we will speculate on the future of space, architecture, creation, innovation and design education in the age of digital reality. Dr. Roberto Verganti will dissect innovation as the keynote speaker at the conference with his lecture titled “Design-Driven Innovation and Radical Invention of Arts”. Speakers include Emil Adamec (Brno University of Technology, Charles University), Gao Xu (Taiyuan University of Technology), Cheng Lu(Cardiff University), Max Eschenbach and Prof. Dr. Oliver Tessmann(Darmstadt University of Technology), Prof. Roemer van Toorn (UMA School of Architecture), Dr. Siim Tuksam (Estonian Academy of Arts) and Martin Melioranski (Estonian Academy of Arts). The sessions are moderated by Professor Toomas Tammis and Professor Dr. Andres Kurg. The panel discussion will be moderated by Dr. Jüri Soolep.

The conference takes place within the TAB Tallinn Architecture Biennale, always aimed at looking boldly into the future.

More about the conference.

The conference is supported by the Estonian Academy of Arts, the Estonian Association of Architects, the Estonian Cultural Endowment, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, and the European Regional Development Fund.

Estonian Association of Architects together with Estonian Academy of Arts and SAP Katowice are pleased to invite for an exhibition about the cycle of lectures Masters of Architecture

The opening will take place 18.08.2022  thursday|
18:00 (EEST) I Estonian Academy of Arts | Põhja pst 7
110412 Tallinn | Estonia|

The exhibition opening on the 18th of August will be followed by a polish-estonian panel discussion about the conditions of designing in both countries. Guests invited to participate are Andro Mand, At Ader, Katrin Koov, Matgorzata Pilinkiewicz and Tomas Studniarek.
The discussion will be moderated by Justyna Boduch and Wojciech Fudala.

Masters of Architecture is a series of architecture lectures organized by the Association of Polish Architects in Katowice (SARP Katowice). This special exhibition is created to sum up the historv of all the events.
The series was originated in 2004 and supposed to be a cycle of 5 lectures onlv, given by architects representing 5 biggest European capitals. The speeches about London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and Amsterdam received extremelv wide interest from local architects and architecture students. As a result, the only decision possible was to go on with organization.
The Masters of Architecture series is organized up to now and influenced the education of hundreds of architecture students who received an access to much extensive knowledge than their predecessors from post-communist era. Between 2004 and 2020, the citv of Katowice hosted 70 architects from all over the world, including winners of the most significant architecture prizes.
A moving installation consists of 70 circles, corresponding to 70 architects who visited the city of Katowice and shared their knowledge with Polish audience. All the elements of the exhibition are mobile, what encourages visitors to interact. Besides the circles with the Masters of Architecture names, the installation contains some bigger circles with architect’s portraits, together with their opinions about the city of Katowice.
An extra gesture are mirrors, located at some of the circles. When young architects are visiting the exhibition, the can see their own reflection there. Who knows, maybe
in the future the will become Masters of Architecture as well?

The event is under the Honorary Patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage prof. Piotr Glinski, the Ambassador of Poland to Estonia Gregorz Koztowski and the Mavor of Katowice Marcin Krupa.

EAL website

LMDA research institute at the Art Academy of Latvia invites You to join LMDA talks on June 15th at 6PM. 

The talk will be livestreamed on Facebook. 

15-minute presentations by invited speakers are followed by a discussion round. 

You are welcome to join!

Extended Bodies / Extended Spaces

It is through our bodies that we make sense of space. Bodies practice and enact spaces. Body-space-interfacing can lead to the creation of schemas, which we project onto our bodies. These might include the embodiment of technologies, leading to body schemas that overcome notions of inside and outside. Thus, they extend to the tip of a pencil or the outer limitations of a car. Some of these schemas, or models of thought, if you will, dissolve the boundaries between bodies and spaces—a selection of which we will be discussing in the upcoming talk. By redefining bodily ways of being and by challenging us to rethink space, these models help to reconsider how bodies and (digital) environments build relationships with one another. 

Moderator: Dr. Eva Sommeregger, senior researcher, Art Academy of Latvia

Invited Speakers:

Christina Jauernig: architect and arts-based researcher (dance, digital environments)

Johanna Jõekalda: architect and VR researcher (human spatial perception)

Valerie Messini: architect and arts-based researcher (digital environments, AI, machine learning)

Seth Weiner / Sadie Siegel: transdisciplinary artist (spatial practice, sound)

Sandra Nuut, Urmas Lüüs, Karin Vicente and Jüri Kermik talk about writing about design.

The conversation will be moderated by Taavi Hallimäe.

The discussion will be held in Estonian.

What approaches to design do we need, what do the designer need?
Who is the reader we should keep in mind when writing about design?
What kind of design should we write about at all?
What can be done with design writing, but what the design itself is not always capable of?
Do we need descriptive, evaluative, experiential, or interpretive design criticism?

The event will also introduce the new journal of the Faculty of Design of EKA, Leida the first issue of which will be published in the autumn.

Adrianus Kundert is a Dutch designer working on products and spatial design and is an enthusiastic basketry maker. Playfulness, experimentation and a delicate application of both colors and materials characterize his design language. His hands-on working method vouches for groundbreaking projects – materialized ideas twisting techniques into new crafts.

Adrianus: ”The projects I especially enjoy working on tend to push boundaries. Currently I am exploring the world of basketry and organizing my initiative Basketclub. Besides I work on product and spatial design for clients such as: Jongeriuslab, Susan Bijl, Crafts Council and Envisions.”

In this lecture Adrianus Kundert will take you on a journey through his working method, highlighting some projects that he worked on so far. With his playful and experimental approach Adrianus works on a very diverse range of projects within the scope of product design; all coming forth out of an hands-on making attitude while designing. The outcome of this process is often craft oriented, and tries to push the boundaries in an attempt to bring something new to these techniques. Recently he has been focussing on basketry, and in the lecture he will also explain more about his initiative Basketclub, that brings designers from around the world together on the theme of basketmaking. Finally, he will end the lecture by sharing his vision and what questions drive him while working on new designs.

The lecture is in English.

www.adrianuskundert.com

www.instagram.com/opblaashelicopter

https://www.instagram.com/_basketclub_/

The lecture is brought to you by EKA Accessories and Bookbinding Department

PhD Vitamin 2022 is taking place on 30-31 May 2022 in room A205 at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

PhD Vitamin is an event that brings together experts and aspiring MA students, artists and designers, who want to pursue a PhD or engage in artistic research in their professional career. The aim is both to introduce creative research and to advise potential doctoral candidates on their doctoral thesis project. The format of the event consists of open lectures by keynote speakers and EKA doctorants and one-on-one consultations.

To take part of the open lectures and consultations, register HERE.

We encourage artists and designers, alumni, and graduates of the Estonian Academy of Arts and other universities working with creative research methods to register. Registration is open until 26.05.2022. The exact consultation times will be sent directly to the provided e-mail addresses. Be quick – the number of free spots for the consultations is limited!

PhD Vitamin was first initiated in 2020 by the Faculty of Fine Arts. In 2021 it was organized as a collaboration between the faculties of fine art, design and the EKA doctoral school.

PhD Vitamin is supported by the European Regional Development Fund EKA LOOVKÄRG minigrant (2014-2020.4.01.20-0288).

If you have any questions, please contact kati.saarits@artun.ee

SCHEDULE

30.-31.05, Estonian Academy of Arts, room A205

30.01, Monday

• 09:15-10:00 Coffee and registration
• 10:00-11:00 Vytautas Michelkevicius “Everything you wanted to ask about doctoral studies but there was no chance or why you should (not) do artistic research?” – keynote
• 11:00-11:45 Marco Laimre “About analytical gaming, seriously”
• 11:45-13:00 Lunch break
• 13:00-13:45 Darja Popolitova “Two artistic research methods you haven’t heard about”
• 13:45-14:45 Panel discussion: Vytautas Michelkevicius, Marco Laimre, Darja Popolitova – moderator Raivo Kelomees
• 15:00 Consultations with Vytautas Michelkevicius

31.05, Tuesday

• 09:15-10:00 Coffee and registration
• 10:00-11:00 Teemu Mäki “What is artistic research and why should you do it?” – keynote
• 11:00-12:00 Elen Lotman “Insights on artistic research from a PhD journey” – keynote
• 12:00-12:45 Mattias-Jakob Sildnik “Registers of Disinhibition: A presentation of artistic research practice”
• 12:45-13:30 Break
• 13:30-14:30 Panel discussion: Teemu Mäki, Elen Lotman, Mattias-Jakob Sildnik – moderator Raivo Kelomees
• 15:00 Consultations with Teemu Mäki

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vytautas Michelkevičius (Lithuania) is a curator, writer and researcher whose focus was gradually shifting from photography in expanded field to media art & theory and lately to artistic research in academia and beyond. He is teaching art practice & theory BA, MA and DA/PhD students in Vilnius Academy of Arts and served as artistic director of Nida Art Colony (2010-2019). Since 2019 he is the head of Photography and Media Art Department and Doctoral Programme in the Arts in the same academy. Since 2016 he is actively working with DA/PhD students, supervising them, running courses, curating expositions and also doing research on “artistic research” (recent books “Mapping Artistic Research. Towards Diagrammatic Knowledge” (2018) and “Atlas of Diagrammatic Imagination” (together with Lina Michelkevičė, 2019). He has curated numerous symposiums and exhibitions, among them Lithuanian Pavilion in Venice Biennale (Dainius Liškevičius project “Museum”). He has edited and authored more than 10 books on art, media, artistic research and residencies.
https://vilnius.academia.edu/VytautasMichelkevicius

Teemu Mäki (Finland) is an artist, writer, theatre/opera/film director and theorist (Doctor of Fine Arts, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts 2005). Since 1990 he has been an independent, freelancing artist, except for the years 2008–2013, when he was the Professor of Fine Arts in Aalto University. He is also the chairman of The Artists’ Association of Finland. Mäki has had 59 solo exhibitions, participated in about 200 group shows, written nine books and directed and written numerous theater plays, films and operas.
www.teemumaki.com

Cinematographer Elen Lotman has shot numerous documentaries, short and feature films in Estonia, Finland, Japan, Tibet, China, Thailand, India, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Lapland and Russian Arctic. Her films have been selected and awarded at A-class film festivals like IDFA, Tampere, PÖFF, Moscow etc. She is an Associate Professor and head of artistic research in BFM. She has researched cinematography and empathy and defended her PhD “Experiential Heuristics in Feature Film Cinematography” with laudatur in 2021. Recent success of her films includes: ‘Dear Mother’ was nominated for Best Cinematography and won Best Feature Documentary at the Reel Heart FF, ‘Good Bye Soviet Union’ won the BNFF audience award, ‘Sleeping Beast’ won the BNFF Just Film Works in Progress award, screenplay ‘Container’ was a quarterfinalist at the American Film Academy Nicholl competition. Her virtual exhibition for Tallinn Art Hall was selected among 10 world’s best in New York Times and Wallpaper Magazine.

Marco Laimre (Marko Laimre before 2004) is an artist whose work includes photography, installation, sculpture, painting, performance sound art, intervention, curation and text. Laimre’s work is not stylistically coherent, nor does he have a signature style; his artistic output is concept not media based. In his art, Laimre looks at common everyday phenomena, approaching them from the perspective of the humanities. In Laimre’s work, a strategy critically targeting the textual and pictorial regime of representation is prioritised. He is fascinated by the constricting and ideological nature of photography. Laimre views language as a political, repressive and constricting phenomenon that’s inevitable and insurmountable at the same time. In 2018 Marco Laimre began his PhD studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Estonian Academy of Arts, where his research is titled “Dystopian Digital Games and Contemporary Art. How to use Analytical Digital Gaming in Contemporary Art”, thesis advisor: PhD Jaak Tomberg).

Darja Popolitova is a jewellery artist and PhD student at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She uses jewellery, digital techniques and video medium in her creative work. Popolitova is interested in topics such as haptic visuality (or how an audiovisual image of jewellery affects the viewer), social phenomena and digital culture. Popolitova was recently awarded the annual prize of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia for her provocative digital shamanic fictional exhibition.

Matthias Sildnik has graduated from the Installation and Sculpture department BA (2010) and MA (2014) at the Estonian Academy of Arts. He has also studied philosophy, semiotics and painting in the University of Tartu. His work has been exhibited in Estonia and abroad in solo and group shows. Sildnik studies the impact of networked media technology to everyday life. He uses mediums such as digital graphics, data analysis and installation as a dissociative synthesis environment. He recycles and reappropriate technologies that the information industry uses to construct digital representations of individuals and mediate subjective experiences. In this way parallel reflective systems are formed which are means of artistic research. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Art and Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts.