Open Lectures
02.05.2024
Open architecture lecture: Lara Almarcegui
he Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
On May 2, Lara Almarcegui will present in the EKA hall a lecture “Construction Rubble, Wastelands and Mining Rights: who owns the ground and who can extract it”.
The work of Lara Almarcegui poses questions about the current state of the construction, development, use, and decay of spaces that are apparently peripheral to the city. In her large- scale projects she provokes a dialogue between the different elements that make up the physical reality of the urban landscape, in its constant transformation through demolitions, excavations, construction materials, and contemporary ruins.
Reflecting on extraction for the production of space, the raw material installations by Lara Almarcegui underline the relation between the constructed, the city, who owns its geology and the ground where it is settled. To highlight the large volumes involved and the materiality of the built environment, Almarcegui made piles of the gravel extracted each day by a quarry in the city of Basel, 1 000 tons. (project commissioned by Creative Time, Messe Basel, 2018). Inventories of construction materials were carried out to analyse the origins of the built environment: Sâo Paolo is built out of 446 million tons of concrete (Sâo Paulo Biennial 2006). M+ in Hong Kong, one of the most recent major museum projects, is made of 168 938 tons of gravel.
Who owns ground and resources and who has the right to extract them? Legally, natural resources are publicly owned, but governments can grant them to mining companies in the form of exploration or extraction rights. As part of the inquiry on underneath ownership and who has the right to exploit these natural resources, Almarcegui has been acquiring exploration rights (Mineral Rights, Graz, 2015-ongoing). Tveitvangen, nearby Oslo, (2015-ongoing), the exploration mineral rights extend over an area of one square kilometre, and reach from the subsoil down to the centre of the earth.
Lara Almarcegui’s artistic practice explores the material aspects of land and urban space. She has worked in different cities, identifying abandoned, unused, or forgotten sites and examining the contemporary transformation processes brought about by social, political, and economic change. In recent years, Almarcegui has turned her attention to construction sites, in particular the composite materials used in the construction of new buildings and the cyclical relationship between land and architecture. Almarcegui represented Spain at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013).
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Open architecture lecture: Lara Almarcegui
Thursday 02 May, 2024
he Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
On May 2, Lara Almarcegui will present in the EKA hall a lecture “Construction Rubble, Wastelands and Mining Rights: who owns the ground and who can extract it”.
The work of Lara Almarcegui poses questions about the current state of the construction, development, use, and decay of spaces that are apparently peripheral to the city. In her large- scale projects she provokes a dialogue between the different elements that make up the physical reality of the urban landscape, in its constant transformation through demolitions, excavations, construction materials, and contemporary ruins.
Reflecting on extraction for the production of space, the raw material installations by Lara Almarcegui underline the relation between the constructed, the city, who owns its geology and the ground where it is settled. To highlight the large volumes involved and the materiality of the built environment, Almarcegui made piles of the gravel extracted each day by a quarry in the city of Basel, 1 000 tons. (project commissioned by Creative Time, Messe Basel, 2018). Inventories of construction materials were carried out to analyse the origins of the built environment: Sâo Paolo is built out of 446 million tons of concrete (Sâo Paulo Biennial 2006). M+ in Hong Kong, one of the most recent major museum projects, is made of 168 938 tons of gravel.
Who owns ground and resources and who has the right to extract them? Legally, natural resources are publicly owned, but governments can grant them to mining companies in the form of exploration or extraction rights. As part of the inquiry on underneath ownership and who has the right to exploit these natural resources, Almarcegui has been acquiring exploration rights (Mineral Rights, Graz, 2015-ongoing). Tveitvangen, nearby Oslo, (2015-ongoing), the exploration mineral rights extend over an area of one square kilometre, and reach from the subsoil down to the centre of the earth.
Lara Almarcegui’s artistic practice explores the material aspects of land and urban space. She has worked in different cities, identifying abandoned, unused, or forgotten sites and examining the contemporary transformation processes brought about by social, political, and economic change. In recent years, Almarcegui has turned her attention to construction sites, in particular the composite materials used in the construction of new buildings and the cyclical relationship between land and architecture. Almarcegui represented Spain at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013).
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
19.04.2024
EKA Photography 25!
On this occasion, we would like to invite you to the party on April 19 at 7 p.m. in the Botik bar (Põhjala factory, Marati 5a, Tallinn).
In the Program
19:00 Doors
19:30 A welcome by the Professor Marge Monko
20:00 Quiz – registration on the spot!
21:00 Kristjan Glück
21:30 Cake
DJs:
Ahto Külvet (Psühhoteek)
Elisa Margot Winters
Charlotte Chapuis
Taavet Kirja
Follow us:
FB: EKA Fotograafia
IG: @eka_fotograafia
EKA Photography 25!
Friday 19 April, 2024
On this occasion, we would like to invite you to the party on April 19 at 7 p.m. in the Botik bar (Põhjala factory, Marati 5a, Tallinn).
In the Program
19:00 Doors
19:30 A welcome by the Professor Marge Monko
20:00 Quiz – registration on the spot!
21:00 Kristjan Glück
21:30 Cake
DJs:
Ahto Külvet (Psühhoteek)
Elisa Margot Winters
Charlotte Chapuis
Taavet Kirja
Follow us:
FB: EKA Fotograafia
IG: @eka_fotograafia
18.04.2024
Open Architecture Lecture: Henriette Steiner
The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
On April 18, Henriette Steiner will present in the EKA hall a lecture “Before Copenhagen was “Livable”: Postmodernist Urban Development in a Time of Economic Downturn”
Henriette introduces her lecture: “Despite its limited appearances, stylistic and planning oddities, poor building quality, and current pariah status in terms of building heritage, Copenhagen’s postmodern architecture is an intrinsic part of Danish welfare architecture. With this talk, I wish to show that Copenhagen’s postmodernist development has been criticized largely for the wrong reasons, and that the period can offer alternative visions. I do this to give us a more differentiated understanding of the architecture that emerged at the turning point when Copenhagen went from being deprived and anonymous to become the image of a prosperous yet livable urban center we know today.”
Henriette Steiner is Associate Professor and Head of Section at the University of Copenhagen. She holds a PhD in history and philosophy of architecture (University of Cambridge) and works on diversity and justice in architecture and urban history often through feminist writing collectives. Recent books include Tower to Tower (with Kristin Veel, MIT Press, 2020), Touch in the Time of Corona (with Kristin Veel, De Gruyter, 2021) and Untold Stories (with Jannie Bendsen and Svava Riesto, Strandberg Publishing, 2023).
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Open Architecture Lecture: Henriette Steiner
Thursday 18 April, 2024
The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
On April 18, Henriette Steiner will present in the EKA hall a lecture “Before Copenhagen was “Livable”: Postmodernist Urban Development in a Time of Economic Downturn”
Henriette introduces her lecture: “Despite its limited appearances, stylistic and planning oddities, poor building quality, and current pariah status in terms of building heritage, Copenhagen’s postmodern architecture is an intrinsic part of Danish welfare architecture. With this talk, I wish to show that Copenhagen’s postmodernist development has been criticized largely for the wrong reasons, and that the period can offer alternative visions. I do this to give us a more differentiated understanding of the architecture that emerged at the turning point when Copenhagen went from being deprived and anonymous to become the image of a prosperous yet livable urban center we know today.”
Henriette Steiner is Associate Professor and Head of Section at the University of Copenhagen. She holds a PhD in history and philosophy of architecture (University of Cambridge) and works on diversity and justice in architecture and urban history often through feminist writing collectives. Recent books include Tower to Tower (with Kristin Veel, MIT Press, 2020), Touch in the Time of Corona (with Kristin Veel, De Gruyter, 2021) and Untold Stories (with Jannie Bendsen and Svava Riesto, Strandberg Publishing, 2023).
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
15.04.2024 — 03.05.2024
Academic Staff Competition: Public Venia Legend Lectures
In April, the public lectures of the Venia legend of the candidates for the 2024 academic staff competition will begin.
April 15 in room A-501
Associate professor of Glass Design, head of BA specialty, head of department (1.0 positions)
at 11:30 Andra Jõgi lecture “Half empty & fully full”
Associate professor of theory and history of Product Design (0.75 positions)
at 12.30 Triin Jerlei lecture “Shared and personal (time) stories in design”
April 29 in room A-501
Associate Professor of the Department of Animation (1.0 positions)
at 13.30 p.m. Lilli-Krõõt Repnau lecture “We tell ourselves stories in order to live…”
April 29 in room A-501
Professor of Textile Design (1.0 positions)
at 3 p.m. Kärt Ojavee lecture “Textiles in interludes”
April 30 in room A-501
Associate Professor of Graphic Design (0.5 positions)
at 11 Kert Viiart lecture “Research in graphic design education and practice”
Associate professor of Fashion Design (0.5 positions)
at 12 Anu Samarüütel-Long lecture “Without or with thought, in silence or in noise. The path of creation”
at 1 pm Catlin Kaljuste’s lecture “Sustainability and beautiful deeds”
May 3 in room A-501
Associate Professor of Interaction Design (0.75 positions)
at 10:30 Nesli Hazal Oktay lecture “Interaction Design of Our Future(s)”
at 11.30 Emrecan Gülay lecture “Empowering Human Creativity: Bridging the Physical and Digital Worlds in Interaction Design and Education”
at 12.30 Velvet Spors lecture “Inter-Personal, Inter-Connected, Inter-Faced: Exploring Technology as a Tool for Relationality”
Lectures for candidates for the Associate Professor of Interaction Design are in English
You are all welcome to listen!
Academic Staff Competition: Public Venia Legend Lectures
Monday 15 April, 2024 — Friday 03 May, 2024
In April, the public lectures of the Venia legend of the candidates for the 2024 academic staff competition will begin.
April 15 in room A-501
Associate professor of Glass Design, head of BA specialty, head of department (1.0 positions)
at 11:30 Andra Jõgi lecture “Half empty & fully full”
Associate professor of theory and history of Product Design (0.75 positions)
at 12.30 Triin Jerlei lecture “Shared and personal (time) stories in design”
April 29 in room A-501
Associate Professor of the Department of Animation (1.0 positions)
at 13.30 p.m. Lilli-Krõõt Repnau lecture “We tell ourselves stories in order to live…”
April 29 in room A-501
Professor of Textile Design (1.0 positions)
at 3 p.m. Kärt Ojavee lecture “Textiles in interludes”
April 30 in room A-501
Associate Professor of Graphic Design (0.5 positions)
at 11 Kert Viiart lecture “Research in graphic design education and practice”
Associate professor of Fashion Design (0.5 positions)
at 12 Anu Samarüütel-Long lecture “Without or with thought, in silence or in noise. The path of creation”
at 1 pm Catlin Kaljuste’s lecture “Sustainability and beautiful deeds”
May 3 in room A-501
Associate Professor of Interaction Design (0.75 positions)
at 10:30 Nesli Hazal Oktay lecture “Interaction Design of Our Future(s)”
at 11.30 Emrecan Gülay lecture “Empowering Human Creativity: Bridging the Physical and Digital Worlds in Interaction Design and Education”
at 12.30 Velvet Spors lecture “Inter-Personal, Inter-Connected, Inter-Faced: Exploring Technology as a Tool for Relationality”
Lectures for candidates for the Associate Professor of Interaction Design are in English
You are all welcome to listen!
02.04.2024
Open architecture lecture: Barbara Imhof
On April 2nd at 4:00 p.m., an extraordinary open lecture will be held in the open area of the 4th floor of EKA (A400).
The lecture is held in English and is open to all interested parties.
Barbara Imhof: Living Beyond Earth.
Architecture for Extreme Environments
The lecture will transport us to space and beyond, showcasing a spectrum of space architecture examples—from feasibility studies to cutting-edge technological developments. These examples include deployable simulation habitats, simulations of Mars missions in terrestrial analogs, and underwater mission simulations. Additionally, it will cover the conceptualisation and implementation of habitat modules for future space stations like the Gateway, as well as innovative greenhouses such as the EDEN ISS in Antarctica. Themes explored range from integrating biogenerative principles to envisioning self-sufficient human settlements on the moon and Mars. Throughout, the projects map the requirements of space exploration while emphasizing ecological stewardship.
Barbara Imhof serves as the co-managing director of LIQUIFER Vienna – Bremen, alongside managing partners Waltraut Hoheneder and René Waclavicek, since 2004. Their globally recognized work is featured in a recent compendium published by PARK Books. Additionally, since September 2023, Barbara has held the position of professor for Integrative Design with a focus on Extremes at the Institute of Experimental Architecture at the University in Innsbruck, Austria.
Barbara Imhof has served as a simulation astronaut at the MOONWALK simulations, participated in expeditions to Antarctica and the South Pacific, and was recently elected as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow of the Class of 2024.
Open architecture lecture: Barbara Imhof
Tuesday 02 April, 2024
On April 2nd at 4:00 p.m., an extraordinary open lecture will be held in the open area of the 4th floor of EKA (A400).
The lecture is held in English and is open to all interested parties.
Barbara Imhof: Living Beyond Earth.
Architecture for Extreme Environments
The lecture will transport us to space and beyond, showcasing a spectrum of space architecture examples—from feasibility studies to cutting-edge technological developments. These examples include deployable simulation habitats, simulations of Mars missions in terrestrial analogs, and underwater mission simulations. Additionally, it will cover the conceptualisation and implementation of habitat modules for future space stations like the Gateway, as well as innovative greenhouses such as the EDEN ISS in Antarctica. Themes explored range from integrating biogenerative principles to envisioning self-sufficient human settlements on the moon and Mars. Throughout, the projects map the requirements of space exploration while emphasizing ecological stewardship.
Barbara Imhof serves as the co-managing director of LIQUIFER Vienna – Bremen, alongside managing partners Waltraut Hoheneder and René Waclavicek, since 2004. Their globally recognized work is featured in a recent compendium published by PARK Books. Additionally, since September 2023, Barbara has held the position of professor for Integrative Design with a focus on Extremes at the Institute of Experimental Architecture at the University in Innsbruck, Austria.
Barbara Imhof has served as a simulation astronaut at the MOONWALK simulations, participated in expeditions to Antarctica and the South Pacific, and was recently elected as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow of the Class of 2024.
04.04.2024
Open Architecture Lecture: Oulimata Gueye
The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
On April 4, Oulimata Gueye will hold in the EKA hall a lecture UFA, Université des Futurs Africains #2. It Matters What Stories We Tell to Tell Other Stories of the Future
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
Oulimata Gueye is a Senegalese and French critic and curator interested in the uses of digital technologies in Africa and within its diasporas. “My research focuses on the future as an historical construction and the place occupied by Africa in this construction. I go back in time to understand the role of colonization in shaping the visions of the future that were to develop in the West, and how these conceptions are still prevalent today. As part of a curatorial approach to this research, I present the work of researchers, artists and architects who take a critical look at history and imagine alternatives scenarios for the future of the Continent. Following the exhibition UFA, Université des Futurs Africains (University of African Futures) I now develop a new aspect of this research by focusing on architecture.”
She co-directed the book Digital Imaginaries, African Positions Beyond Binaries (ZKM-Kerber, 2021) and curated the exhibition UFA, Université des Futurs Africains (Le Lieu Unique, 2021). Gueye teaches at and directs the Art post-graduate program at the École Nationale des Beaux Arts de Lyon. She was a visiting scholar at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (2023).
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Open Architecture Lecture: Oulimata Gueye
Thursday 04 April, 2024
The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
On April 4, Oulimata Gueye will hold in the EKA hall a lecture UFA, Université des Futurs Africains #2. It Matters What Stories We Tell to Tell Other Stories of the Future
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
Oulimata Gueye is a Senegalese and French critic and curator interested in the uses of digital technologies in Africa and within its diasporas. “My research focuses on the future as an historical construction and the place occupied by Africa in this construction. I go back in time to understand the role of colonization in shaping the visions of the future that were to develop in the West, and how these conceptions are still prevalent today. As part of a curatorial approach to this research, I present the work of researchers, artists and architects who take a critical look at history and imagine alternatives scenarios for the future of the Continent. Following the exhibition UFA, Université des Futurs Africains (University of African Futures) I now develop a new aspect of this research by focusing on architecture.”
She co-directed the book Digital Imaginaries, African Positions Beyond Binaries (ZKM-Kerber, 2021) and curated the exhibition UFA, Université des Futurs Africains (Le Lieu Unique, 2021). Gueye teaches at and directs the Art post-graduate program at the École Nationale des Beaux Arts de Lyon. She was a visiting scholar at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (2023).
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
25.03.2024
Public Seminar: Uncomfortable Herstories. The cases of Hella Wuolijoki and Asja Lācis
Presenters: Jaana Kokko, Andris Brinkmanis
Respondents: Anu Allas, Airi Triisberg
Moderators: Margaret Tali, Ieva Astahovska
The political past, like the present, is often uncomfortable. In this public seminar we will revisit the lives and artistic work of two politically active women in order to rethink how we could open the discomfort their lives introduce and unpack it by focusing on two herstories, those of Hella Wuolijoki (1886–1954) and Asja Lācis (1891–1979). Our aim is to think through how we could turn this discomfort into a starting point. We will inquire whether a comparative perspective on these artists’ lives and works could help shift the view of their left-wing ideas and related engagements, asking how can we reengage with their uncomfortable and marginalized intellectual and creative legacies, allowing for a richer and more complex view of the circumstances and transnational connections. How can we understand and contextualize the discomfort and threats they faced during their careers? Could understanding the connections between their lives and art offer more nuanced and connected ways of grasping, on the one hand, the long and porous 20th century, and on the other, new ways of understanding artistic practice today?
Hella Wuolijoki (born Ella Murrik) was an active figure in Finnish cultural, economic, and political life. Born in Helme in Estonia into an upper-class family in 1886, she moved to Finland in 1904 to study at the University of Helsinki, which had enabled university education for women from 1901. Internationally, Wuolijoki’s most well-known literary work is the play Mr. Puntila and his Man Matti, which she co-authored with Berthold Brecht in 1940. Her autobiographical trilogy, which includes Schoolgirl in Tartu and Student Years in Helsinki, which were written at Katajanokka prison in 1944, where she was held as a traitor. In these texts, Wuolijoki describes violent moments in her parents’ garden in Valga after the 1905 revolution; witnessing the purge that followed sparked her interest in class equality and historical materialism. As an artist Jaana Kokko is particularly interested in this change and the related intense personal experiences.
Asja Lācis (or Anna Lāce) was a Latvian theater director, actress, pedagogue, theorist, tireless seeker, and experimenter who went on to become an intermediary between the German, Latvian, and Russian avant-garde cultures. The topography of her life connects all the focal points of early 20th-century Europe. With her experience, vivid personality, and broad knowledge, she collaborated with and inspired Brecht and Walter Benjamin, among many others. Almost forgotten and sometimes deliberately omitted, the work of Lācis became better known in the west in the 1960s. She is recognized internationally for her innovative work with homeless children as well as for her approach to and methods for working with children’s film and theater, proletarian theater, and amateur actors. She has published German Revolutionary Theater (1935) and Children & Cinema (1928, in collaboration). Lācis’ archival materials, curated by Andris Brinkmanis, were exhibited in Documenta 14 (2017) in Kassel, Germany.
Everyone is welcome to join us and contribute to the discussion!
Jaana Kokko is an artist, filmmaker, and teacher based in Helsinki, whose background is in arts and economics. She is interested in the languages and places/spaces of individuals in which the singularity of experience opens onto the collective and its historicity in ways that allow us to reflect on the ethical, political, and aesthetic dimensions of not only self-representation but also life itself as something shared. Currently, she is working on two films, both located on the peripheries, where she is trying to shift the gaze to the outskirts of the seen and heard.
Andris Brinkmanis is an art critic and curator, born in Riga and based in Brunate and Milan. He is a Senior Lecturer and the Course Leader of the BA in Painting and Visual Arts at NABA in Milan and Visiting Professor for the Art Academy of Latvia Curatorial Course. In 2021, he curated and edited the book Asja Lācis. L’agitatrice rossa. Teatro, femminismo, arte e rivoluzione (Meltemi, 2021).
The seminar and workshop take place in the framework of Communicating Difficult Pasts (2019–2024) and are organized in collaboration of MACA and Institute of Art History and Visual Culture.
Public Seminar: Uncomfortable Herstories. The cases of Hella Wuolijoki and Asja Lācis
Monday 25 March, 2024
Presenters: Jaana Kokko, Andris Brinkmanis
Respondents: Anu Allas, Airi Triisberg
Moderators: Margaret Tali, Ieva Astahovska
The political past, like the present, is often uncomfortable. In this public seminar we will revisit the lives and artistic work of two politically active women in order to rethink how we could open the discomfort their lives introduce and unpack it by focusing on two herstories, those of Hella Wuolijoki (1886–1954) and Asja Lācis (1891–1979). Our aim is to think through how we could turn this discomfort into a starting point. We will inquire whether a comparative perspective on these artists’ lives and works could help shift the view of their left-wing ideas and related engagements, asking how can we reengage with their uncomfortable and marginalized intellectual and creative legacies, allowing for a richer and more complex view of the circumstances and transnational connections. How can we understand and contextualize the discomfort and threats they faced during their careers? Could understanding the connections between their lives and art offer more nuanced and connected ways of grasping, on the one hand, the long and porous 20th century, and on the other, new ways of understanding artistic practice today?
Hella Wuolijoki (born Ella Murrik) was an active figure in Finnish cultural, economic, and political life. Born in Helme in Estonia into an upper-class family in 1886, she moved to Finland in 1904 to study at the University of Helsinki, which had enabled university education for women from 1901. Internationally, Wuolijoki’s most well-known literary work is the play Mr. Puntila and his Man Matti, which she co-authored with Berthold Brecht in 1940. Her autobiographical trilogy, which includes Schoolgirl in Tartu and Student Years in Helsinki, which were written at Katajanokka prison in 1944, where she was held as a traitor. In these texts, Wuolijoki describes violent moments in her parents’ garden in Valga after the 1905 revolution; witnessing the purge that followed sparked her interest in class equality and historical materialism. As an artist Jaana Kokko is particularly interested in this change and the related intense personal experiences.
Asja Lācis (or Anna Lāce) was a Latvian theater director, actress, pedagogue, theorist, tireless seeker, and experimenter who went on to become an intermediary between the German, Latvian, and Russian avant-garde cultures. The topography of her life connects all the focal points of early 20th-century Europe. With her experience, vivid personality, and broad knowledge, she collaborated with and inspired Brecht and Walter Benjamin, among many others. Almost forgotten and sometimes deliberately omitted, the work of Lācis became better known in the west in the 1960s. She is recognized internationally for her innovative work with homeless children as well as for her approach to and methods for working with children’s film and theater, proletarian theater, and amateur actors. She has published German Revolutionary Theater (1935) and Children & Cinema (1928, in collaboration). Lācis’ archival materials, curated by Andris Brinkmanis, were exhibited in Documenta 14 (2017) in Kassel, Germany.
Everyone is welcome to join us and contribute to the discussion!
Jaana Kokko is an artist, filmmaker, and teacher based in Helsinki, whose background is in arts and economics. She is interested in the languages and places/spaces of individuals in which the singularity of experience opens onto the collective and its historicity in ways that allow us to reflect on the ethical, political, and aesthetic dimensions of not only self-representation but also life itself as something shared. Currently, she is working on two films, both located on the peripheries, where she is trying to shift the gaze to the outskirts of the seen and heard.
Andris Brinkmanis is an art critic and curator, born in Riga and based in Brunate and Milan. He is a Senior Lecturer and the Course Leader of the BA in Painting and Visual Arts at NABA in Milan and Visiting Professor for the Art Academy of Latvia Curatorial Course. In 2021, he curated and edited the book Asja Lācis. L’agitatrice rossa. Teatro, femminismo, arte e rivoluzione (Meltemi, 2021).
The seminar and workshop take place in the framework of Communicating Difficult Pasts (2019–2024) and are organized in collaboration of MACA and Institute of Art History and Visual Culture.
19.04.2024
Panel Discussion “From Present to Future: The Journey of Digital Theatre”
We invite you to a panel discussion inspired by the article “From Past to Present: The Journey of Technological Theatre” by R. Kelomees, T. Jansen, and P. Hoppu. The article discusses how technological innovation has been essential in developing theater and the visual arts since the “beginning of time.” Moderated by digital theater researcher Katie Hawthorne, the event promises to be an engaging discussion about the potential and shortcomings of digital technologies in the contemporary world and how this might affect theater and contemporary art more extensively. A moderated panel discussion will follow short presentations by Raivo Kelomees, Taavet Jansen and Liina Keevallik.
This mini-conference is part of the project Acute, Culture Testbeds for Performing Arts and New Technology, which focuses on the development of performing arts and new technologies and is also part of the satellite program of the New European Bauhaus Festival. Together, we will rethink the role of theater and art in our shared space, discuss how technology and art can connect people in these challenging times, and question the important issues that surround us.
The event take place at Estonian Academy of Arts on April 19th at 4pm(EET), room A101 and will be livestreamed in EKA Youtube.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EYJ93CEUaw
SPEAKERS
Taavet Jansen is an artist and researcher at the intersection of performing arts and technology. He has a rich background in theatre, creative coding, digital arts, and teaching. Taavet studied at Tallinn University and completed a Master’s in Choreography and New Media at the Theater School in Amsterdam. He is a doctoral student at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Art and Design and a multimedia lecturer at the University of Tartu Viljandi Cultural Academy. In recent years, Taavet has focused on digitally mediated performance art as a researcher and creator. He is one of the founders of the interdisciplinary art platform e⁻lektron and the technological art network MIMproject. As a researcher, he has been involved as PI in research projects such as “INDEX—Reconnecting the digital audience with the creative team in the online events” and “Online theatre as a research tool,” both of which focus on online theatre through the development of interaction tools that allow real-time audience feedback. His creative work spans a range of theatrical performances, installations, and media design projects where he has been blending his artistic expression with technological innovations. Recent works include “Held in Human,” “Memento,” and “Wolves,” all of which explore interactive digital performances. Taavet’s academic publications explore the confluence of technology and the performing arts, underscoring his commitment to advancing the field through research and interdisciplinary collaboration. Taavet Jansen’s career embodies a dedication to enhancing the performing arts through technological innovation and research to understand and improve audience engagement in digital spaces.
Raivo Kelomees, PhD (art history), is an artist, art historian and new media researcher. He
studied psychology, art history and design in Tartu University and the Academy of Arts in
Tallinn. He is senior researcher at the Fine Arts Faculty at the Estonian Academy of Arts and
professor at the Pallas University of Applied Sciences. Kelomees is author of Surrealism
(Kunst Publishers, 1993) and article collections Screen as a Membrane (Tartu Art College
proceedings, 2007) and Social Games in Art Space (EAA, 2013). His doctoral thesis is
Postmateriality in Art. Indeterministic Art Practices and Non-Material Art (Dissertationes
Academiae Artium Estoniae 3, 2009). Together with Chris Hales he edited the collection of
articles Constructing Narrative in Interactive Documentaries (Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, 2014). In collaboration with Varvara Guljajeva and Oliver Laas he edited the
collection of articles The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI (EKA Press, 2022).
Katie Hawthorne is a researcher based in Scotland. She is an alumna of the Academy for Theatre and Digitality’s fellowship programme and became a member of staff at the Academy in 2022, with a role focussed on the documentation and dissemination of research. Katie is the author of the first cross-European study Digital Theatre: Digital Strategies and Business Models in European Theatre (2023), commissioned by the European Theatre Convention and first presented at the European Theatre Forum in Opole, Poland. The study drew on her Ph.D research, completed at the University of Edinburgh in 2022, which explored how ‘liveness’ in theatre and performance is evolving through the use of digital tools and technologies. She has given papers at a host of international conferences and institutions, including the IFTR in Shanghai and TaPRA in Exeter, and authored a chapter on the Berliner Theatertreffen in the Edinburgh German Yearbook in 2021. Katie is also an accomplished freelance journalist, and regularly contributes to publications including The Guardian and The Scotsman.
Liina Keevallik, PhD, has studied scenography at Estonian Academy of Arts and holds a PhD from the University Paris 8. She has done set and costume designs in Estonian theatres as well as abroad (France, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Lithuania), her works ranging from big operas to underground avant-garde. She has also written and directed visual performances. Her latest creations merging art and scientific research are Cloud Opera (2019), juxtaposing data clouds and atmospheric clouds; and It’s Time to Fight Reality Once More. Sentimental Education for Robots (2021), a play written by AI, performed and improvised by robots. She has also designed feature and puppet films and directed short films and documentaries; written texts for theatre, song lyrics and film scripts. She currently works as a freelance scenographer in Paris and Tallinn, pursues her research at BFM (University of Tallinn) and teaches scenography at Estonian Academy of Arts. She has participated in the international media archaeological research project Deceptive Arts (Les Arts Trompeurs); an artistic research project collaborating with AI Machine Acts and she has created the pre-cinema department of the Estonian Film Museum.
Panel Discussion “From Present to Future: The Journey of Digital Theatre”
Friday 19 April, 2024
We invite you to a panel discussion inspired by the article “From Past to Present: The Journey of Technological Theatre” by R. Kelomees, T. Jansen, and P. Hoppu. The article discusses how technological innovation has been essential in developing theater and the visual arts since the “beginning of time.” Moderated by digital theater researcher Katie Hawthorne, the event promises to be an engaging discussion about the potential and shortcomings of digital technologies in the contemporary world and how this might affect theater and contemporary art more extensively. A moderated panel discussion will follow short presentations by Raivo Kelomees, Taavet Jansen and Liina Keevallik.
This mini-conference is part of the project Acute, Culture Testbeds for Performing Arts and New Technology, which focuses on the development of performing arts and new technologies and is also part of the satellite program of the New European Bauhaus Festival. Together, we will rethink the role of theater and art in our shared space, discuss how technology and art can connect people in these challenging times, and question the important issues that surround us.
The event take place at Estonian Academy of Arts on April 19th at 4pm(EET), room A101 and will be livestreamed in EKA Youtube.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EYJ93CEUaw
SPEAKERS
Taavet Jansen is an artist and researcher at the intersection of performing arts and technology. He has a rich background in theatre, creative coding, digital arts, and teaching. Taavet studied at Tallinn University and completed a Master’s in Choreography and New Media at the Theater School in Amsterdam. He is a doctoral student at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Art and Design and a multimedia lecturer at the University of Tartu Viljandi Cultural Academy. In recent years, Taavet has focused on digitally mediated performance art as a researcher and creator. He is one of the founders of the interdisciplinary art platform e⁻lektron and the technological art network MIMproject. As a researcher, he has been involved as PI in research projects such as “INDEX—Reconnecting the digital audience with the creative team in the online events” and “Online theatre as a research tool,” both of which focus on online theatre through the development of interaction tools that allow real-time audience feedback. His creative work spans a range of theatrical performances, installations, and media design projects where he has been blending his artistic expression with technological innovations. Recent works include “Held in Human,” “Memento,” and “Wolves,” all of which explore interactive digital performances. Taavet’s academic publications explore the confluence of technology and the performing arts, underscoring his commitment to advancing the field through research and interdisciplinary collaboration. Taavet Jansen’s career embodies a dedication to enhancing the performing arts through technological innovation and research to understand and improve audience engagement in digital spaces.
Raivo Kelomees, PhD (art history), is an artist, art historian and new media researcher. He
studied psychology, art history and design in Tartu University and the Academy of Arts in
Tallinn. He is senior researcher at the Fine Arts Faculty at the Estonian Academy of Arts and
professor at the Pallas University of Applied Sciences. Kelomees is author of Surrealism
(Kunst Publishers, 1993) and article collections Screen as a Membrane (Tartu Art College
proceedings, 2007) and Social Games in Art Space (EAA, 2013). His doctoral thesis is
Postmateriality in Art. Indeterministic Art Practices and Non-Material Art (Dissertationes
Academiae Artium Estoniae 3, 2009). Together with Chris Hales he edited the collection of
articles Constructing Narrative in Interactive Documentaries (Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, 2014). In collaboration with Varvara Guljajeva and Oliver Laas he edited the
collection of articles The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI (EKA Press, 2022).
Katie Hawthorne is a researcher based in Scotland. She is an alumna of the Academy for Theatre and Digitality’s fellowship programme and became a member of staff at the Academy in 2022, with a role focussed on the documentation and dissemination of research. Katie is the author of the first cross-European study Digital Theatre: Digital Strategies and Business Models in European Theatre (2023), commissioned by the European Theatre Convention and first presented at the European Theatre Forum in Opole, Poland. The study drew on her Ph.D research, completed at the University of Edinburgh in 2022, which explored how ‘liveness’ in theatre and performance is evolving through the use of digital tools and technologies. She has given papers at a host of international conferences and institutions, including the IFTR in Shanghai and TaPRA in Exeter, and authored a chapter on the Berliner Theatertreffen in the Edinburgh German Yearbook in 2021. Katie is also an accomplished freelance journalist, and regularly contributes to publications including The Guardian and The Scotsman.
Liina Keevallik, PhD, has studied scenography at Estonian Academy of Arts and holds a PhD from the University Paris 8. She has done set and costume designs in Estonian theatres as well as abroad (France, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Lithuania), her works ranging from big operas to underground avant-garde. She has also written and directed visual performances. Her latest creations merging art and scientific research are Cloud Opera (2019), juxtaposing data clouds and atmospheric clouds; and It’s Time to Fight Reality Once More. Sentimental Education for Robots (2021), a play written by AI, performed and improvised by robots. She has also designed feature and puppet films and directed short films and documentaries; written texts for theatre, song lyrics and film scripts. She currently works as a freelance scenographer in Paris and Tallinn, pursues her research at BFM (University of Tallinn) and teaches scenography at Estonian Academy of Arts. She has participated in the international media archaeological research project Deceptive Arts (Les Arts Trompeurs); an artistic research project collaborating with AI Machine Acts and she has created the pre-cinema department of the Estonian Film Museum.
14.03.2024
Open architecture lecture: Jess Myers
The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
Jess Myers will be the first to take the stage on March 14 in the EKA hall with the lecture Sound and the Built Environment: Unlearning the Visual Regime
In her lecture, Myers will propose sound studies as a critical framework for urban and architectural analysis. Myers challenges architecture’s exclusive relationship with visual communication and proposes instead a practice of “listening.” Myers will make the case for architects’ ears, for how they can be attuned to the soundscapes of the built environment and how a practice of “listening” might impact the dynamics of power in shared and personal space.
Jess Myers is an urbanist and assistant professor of architecture at Syracuse University whose practice includes work as an editor, writer, podcaster, and curator. Her podcast Here There Be Dragons examines the impact of security narratives on urban planning through the eyes of city residents. She holds a BA in Architecture (Princeton University) and a Masters of City Planning (MIT). Her writing can be found in The Architect’s Newspaper, Log, l’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Avery Review, The Architectural Review, Places and Dwell.
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers (architect, Syracuse University)
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye (curator, Pariis)
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner (architectural historian, Copenhagen University)
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui (artist, Rotterdam)
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Open architecture lecture: Jess Myers
Thursday 14 March, 2024
The Open Lecture series of the EKA Faculty of Architecture will take place in the spring of 2024 under the general title Unlearning.
The lecture series aims to engage with values, imaginaries and systems of knowledge that shape the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism. Unlearning is coordinated by Maroš Krivý, professor of Urban Studies.
According to Gayatri Spivak, for example, unlearning concerns not only what is said, but also what is not said as part of an ideological formation. There is now a broad push to transform design from a practice subservient to elite interests to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary practice capable of responding to a range of social and environmental urgencies. As part of this transformation, the four lectures engage with existing architectural imaginaries while proposing alternative ones.
Jess Myers will be the first to take the stage on March 14 in the EKA hall with the lecture Sound and the Built Environment: Unlearning the Visual Regime
In her lecture, Myers will propose sound studies as a critical framework for urban and architectural analysis. Myers challenges architecture’s exclusive relationship with visual communication and proposes instead a practice of “listening.” Myers will make the case for architects’ ears, for how they can be attuned to the soundscapes of the built environment and how a practice of “listening” might impact the dynamics of power in shared and personal space.
Jess Myers is an urbanist and assistant professor of architecture at Syracuse University whose practice includes work as an editor, writer, podcaster, and curator. Her podcast Here There Be Dragons examines the impact of security narratives on urban planning through the eyes of city residents. She holds a BA in Architecture (Princeton University) and a Masters of City Planning (MIT). Her writing can be found in The Architect’s Newspaper, Log, l’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Avery Review, The Architectural Review, Places and Dwell.
The lectures are intended for all disciplines, not only for students and professionals in the field of architecture.
All lectures are held on Thursdays at 6 pm in the EKA main auditorium. All lectures are in English and free of charge.
Schedule of the spring lectures:
March 14 at 6 pm Jess Myers (architect, Syracuse University)
April 4 at 6 pm Oulimata Gueye (curator, Pariis)
April 18 at 6 pm Henriette Steiner (architectural historian, Copenhagen University)
May 2 at 6 pm Lara Almárcegui (artist, Rotterdam)
Within the framework of a series of open lectures, the Faculty of Architecture of EKA presents a dozen unique practitioners and valued theorists in the field in Tallinn every academic year. See all the lectures: www.avatudloengud.ee
The lecture series is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
04.03.2024 — 05.03.2024
PHD VITAMIN 2024
On March 4th and 5th, the PhD Vitamin event will once again be hosted at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
PhD Vitamin aims to support and pave the way – and inspire artists with a research approach on their way to doctoral studies. The goal is to introduce artistic research and advise potential candidates for postgraduate studies in planning a doctoral thesis project. In a program consisting of public lectures and one-on-one consultations, artists and experts discuss their approach to artistic research and share individual advice.
This year’s conference will focus on the problem of public space and its art. How can we decide what would be visible to all?
How do ethical challenges, the responsibility of the artist, historical and political issues and the authorship rights intertwine? What are the possibilities for artists to contribute to shaping past-present-future through the political aesthetics of public space? During the ongoing war in Ukraine, questions of what to do with the ‘red monuments’ left in the public space have come to the fore in Estonia. The debate is part of a global discourse that includes the Black Lives Matter movement. It touches on our social environment and tests our ability to ‘be good’.
Artists, designers, alumni of EKA and other creative universities, and graduate students interested in artistic research methods are invited to participate.
PROGRAMME
March 4th, Monday, room A501
10:00 -10:30 Coffee and welcome
10:30 -11:15 Victoria Fareld “Responsibility in a Polychronic Present”
11:15 -11:45 Kristina Norman “Looking Back at After-War (2009) During the War”
Lunch break
12:30-13:15 Esther Shalev-Gerz “From the Monument Against Fascism to The Shadow”
13:15-13:45 Gregor Taul “Monumental Trouble”
Coffee break
14.00-14:45 Moderated discussion: Victoria Fareld, Esther Shalev-Gerz, Gregor Taul, Kristina Norman, moderator Kirke Kangro.
March 5th, Tuesday, room A501
10:00-12:00 Individual consultations with Victoria Fareld and Esther Shalev-Gerz
SPEAKERS
Esther Shalev-Gerz, based in Paris, is internationally recognized for her seminal contributions to the field of art in the public realm and her consistent investigation into the construction of memory, history, the natural world, democracy and cultural identities. Her works challenge the notion and practice of portraiture and consider how its qualities may contribute to contemporary discourse about the politics of representation. Her monuments, installations, photography, video and public sculpture are developed through active dialogue, consultation and negotiation with people whose participation provides an emphasis to their individual and collective memories, accounts, opinions and experiences which then become both represented and considered.
Victoria Fareld is professor of intellectual history at Stockholm university in Sweden. Her research revolves around questions of historical guilt, responsibility and historical temporalities.
Gregor Taul is a lecturer, critic and curator. He has studied semiotics at Tartu University and art history at the Estonian Academy of Arts and is about to defend his PhD thesis on art in public space in the Baltics. He is currently working as a lecturer at the General Theory and Interior Architecture departments at EKA.
Kristina Norman, based in Tallinn, is an artist whose interdisciplinary work includes video installations, sculpture, and projects in the city space, as well as documentaries and performance. She is interested in the issues of collective memory and forgetting, the memorial uses of the public space, but also the subtle sphere of the body politics that transgresses the boundaries between the public and the private. In 2009 she represented Estonia at the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia with a solo project, a multilayered mixed media installation After-War. The project was a study of a conflict around the relocation of a Soviet monument in Tallinn. In 2022 Norman represented Estonia at the 59th Venice Biennial within an ecocritical exhibition Orchidelirium. An Appetite For Abundance. Norman’s experimental film trilogy commissioned for the Pavilion, offers multiple ways to reflect on the legacies of colonialism from a specific Eastern European perspective.
The event will be held in English.
Please registrate through following LINK.
To participate in individual consultation to discuss your PhD proposal, please fill out the FORM. A detailed consultation schedule will be sent to your email after registration. Be quick – the number of participants in consultations is limited!
Additional info: kati.saarits@artun.ee
PHD VITAMIN 2024
Monday 04 March, 2024 — Tuesday 05 March, 2024
On March 4th and 5th, the PhD Vitamin event will once again be hosted at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
PhD Vitamin aims to support and pave the way – and inspire artists with a research approach on their way to doctoral studies. The goal is to introduce artistic research and advise potential candidates for postgraduate studies in planning a doctoral thesis project. In a program consisting of public lectures and one-on-one consultations, artists and experts discuss their approach to artistic research and share individual advice.
This year’s conference will focus on the problem of public space and its art. How can we decide what would be visible to all?
How do ethical challenges, the responsibility of the artist, historical and political issues and the authorship rights intertwine? What are the possibilities for artists to contribute to shaping past-present-future through the political aesthetics of public space? During the ongoing war in Ukraine, questions of what to do with the ‘red monuments’ left in the public space have come to the fore in Estonia. The debate is part of a global discourse that includes the Black Lives Matter movement. It touches on our social environment and tests our ability to ‘be good’.
Artists, designers, alumni of EKA and other creative universities, and graduate students interested in artistic research methods are invited to participate.
PROGRAMME
March 4th, Monday, room A501
10:00 -10:30 Coffee and welcome
10:30 -11:15 Victoria Fareld “Responsibility in a Polychronic Present”
11:15 -11:45 Kristina Norman “Looking Back at After-War (2009) During the War”
Lunch break
12:30-13:15 Esther Shalev-Gerz “From the Monument Against Fascism to The Shadow”
13:15-13:45 Gregor Taul “Monumental Trouble”
Coffee break
14.00-14:45 Moderated discussion: Victoria Fareld, Esther Shalev-Gerz, Gregor Taul, Kristina Norman, moderator Kirke Kangro.
March 5th, Tuesday, room A501
10:00-12:00 Individual consultations with Victoria Fareld and Esther Shalev-Gerz
SPEAKERS
Esther Shalev-Gerz, based in Paris, is internationally recognized for her seminal contributions to the field of art in the public realm and her consistent investigation into the construction of memory, history, the natural world, democracy and cultural identities. Her works challenge the notion and practice of portraiture and consider how its qualities may contribute to contemporary discourse about the politics of representation. Her monuments, installations, photography, video and public sculpture are developed through active dialogue, consultation and negotiation with people whose participation provides an emphasis to their individual and collective memories, accounts, opinions and experiences which then become both represented and considered.
Victoria Fareld is professor of intellectual history at Stockholm university in Sweden. Her research revolves around questions of historical guilt, responsibility and historical temporalities.
Gregor Taul is a lecturer, critic and curator. He has studied semiotics at Tartu University and art history at the Estonian Academy of Arts and is about to defend his PhD thesis on art in public space in the Baltics. He is currently working as a lecturer at the General Theory and Interior Architecture departments at EKA.
Kristina Norman, based in Tallinn, is an artist whose interdisciplinary work includes video installations, sculpture, and projects in the city space, as well as documentaries and performance. She is interested in the issues of collective memory and forgetting, the memorial uses of the public space, but also the subtle sphere of the body politics that transgresses the boundaries between the public and the private. In 2009 she represented Estonia at the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia with a solo project, a multilayered mixed media installation After-War. The project was a study of a conflict around the relocation of a Soviet monument in Tallinn. In 2022 Norman represented Estonia at the 59th Venice Biennial within an ecocritical exhibition Orchidelirium. An Appetite For Abundance. Norman’s experimental film trilogy commissioned for the Pavilion, offers multiple ways to reflect on the legacies of colonialism from a specific Eastern European perspective.
The event will be held in English.
Please registrate through following LINK.
To participate in individual consultation to discuss your PhD proposal, please fill out the FORM. A detailed consultation schedule will be sent to your email after registration. Be quick – the number of participants in consultations is limited!
Additional info: kati.saarits@artun.ee