Category: Contemporary Art

NB! Viewing/listening to festival installations during the day is free, tickets are available only for evening concerts.

Video games

The Estonian Academy of Arts and Videogames in Arts Lab presents:
Experimental Art Landscapes

Discover the experimental world envisioned by students from the Estonian Academy of Arts — an immersive blend of visual and sound art that offers a unique interactive experience. The Showcase is a new project from EKA that experiments with video games as a medium for artistic expression. It is a unique opportunity to see how the next wave of artists blurs the lines between game design and art.

Course supervisors:
Taavi Varm, Camille Laurelli and Sten Saarits

Students:
Anette Jaaniso, Caroline Pajusaar, Daria Luchinina Gregor Ojaveer, Hans Ermast, Kadi Rebane, Kirke Mari Päll, Léo Mourey, Mariia Koloskova, Ramas Ramales, Sander Klein

Video Mapping 

The Estonian Academy of Arts and “Spatial Motion Design” course presents: 

EKA’s fourth-year Visual Communication students are creating a unique video mapping installation in the basement of the Vene Theater. A unique feature of the installation is that the architectural details of the room – be it wall ornaments or window arches – have become part of the artwork’s narrative. The video is not simply projected onto the surface, but it follows and interacts with the specific features of the space, giving the viewer the impression that the moving video image and the physical space merge seamlessly. This guides and inspires the students’ creative process and provides an extraordinary experience for the audience.

Course supervisor:
Taavi Varm

Students:
Mariliis Haljasorg, Anita Juga, Hedy Lehtmets, Kristin Made, Eva Pogoretski, Annaliisa Roots, Rait Sohkin, Anna Maria Toss, Silver Tõnisson, Artjom Šõšov, Karolina Kapinus

Music:
Stonefromthesky albumilt Zero Origin – Ground Zero (Ukraine)

Open Mon-Sat at 15.00-18.00

December brings an opportunity to experience, in an exhibition format, works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects: every day there will be a fresh crop of university students’ works on display in the gallery.

Works in contemporary art, prints, installation, sculpture and painting curricula will be on display. On each morning of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

SCHEDULE

01—02.12 Scenography, supervisor Mark Raidpere

04.12 Photography, supervisor Paul Kuimet

05.12 Drawing, supervisor Eero Alev

06.12 Painting, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja, Karl-Kristjan Nagel

07.12 Painting, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja, Anna Škodenko

08.12 Sculpture, supervisor Taavi Talve, Laura Põld

09.12 Drawing, supervisor Britta Benno

11.12 Graphic Art, supervisors Charlotte Biszewski, Heta Jäälinoja, Viktor Gurov, Katrin Kaev, Caroline Pajusaar, Liina Siib, Taavi Suisalu

12.12 Graphic Art, supervisors Kadi Kurema, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Charlotte Biszewski, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, Eve Kaaret

13.12 Scenography, supervisor Tomo Stanič

14—15.12 Contemporary Art, supervisors Charlotte Emma Biszewski, Paul Kuimet, Camille Antoine Laurelli, Holger Loodus, Laura Põld, David Ross, Taavi Talve, Jaan Toomik, Anu Vahtra, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo

16.12 Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Vladimir Dubossarsky, Mart Vainre

18—19.12 Contemporary Art, supervisors Charlotte Emma Biszewski, Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Maris Karjatse, Camille Antoine Laurelli, Laura Põld, David Ross, Sten Saarits, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Jaan Toomik, Anu Vahtra

20.12 Photography, supervisor Anna Mari Liivrand

Critic and film curator Genevieve Yue (USA) will give an open lecture “Girl head: Feminism and Film Materiality” at 17.30 on November 20 in auditorium A-101, EKA.

Genevieve Yue is one of the curators of the artist film programme “Polar Coordinates” by Tallinn Photomonth, screened at PÖFF Expanded 2023 in Tallinn.

Genevieve Yue’s recent book Girl Head: Feminism and Film Materiality (Fordham University Press, 2020) explores how gender and sexual difference have been deeply embedded within film materiality. In rich archival and technical detail, Yue examines three sites of technical film production: the film laboratory, editing practices and the film archive. Within each site, she locates a common motif, the vanishing female body, which is transformed into material to be used in the making of a film. This talk will explore the book’s theory of gender and film materiality through readings of narrative film, early cinema, experimental film and moving image art.

Genevieve Yue is an associate professor of culture and media and director of the Screen Studies program at the New School.
She has programmed films at Anthology Film Archives, Metrograph, MassArt, and other venues.
Her essays and criticism have appeared in Mubi, Film Comment, Film Quarterly, and Reverse Shot, and she is author of Girl Head: Feminism and Film Materiality (Fordham University Press, 2021). She is based in New York City.

The lecture is organised in collaboration of Tallinn Photomonth and Contemporary Art MA program, EKA.

Additional information on Tallinn Photomonth’s film program: https://mailchi.mp/fotokuu/tallinn-photomonth-23-film-programme

On Friday, 17 November at 5:00 p.m. Keiu Maasik will open her solo exhibition “Meadows of Change, a Place Called Home” in the monumental gallery of the Tartu Art House. 

The exhibition is about life in virtual reality and reflects on the possibility that human life may move there in the future. It also deals with the fear that this could happen and what we as humans would lose as a result.

For the past few years, the artist buried herself in the world of computer games and spent as much of her free time as possible in the virtual world. It seemed to be an acceptable thought exercise for her that in the future human life would move to the virtual world. One of the games she immersed herself in for several months was Red Dead Redemption 2. She felt like there was no other place she would rather be than in the world of RDR2. The game takes place in 1899 in America. The story follows the ventures of a gang of outlaws at a time when the Wild West is fading and civilization is encroaching. Their time is coming to an end and fear is in the air ahead of inevitable changes.

“I felt similar fear last year when I encountered a herd of wild horses. A rumble could be heard in the distance, and the ground beneath me shook gently. At some point, about twenty horses came into view, galloping at full speed through sea water. The horses and the powerful scenery seen in the game now seemed hollow in comparison. I want the world to move forward, but I don’t want to lose the galloping horses roaming about freely,” the artist explains.

Keiu Maasik (b. 1992) graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a bachelor’s degree in photography and a master’s degree in contemporary art. In 2019, she received the EKA Young Artist Award. In 2018, she received the Wiiralt scholarship and was the laureate of the competition Young Tartu of the Tartu Art Museum. In her work, she discusses the impact of documentation on memory, identity and relationships between people.

Graphic design: Anna Kaarma

The artist’s gratitude to: Madis Kurss and Kaisa Maasik 

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

The exhibition is open until 17 December.

• A bus will run from Tallinn to the opening of the exhibition. More information and registration: https://forms.gle/xmanLQ1YxnixyuKv5

www.kunstimaja.ee

facebook.com/kunstimaja

Tartu Art House (Vanemuise 26, Tartu, Estonia) Wed–Mon 12–18. Exhibitions are free of charge.

The exhibitions of the Tartu Art House are supported by the Tartu town government and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Queering the Bimbo

Recently, we have borne witness to a resurgence of the bimbo archetype within popular culture. Despite its rooting in a non-gendered etymology, the term ‘bimbo’ is understood to be a slur aimed at attractive women who are deemed lascivious; their proclivity inherently paired with stupidity. Visually, the bimbo plays by the rules and expectations of patriarchy; women’s bodies are often the only thing rendered visible among the multitude of their human experience. Contrary to the lack of intelligence implied by the bimbo archetype, however, there are many examples to be seen of cultural figures embodying & using the shortcomings of the archetype to flip the script on contemporary gender discourse. From the failings of neoliberal girlboss feminism to the failings of binary views of womanhood, artists are beginning to utilize the bimbo trope to express a cognitive dissonance underpinning the expectations of femininity (and, by extension, masculinity) in the contemporary sphere.

Within this workshop, we will examine the phenomenon of performing hyperfemininity using cultural case studies and examples in contemporary art. We will discuss hyperfemininity’s capacity-versus-limitations to affect change within uneven hierarchies, and speculate on the bimbo archetype’s potential as a transformative/subversive subject and a conduit for queer/femme empowerment. As the verb form of queer, queering can refer to the act of taking something and looking at it through a lens that makes it strange or troubles it in some way. Can the bimbo be queered? Is this already happening?

Following the presentation and an open discussion, Zody Burke will guide a workshop using epoxy clay, for participants to create personal artworks. The participants will be guided to work with the medium that the artist often uses in her own works. The same materials are used in her installation at the Photo month´s main exhibition, Trance.

The workshop is limited to 12 participants, so we encourage you to register quickly to make sure you get a spot. The registration form can be found here: https://forms.gle/S3PyjvSWyAsAS1CDA

12.11 at 14.00 in Lasnamäe Pavilion

Discussion part at 14:00

Workshop part: 15:30

Artists: Aili Vint (EE), Daria Melnikova (LV), Kristel Saan (EE), Kristina Õllek (EE), Monika Varšavskaja (EE/FR), Morta Jonynaitė (LT), Viktorija Daniliauskaitė (LT)

Curator: Merilin Talumaa (EE)

The exhibition Breathing Through the Eyes at L’Atlas in Paris gathers together different generations of artists from the Baltic countries, most of them presenting their work in Paris for the first time.

The exhibition touches subtly on the ideas of Lithuanian-American archaeologist and anthropologist Marija Gimbutas, whose profound research brought attention to the ancient cultures of the Baltic region and the broader Indo-European world, especially well described in her book The Balts (1963). The exhibition takes its inspiration from Gimbutas’ ideas which have influenced contemporary perspectives on heritage, indigenous identities, and the relationship between humans and nature in the Baltic Sea area.

Research on the cross-disciplines of archaeological artefacts, linguistics, ethnography and folklore led Gimbutas to posit the thesis that prehistoric European culture was female-centred and worshipped a Mother Goddess as the giver of all life. The Goddess’ power was in water and stone, in cave and tomb, in animals and birds, in hills, trees and flowers. A spiritual sense of connectedness was artfully expressed through a sophisticated symbol system and an abundance of ritual objects. Nature and body (especially the female body) were honoured in Europe for tens of thousands of years. Women had an especially strong position in societies across Eastern and Central Europe – a tendency no longer necessarily evident today.

The exhibition Breathing through the eyes poetically comments on the fragile materiality of our being, multiple identities, the process of change and new environmental sensibility. Gimbutas, who having opened the treasure trove of prehistory, inspired a belief in a peaceful existence in our time – to bring back to life suppressed vital elements, such as the earth, the body (health), the feminine, and the subconscious. Participating artists, through imaginative and fictitious narratives, share personal stories and beliefs that also reflect the influence of Gimbutas’ theories on ancient symbolism. Their works echo these concepts through a contemporary lens, incorporating elements such as spirals, circles, and motifs such as snakes and birds – symbols rooted in ancient European matriarchal cultures that continue to resonate in Baltic art and culture.

The exhibition directs us to consider how we might reimagine a world centred around goddess worship, with its emphasis on preserving nature, nurturing existence, and forsaking warfare. Could this theoretical concept transcend into the tangible reality of our future society? Breathing through the eyes seamlessly intertwines historical narratives, cultural myths, and potential scenarios, immersing us in the themes that Marija Gimbutas ignited: the celebration of life’s cycles, the sanctity of the female body and labour, and the spirituality inherent in these concepts. Gimbutas’ exploration of the spiritual dimensions of a harmonious Old Europe and her vision for a New Europe free from dominance and warfare feels remarkably pertinent in our contemporary world.

Gastronomic performance: Monika Varšavskaja (EE/FR)

Exhibition setup: Daria Melnikova (LV)

Communication visuals: Gaile Pranckunaite (LT)

Exhibition stays open until December 22, 2023.

L’Atlas
4 Cour de l’île Louviers, 75004 Paris

Opening hours: Tuesday—Saturday, 12pm—7pm

Free entrance

Marija Gimbutas (1921–1994) was a Lithuanian-American archaeologist and anthropologist. She contributed to what is considered to be one of the most significant academic watershed moments in women’s studies with her archaeological and philosophical work on Neolithic culture and religion. Gimbutas is best known for her research into the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of “Old Europe,” a term she introduced. Old Europe referred to both the geographical area and social structures that existed before the Indo-European influence. Gimbutas unequivocally established the existence of a Goddess religion who is the most persistent feature in the archaeological record of the ancient world. The Goddess in all her manifestations was a symbol of the unity of all life in nature. ​​Gimbutas’ discoveries took on great symbolic importance for feminists across various disciplines who found, in her vision of a peaceful, nature-revering society, a sense of hope for the future based on this foundation in the distant past.

On Monday, October 30, 18.00, Rotterdam-based curator, writer and artist Isabelle Sully will introduce her practice in room A302.

Working with feminist histories in mind, Isabelle Sully works across curating, writing and art-making, taking the mechanisms and materiality of administration as the main focus within her work to develop conceptual projects that span experimental writing, performance, exhibition-making and publishing. Through drawing on her work as founding editor of the publication series Unbidden Tongues as well as founder and co-curator of the event platform Playbill, Sully will present a series of projects that take writing as a primary mode of thinking. Given that language and its handling are central to her work, she will also focus on the realisation of these projects as they relate to graphic design and techniques of distribution—approaches developed through learning from methods of information circulation used within various feminist movements.

Isabelle Sully (1991, AU) practices across art-making, curating, editing and writing. Originally from Melbourne, she now lives in Rotterdam where she is the founding editor of Unbidden Tongues and co-curator of Playbill. Her involvement with the administrative sphere of institutional practice also plays out in her current role as assistant director-curator at Kunstverein, Amsterdam.

Isabelle Sully’s lecture is co-organized by Graphic Design and Contemporary Art MA programs.

Everyone is welcome to join!

EKA Young Artist Award 2022 laureate Chun Au Yeung has his solo exhibition “You’ve Been in My Mind” in Hobusepea gallery open until October 30th.

“It was a chilly night, so I went home after a long walk at dawn. I was sitting on the couch, covering myself with a blanket and listening to a song. The lyrics kept lingering in my head…”that’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion…” That night, I was not the only one in the spotlight. Suddenly, I heard a big bang noise that came from the corner. It was so dark in the room, all I could see was all of my jackets falling off on the ground. At that moment, I was thinking about someone…”
Chun Au Yeung

You’ve Been In My Mind arises from the innermost state of discrete moments to explore the tension between hope and fear, and to translate into art how the two feelings fall together, are voiced and formed. Chun creates meditative drawings and installations based on his personal experience from a living place, presenting it as an intimate but also alienating situation through fusing together the household objects and elements.

The new series of works in the exhibition develops and enlarges feelings and lived situations from Chun’s own experiences, mostly influenced by his current displacement from his original homeland. “I am bearing my soul, seeking hidden signs of hope and meaning, but the process is holding me back, somehow it makes me feel fear” Chun said. Hellos, Goodbyes (2023), is a work transformed from a cloth hanger stand. By removing all the original hanging hooks, Chun subtly attached an archery to the body of the cloth hanger stand, as if it was shooting by someone from somewhere, vaguely hinting towards something reminiscent of the archery target, revealing a wounded and destroyed relationship.

In You’ve Been In My Mind, Chun continues his exploration of the relationship between domestic elements and human nature, combined with both personal and collective emotions. Specific furniture becomes the medium that allows the artist to construct the complicated feelings of daily experiences, where each object opens a dialogue, which can be both decadent and hopeful at the same time, around the notion of home.

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

David K. Ross and Rebecca Duclos (EKA Visiting Lecturers, MACA, Museum Studies) recently travelled across northern Ukraine to visit 8 arts schools in Lviv, Kharkiv and Kyiv. 

David will be showing images from this trip and discussing some of the pressing issues facing arts eduction in Ukraine at this moment.

On Thursday, October 19 at 18.00 Eva Weinmayr will talk about her practice and the social and political agency of artists’ publishing. Speaking from an intersectional feminist perspective the talk’s focus is not on the commodity genre “art publication”, but on the collective processes, exchanges, and relationships such critical publishing practices can enable.

The lecture will take place at the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM).

Eva Weinmayr conducts practice based research at the intersection of art, critical pedagogy and institutional analysis. In 2020 she published her doctoral thesis, titled Noun to Verb, on a MediaWiki. This research is concerned with the micro-politics of publishing and entangled notions of authorship from an intersectional, feminist perspective. (HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg, SE)

As interims chair of faculty Art and Education at Munich Art Academy (2022-23) she co-initiated together with students kritilab, an open source platform for discrimination-critical teaching in the arts. From 2019 to 22 she co-led the EU-funded collective research and study programme “Teaching to Transgress Toolbox” inspired by US activist, teacher and theorist bell hooks (with erg, Brussels, BE). She is currently Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Postdigital Cultures, Coventry University (UK) with Ecologies of Dissemination​​​​​​, a collaboration with artist Femke Snelting seeking strategies for dissemination and a politics of re-use that acknowledge the tensions between feminist methodologies, decolonial knowledge practices and principles of Open Access (HDK-Valand, 2023-24).

Eva Weinmayr lectures widely and works with art and activist spaces (SALT Research Istanbul, MayDay Rooms London, Showroom London, Kunstverein München, Steirischer Herbst Graz) as well as established art institutions (National Art Gallery Warsaw, Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Madrid, Biennale di Venezia).

Recent artistic research-based projects include “Teaching the Radical Catalog – a Syllabus” (2021-22, with Lucie Kolb), “Library of Inclusions and Omissions” (2016-20), “The Piracy Project” (2010-15, with Andrea Francke), AND Publishing (2010-ongoing, with Rosalie Schweiker).

Eva Weinmayr’s lecture is co-organized by MA Graphic Design and MA Contemporary Art programs.