Category: Faculty of Fine Arts

EKA Contemporary Art MA program invites prospective students to join the online info session on Monday, January 29, 2024 at 17:00 EET (local Estonian time). This will be an opportunity to hear more about the program, to meet and ask questions directly from the faculty.

The online info session will be hosted on Zoom, the link will be e-mailed to all registrants 2 hours before the start of the event.

Register HERE

Open Lecture
 Blood-sweat-tears-love-animation

Animation at UMPRUM in Prague

Michaela Režová  

The Department of Animation and Film at the University of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague is the oldest in the Czech Republic, founded in 1951. The department has a rich history and is known for its exploration of formal intersections and experimentation with audiovisual works. In a lecture by Michaela Režová, a filmmaker and studio lecturer, the evolution of the studio’s history over the past 70 years will be discussed, along with the changes in teaching and curriculum. Režová, herself a graduate of the department, is known for her work in the animated documentary genre, with a focus on different forms within that genre. She has collaborated with Czech Radio and worked as a creative director on various projects, including a permanent exhibition at the National Museum in Prague. The lecture will be followed by the screening of short films.

Blood-sweat-tears-love-animation / Animation at UMPRUM in Prague
The Animation and Film Department at the Academy of Art, Architecture, and Design in Prague, established in 1951, holds the distinction of being the oldest in the Czech Republic. While it cherishes and builds upon traditions, the department actively explores formal crossovers and possibilities for experimenting with audiovisual works. Lecture will present 70 years and their transformations. How did the research of the studio’s history unfold? What have we discovered? And what does the teaching and curriculum look like today? This will be presented by Michaela Režová, a filmmaker and lecturer from the studio. In conclusion, a presentation of short films will follow.

bio

Michaela Režová is a filmmaker and director whose work primarily focuses on the genre of animated documentary and its various forms. In 2017, she graduated from UMPRUM with a specialization in animation and film. Her diploma project, the short film Chase (2017), brings to life the glory days of Czechoslovak hockey, exploring both its triumphs and darker moments. In 2018, she collaborated with Czech Radio on the film Gambler. Between 2020 and 2022, she was the curator for the exhibition ANIMATION 70 (celebrating the 70th anniversary of the animation studio at UMPRUM) and also she was the editor of a publication bearing the same name.
As a creative director, she worked on a 360° video for the permanent exhibition History of the 20th Century at the National Museum in Prague and on six films for the exhibition Design and Transformation: Stories of Czech Design 1990-2020. She stands behind the platform f-a-t.cz which works under the motto “From animators to animators” and brings content from animation world. Currently she is also a lecturer at UMPRUM.

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

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

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

Kristel Saan

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

Exhibition is supported by: Estonian Cultural Endowment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The exhibition brings together three different, yet equally sensitive artistic visions. Through the lens of a camera, the photographers Peeter Tooming (1939–1997) and Endel Veliste (1930–2001) and the visual artist Hedi Jaansoo (b 1989) recorded points of intersection between human beings and nature.

Their photographic series exemplify how the camera may amplify the distance from the surrounding environment, lend voices to stones, plants and water, and make the intrinsic interlacing of natural and artificial environments visible.

In the context of current environmental issues, this exhibition creates a poetic dialogue between photographic series by two Soviet-era photographers and a modern-day visual artist. It urges viewers to think about the relationship between nature and people and about the mediating role of technology in that relationship.

“You, River” is the exhibition that reopens the Project Room, which is part of the permanent Soviet Estonian art display. The purpose of Project Room exhibitions is to expand and complement the range of topics and artists included in the permanent exhibition, to contribute to creating trans-temporal and transnational dialogues, and to correlate with the primary research and exhibition projects of Kumu.
Curator Annika Toots on the exhibition:
The title of the exhibition You, River has been borrowed from Peeter Tooming’s photo series devoted to a body of water and its surrounding natural environment. Created in the 1970s, it stands out as being poetic and fragile, and is associated with the environmental topics that entered Estonian art in those days. Endel Veliste’s series View Through the Car Window dates from the same decade. Veliste’s eye follows and captures the surrounding environment through a double barrier: the camera lens and the car window.

The 21st-century visual artist Hedi Jaansoo enters into dialogue with Tooming’s and Veliste’s photos from the second half of the 20th century. She does not set up an opposition between the natural environment and the artificial environment, but rather tries to capture points of intersection between the two realms. Jaansoo’s photos feature carefully composed human-made and natural compositions located in areas where borders are blurred and personal and public environments blend into one.

The display is part of the permanent exhibition “Conflicts and Adaptations: Estonian Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991) ” on the 4th floor of the Kumu Art Museum.

Team
Curator: Annika Toots
Artists: Hedi Jaansoo, Peeter Tooming and Endel Veliste
Exhibition design: Villu Plink
Graphic design: Tuuli Aule
Coordinator: Anastassia Langinen

You are kindly invited to the opening of Hanna Samoson’s debut exhibition today, 8 December at 6 pm in Tallinn Art Hall’s Lasnamäe Pavilion. 

Magic is sometimes very close to nothing at all is an exhibition about a great flood inside a person caused by a great loss and coming to terms with it, letting go of the previous world order and building a new world from the ruins of the past life. The curator of the exhibition is Siim Preiman.

How to attain a feather-light existence and shed all excess? Hanna Samoson dedicated the past year to pondering this quest. Through her contemplations, a series of patterns emerged from her experiences, aligning like puzzle pieces with the symbols she encountered. Within the confines of the Lasnamäe Pavilion, visitors are invited to traverse a path crafted by videos, stone sculptures, and installations. This journey captivates, involving us in its narrative, yet maintaining an openness that mirrors the artist’s profound realization — that every ending is always the beginning of something new.

Fueled by grief, Samoson unlocks the door to understanding profound human experiences. Curator Siim Preiman emphasizes the impossibility of encapsulating another person’s journey in words, stating, “Hanna Samoson is not a suffering artist, but a curious, empathetic and caring person. After her loss she set her sights on reconciliation, deciding to give up everything superfluous and strive for a state where nothing is redundant, but nothing is lacking, either. On her journey Hanna encounters various people and animals, experiences powerful natural phenomena and other seemingly small but magical coincidences.”

Hanna Samoson (1987) explores the boundaries of art and tries to perceive the unknown. Being in constant motion as an intuitive creator, her work is characterised by quick and spontaneous decisions. She studied photography at the Estonian Academy of Arts and graduated from the FAMU Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 2021. In the autumn of 2020 she walked the future route of Rail Baltic from Ikla to Tallinn as an endurance art performance, as a result of which the film Trail Baltic: A Trip to the Green (2023) was produced in cooperation with Levila. Among her latest shows are group exhibitions Pine-fulness at Tallinn City Gallery (2021) and Vana-Võromaa Cultural Centre (2022) and Runner Along the Border, Rat Catcher and Bricklayerat the Art Hall Gallery (2022).

The collaboration for the exhibition involved the support of spiritual guide Klara Hobza, along with artists and companions Helena Keskküla and Johanna Ranne, composer Janek Murd, sound designer Martin Kikas and project manager Hanna-Antheia Stern. The exhibition was designed by Kairi Mändla.

The exhibition is accompanied by a versatile audience and educational programme, information about which will be announced on Tallinn Art Hall’s website at https://www.kunstihoone.ee/programm/

The exhibition will remain open until 25 February 2024.

Tallinn Art Hall’s Lasnamäe Pavilion is located next to the Lindakivi Centre at 24 Jaan Koorti Street and is open from Wednesday to Friday from 12 to 18 and Saturday to Sunday from 12 to 19. Free entrance.

Open Lecture:

Gustav Kalm
The Look of States as Investment Vehicles:
A Snapshot from Millennial Capitalism

Tuesday, Dec 5, 17.30
EKA, A501

India is open for business. Guinea is open for business. Promoting Bulgaria as a successful investment destination. Choose France. Welcome to Estonia. Advertisements of this kind litter the pages of Financial Times, The Economist, Äripäev and other business outlets. What do they do? Is it insignificant blabber or do they actually change something?

Promoting states as investment destinations took off in the 1990s after the liberalization of international capital flows. Typically associated with peak neoliberalism, in the 1990s policy circles came to think of states as competing with one another on a variety of metrics. Attracting foreign investment now came to be considered central political aim for most states. By the 2000s, most countries in the world had opened investment promotion agencies. By the 2020s, this millennial vision of capitalist globalization seems to be receding. As dusk is setting over the “end of history,” Minerva’s owl can take flight and we can look back and analyze millennial capitalism that we are leaving behind.

This talk untangles how that form of statehood operated and how it reconfigured politics in most countries in the world. It is grounded in a study of one of the crucial visual forms of this era—advertising states as investment destinations. No longer heraldry of throned heads, nor glass palace fantasies of colonialism, the millennial representation of the state was an advertisement proclaiming the state to be open for foreign investment. What is or was this political form?

Gustav Kalm is an Anthropologist of Law and Economy. He is currently Fondation Bruno Latour postdoctoral fellow at Sciences Po Law School. His research studies how the legal techniques that undergird world economy operate as a form of power and structure international inequalities. In his doctoral dissertation, he studied how the legal forms of foreign investment have recalibrated statehood. He also writes cultural and political commentary and has pursued multiple collaborations with artists and curators. Gustav Kalm received his PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology from Columbia University (2023) and previously trained as a lawyer at Sciences Po (2014).

Everyone is welcome to join!

“How to give structure to something that itself is lacking one? How to present something like that? This is a question of visibility and making visible. What are the means for making visible something that always remains invisible? More precisely: the thing that remains invisible in real life, but of which we can get a glimpse in Crystal Grid, is the structure of capitalism. But how to display something like that?”

Neeme Lopp Paul Kuimet’s Analytical Photography
Essay from artist’s book Crystal Grid (Lugemik, 2023)

The exhibition features 25 new works from the Crystal Grid series. The series, commenced in 2020, consists of collages composed of photos taken in palm houses of various botanical gardens around the world. The collages are arranged in sets of two, three or four, juxtaposing plant fragments, which in reality are located hundreds or even thousands of kilometers apart.

For the collages, a pattern is used, derived from the structure of the ceiling of the central transept of the Crystal Palace, erected for the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. For each work, a new pattern is designed within the existing framework, based on the internal composition of each photo – part of the image is cut according to the pattern, and part is left uncut.

Public programme:

23.11, Draakoni Gallery and Kanuti Gildi SAAL

18.00 Guided tour with the artist (in English) and book launch (in Estonian)

Please join us for the launch of Crystal Grid – a new artists’ book by Paul Kuimet – on Thursday, November 23 at 6 pm. The event will begin at Draakoni Gallery with a guided tour by the artist. The tour will be held in English. After the tour the book launch will take place at Kanuti Gildi SAAL. At the launch the artist will be in conversation with the art critic Hanno Soans. Discussion is held in Estonian. During the launch the publication will be sold at a special price of 20 euros. On the evening of the launch Paul Kuimet’s exhibition at Draakoni Gallery will be open until 8 pm.

Paul Kuimet’s new book presents two series by the artist – “Crystal Grid” (2020–2023) and an ensuing series of assemblages “What It Is to Be What You Are Not” (2022).

The works are connected by a set of geometric shapes from a grid that is based on the roof structure of the central transept of the Crystal Palace, erected for the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. While the photographic material of the “Crystal Grid” collages has been photographed in different botanical gardens around the world, the assemblages of the “What It Is to Be What You Are Not” series use images exposed to light-sensitive paper in the darkness of a photo lab together with leaves collected in the Tallinn Botanic Garden. Juxtaposed, the works raise different questions about the notions of place, form and representation in photography.

The book includes an essay by Neeme Lopp and was designed by Indrek Sirkel. The book is published by Lugemik and supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Paul Kuimet (1984) is an artist who works with photography, 16 mm film, and installation comprising of these media. Although his work is often described by a technological way of seeing, his practice places emphasis on the movement and presence of the beholder in the exhibition space. Since 2013, his work has been interested in modernist forms. In his latest works he has concentrated not so much on the forms of modernism, but on its materials, such as steel and glass, and their relationship to the development of modern capitalism since the mid-nineteenth century. He received an MA degree from the Estonian Academy of Arts (2014). In 2018, he participated in residency programmes at WIELS Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels, and at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York City. Since 2022, Kuimet is the Associate Professor at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Department of Photography.

Draakoni Gallery (Pikk 18, Tallinn)
Open: Mon–Fri 11.00–18.00, Sat 11.00–17.00
Opening 1.11.2023 at 18.00
Free entrance
Limited wheelchair accessibility

Exhibition “Crystal Grid”

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)