Category: Support Units

EKA Arh Conference 2026 is titled To Be Continued….From Scattered Facts to Shared Concerns, and takes place as Day 1 of the two-day Tallinn Architecture Biennial TAB Symposium.

Tickets for the EKA Architecture Conference and the entire TAB Symposium — available at an early-bird price until 31 July — can be purchased on Fienta.

The 2026 EKA Arh Conference focuses on one of the central questions facing architecture and urban development today: how do we move forward when starting from scratch is no longer a viable option? While knowledge about climate transition, resource limits, and the built environment is abundant, translating that knowledge into collective action remains a challenge. Rather than asking only what comes next, the conference asks what can and should continue.

Across urban, building, and material scales, international speakers and researchers explore adaptation, reuse, and transformation in the built environment. The programme brings together perspectives from architecture, planning, construction, and research to discuss how existing places, buildings, and resources can support meaningful change, and how scattered knowledge can become shared concerns capable of shaping long-term action.

Programme

09:30–09:45
Opening Words

09:45–10:30
Transformation Keynote
Aleksi Neuvonen (Demos Helsinki, Finland)
Finnish futures thinker and co-founder of Demos Helsinki, whose work explores societal transformation, post-growth futures, and new models of collective action.

10:30–10:45
Coffee Break

10:45–12:15 | Parallel Sessions

Main Hall – Session I: Spatial and Architectural Transformation

This session explores processes of spatial transformation across urban and architectural scales, examining how cities, landscapes, and built environments adapt to changing social, ecological, and cultural conditions. Contributions address themes such as urban restructuring, adaptive reuse, spatial continuity, and the relationship between territorial systems, public space, and architectural intervention.

Monumental studio – Session I: Prefabrication, Retrofit, and Adaptive Reuse

This session examines prefabricated and industrialized approaches to the transformation of existing buildings and urban fabric. Contributions explore themes such as adaptive reuse, modular retrofit systems, circular renovation strategies, and the extension of building lifecycles, addressing how contemporary construction methods can support more sustainable and resource-conscious forms of spatial transformation.

12:15–13:15
Lunch

13:15–14:00
Adaptation Keynote
Hiroto Kobayashi (Keio University, Tokyo, Japan)

Japanese architect, professor at Keio University, and founder of Kobayashi Maki Design Workshop, known for his work on adaptive reuse, post-disaster reconstruction, and resource-conscious architecture.

14:00–14:15
Coffee Break

14:15–15:45 | Parallel Sessions

Main Hall – Session II: Material Systems and Circular Construction

This session focuses on material systems, construction processes, and circular approaches to the built environment. Contributions examine themes such as material reuse, prefabrication, tectonics, fabrication methods, and resource-aware design strategies, addressing how construction systems can support more adaptive and sustainable spatial practices.

Monumental studio – Parallel Session II: Participatory Planning and Urban Transformation

This session explores participatory approaches to urban transformation through digital mapping, GIS-based spatial analysis, and collaborative planning tools. Contributions address themes such as tactical urban interventions, community engagement, and urban greening strategies, examining how localized actions and participatory processes can inform broader spatial and policy frameworks and vice versa.

15:45–16:00
Coffee Break

16:00–16:45
Panel Discussion

16:45–17:00
Closing Words

Moulds for the Wilderness / Vormid tühermaale
Odie Lap Chun Chow
Location: Hanger, Põhjala tehas, Marati tn 5, Tallinn
Opening 8.05 at 18:00
Visting hours: 8.05–19.05 WED-SUN 11:00-17:00
Defence date: 12.05 at 10:00

Moulds for the Wilderness is a showcase of Odie Lap Chun Chow’s journey into mould making, inspired by ceramic casting production and self-experience in identity seeking. Gypsum, clay, and photography became the materials Odie used to explore and reflect on his struggle to find self-identity, bound to the city he came from. Here, he raises the question of whether moulds give limits or freedom to one, and whether one can create their own “wilderness”, a space without borders.

Perfect Dupes / Täiuslik duplikaat
Maia Hellman
Location: Kopli tn 2a
Opening: 9.05 at 18:00
Visiting Hours 9.05–30.05 THR-SUN 14:00-19:00
Defence date: 12.05 at 15:00

The remnants of the honey shop linger here, in the elongated shelves that run the walls and the price stickers from the beekeeping and gardening equipment they once sold. The same shelves now hold objects that arrived here with their own histories. Second-hand tableware, ceramic pieces, raw materials. Things that have passed through other hands before reaching these shelves. Some of them have passed through mine.

Lyly Pudi-Padi Pood, Lyly’s IJzerwinkel, La Quincallerie de Lyly
Lyly Letzer
Location: Keskturg Kiosk 168
Opening date: 10.05 at 11:00
Visiting hours: 10.05–17.05
Defence date: 13.05 at 11:00

A “ijzerwinkel”, “quincallerie” or “pudi-padi pood” is a place where you can find glue, a flower, a plate or someone to talk to. // Pudi-padi pood on koht, kust võib leida nii liimi, lilleõie, taldriku kui ka vestluse. // Une quincaillerie est un endroit où on peut tout trouver, un clou, une assiette, un savon et une personne à qui parler. // Ik ga naar een ijzerwinkel om van alles en nog wat te vinden: een tas, een koek of een babbel.

Unfolding Gestures / Avanev käeliigutus
Mariam Mestvirishvili
Location: Angaarinstituut, Põhjala Tehas, Marati tn 5, Tallinn
Opening 8.05 at 18:00
Visiting: 8.05–24.05 WED-SUN 11:00-17:00
Defence date: 13.05 at 15:00

Unfolding Gestures brings together practices of ceramic and textile making, exploring what lies beyond their surface and unfolds through them. By focusing on the process of making, the coexistence of material and maker as beings in their own right becomes visible, resulting in a series of works that reveal the traces of the process and its inherent mundanities.

Beyond Wearability / Kantavusest kaugemal
Peixuan Lin
Location: ARS Kunstilinnak, Stuudio 53, Pärnu mnt 154
Opening 11.05 at 18:00
Visiting hours: 11.05–15.05
Defence date: 14.05 at 10:00

Beyond Wearability builds on the personal experiences and theoretical research of designer Peixuan Lin, exploring how accessories transcend from wearability to becoming fluid symbols of identity. It shows how materials, myths, and everyday use collectively transform accessories into vehicles for personal narratives.

Souvenirs from Home / Suveniirid kodust
Sylvia Burgess
Location: Pika Jala väravatorn, Pikk Jalg 3
Opening: 16.05 at 18:00
Visiting hours 16.05–14.06 THR–SUN 12:00-17:00
Defence date: 14.05 at 14:00

Souvenirs from home is an exhibition of small objects and jewellery drawing on motifs, techniques and materials gathered through the three homes Sylvia Burgess has experienced in the past two years.

KULTIVEERITUD KEHA
Joanne-Heleene Sõrmus
Location: EKA Stenograafia stuudio, B304
Opening: 14.05 at 19:00 (performance)
Defence date: 15.05 at 10:00, A403

At the culmination, the focus shifts away from the body to what remains of it: its traces, forms, and surfaces that are transferred into the garment. Performance KULTIVEERITUD KEHA explores the moment when the body ceases to be the objective and instead becomes a trace – a shell no longer defined by physical perfection, but by the aesthetic and emotional residue left by the pursuit of it.

Extensions / Pikendused
Marite Kuus-Hill

Location: Kopli 70a, II floor/korrus
Opening 12.05 at 18:00

Defence date: 15.05 at 14:00

Extensions is a collection of events surrounding a handmade 4 m x 4 m quilt. This project presents a series of proposals and brings forth open-ended questions about space and space making, while expanding the notion of a quintessential cultural object, the quilted blanket.

Collection of public events:

April 17th 18:00
Thesis Assembly
Marite Kuus-Hill & Chloé Gourvennec
Krulli maja, Kopli 70a, Tallinn

May 6th 14:00
Patchnotes: Line Arngaard
Haron Barashed & Marite Kuus-Hill
oh.eka-gd-ma.ee / EKA sea terrace, Põhja pst 7, Tallinn

May 12th 18:00
Twelve Proposals for an Unfolding Event
Lili Maud Dobell & Marite Kuus-Hill
Krulli maja, Kopli 70a, Tallinn

May 13th 18:00 (invitation only)
Quilting Bee and Talking Bird
Jordy Weaver & Marite Kuus-Hill
ETC Space, Niine 8, Tallinn

May 22nd – 23rd 11:00-17:00
Quilt Space
Fair Enough Art Book Fair
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design
Lai 17, Tallinn

June 3rd 14:00
Patchnotes: Alek Green
Haron Barashed & Marite Kuus-Hill
oh.eka-gd-ma.ee / EKA sea terrace, Põhja pst 7, Tallinn

/please note that the event will be in Estonian only!/

The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EMTA), Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), and Tallinn University Baltic Film, Media and Arts School (TLÜ BFM) invite you to this season’s last Science Café!

Clothing is not merely an object, but an environment that influences our perception, emotions, and behavior. This year’s final Science Café introduces artistic research that approaches fashion as an embodied system — a dynamic environment shaping the wearer’s physical and psychological experience. Drawing on concepts of embodied interaction and affective technology, we explore how material, sound, movement, and smart textiles function not only as aesthetic elements, but as sensory agents.

At the Science Café table, design, technology, body awareness, and traditional embodied knowledge come together to interpret clothing as a sensitive and responsive interface between the body and the environment — a system in which historical material practices and contemporary technology intertwine to create a new experiential space.

The discussion will be moderated by senior researcher Kristi Kuusk (EKA)

Speakers:

• Prof Piret Puppart (EKA)
• Prof Paula Veske-Lepp, (Tallinn University of Applied Sciences)
• senior lecturer and doctoral student Einike Leppik (EMTA / Milan Conservatory)

Thank you for signing up here so that we know how many people to expect!

The event is free and open to all interested participants and is supported by the Estonian Research Council’s science popularisation programme.

From April 27 to May 15, EKA Library will be open from Monday to Friday from 10 to 21.

From 18 to 21 o’clock, the library is open only to students and staff of EKA.

EMTA, EKA and BFM invite you to the Science Café!

On Tuesday, 28 April at 18:00, an evening of discussion will take place at Apollo Plaza bookshop, bringing together artistic researchers from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EMTA), the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) and the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School at Tallinn University (TLÜ BFM) to share the thinking behind their practice and research, and to explore the nature, methods and outcomes of artistic research.

This edition of the Science Café focuses on the theme “Artistic Research: Reality and Fiction”. The creative process involves imagination: the ability to envision things and bring new objects and worlds into being. The research process, including artistic research, involves argumentation, verification and the scrutiny of facts. How, then, can artistic research reconcile factuality with imagination and fantasy, which are, in essence, forms of fabrication, or the making and presenting of things in ways they ordinarily are not? This Science Café explores the connections between reality and fiction in artistic research through the interests and works of researchers from different fields.

The discussion will be held in English.

Moderator: Liis Nimik (TLU BFM)

Participants: Sveta Grigorjeva (EMTA), Jaak Sikk (EMTA), Jaana Päeva (EKA), Carlos Eduardo Lesmes Lopez (TLU BFM),

To participate, if possible, please sign up here: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSf07GGetTWMi2…/viewform

The event is free and open to all and takes place with the support of the Estonian Research Council’s science outreach programme.

EKA library, 6.03.–15.05.2026

Dear friend,

It has been a long time since we last heard from you. Last time we spoke, you were working on some prints in the graphic arts workshop with a roller in your hand and ink on your fingers. How is it going? We would love to see some trials or progress pictures. At the moment we are also in the process of doing some tests. I have added a sample in the envelope. Check it out and tell us what you think!

Let’s keep in touch.

The exhibition shows works from the EKA Print Exchange project initiated by the department of Graphic Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Printmaking students from different universities were invited to take part and submit an original print edition. Each print was shipped to Tallinn, sorted and sent back to participants, so everyone received a random selection of ten prints.

The vision of this project was to create new connections between printmaking departments and students through collaboration and sharing physical works. So, we wrote to our penpals and were curious what students of other universities were up to. Depictions of current ideas, projects or any experiments were warmly welcomed as a response.

Four universities participated in the exchange: Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA),
Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO), University of the West of England (UWE), The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław.

Exhibitions of the Print Exchange have taken place at the universities participating in the exchange, and the first presentation in Estonia took place in June-July 2025 at the TYPA Balcony Gallery in Tartu.

We would like to thank EKA graafika, TYPA, Anna Kodź, Aleksandra Janik and Angie Butler.

Organisers of the EKA Print Exchange: Alona Chuprina, Margarita Feofanova, Chantal Gerschuetz, Merit Himmelreich, Triin Mänd, Helena Pass, Marten Prei, Sandra Puusepp and our supervisor Charlotte Biszewski.

Exhibition design at the EKA library: Sandra Puusepp and Marten Prei. 

3rd-year Graphic Art students are showcasing the artists’ book as an independent medium of visual art and an original artwork. The authors draw from personal experiences and memories, exploring themes of physicality, history, and ethical boundaries:

• Aliisa Ahtiainen presents a grandfather’s life story in risography and a “breathing” book inspired by her grandmother’s experience in a tuberculosis sanatorium.
• Jacqueline-Desiree Rosenthal exhibits a piece made of tattooed pigskin rawhide, raising questions about morality and the parallels between animals and humans.
• Olga Dubrovskaja utilizes her background as an intensive care doctor to explore the experience of death through her own and her colleagues’ perspectives. In her second book titled “Delight”, she focuses on the moments of life.
• Adriana Jinmao Biosca Sánchez examines the volatility of memory through materiality and layers of printing.
• Robin August Vöörmann deals with gender identity, drawing parallels with changes in nature.

Supervisors: Eve Kask, Eve Kaaret (binding) and Viktor Gurov. 

Exhibition dates: 6.03.–15.05.2025

Come to the book launch and panel discussion on March 31 at 6 PM!

Jurriaan Benschop’s Why Paintings Work was published in Estonian at the end of 2025 – now Kristi Kongi and Kaido Ole will discuss the book and painting, with the conversation moderated by Anu Allas. Everyone is welcome to listen and take part in the discussion.

In the book, Benschop navigates the multifaceted landscape of contemporary painting. By presenting the work of numerous contemporary painters, including Kaido Ole and Kristi Kongi, he seeks to answer the question of why a painting has an impact at all. In what way is it meaningful and convincing? He examines the visible aspects of painting, such as subject matter and use of color, and relates them to the invisible factors of art – the artist’s motivations, worldview, and background. The book touches on many themes that emerge when viewing contemporary painting: nature, the body, materiality, touch, identity, memory, and spirituality.

The book is published by the Estonian Academy of Arts, translated by Katrin Laiapea, edited by Neeme Lopp, and designed by Maria Muuk.

We will gather for the presentation and discussion in the new event corner of the EKA Library. We kindly ask you to sign up, so we know how many will be attending: https://forms.gle/h6aXonQvRpFiEHHW9

Time: March 31 at 6 PM
Place: EKA Library

The discussion will be held in Estonian, with no translation available.

12 Jan – 28 Feb 2026

In the exhibition “Gouaches and Other Graphic Notes,” animator-trained artist Francesco Rosso translates the technological world into a dreamlike, deeply self-reflective inner universe. The world he depicts is guided by disciplined meditation, manual control, and a far-reaching perspective that traces paths laid down by both his predecessors and future generations.

The Estonian Academy of Arts Library, with its atmosphere dense with thought, provides a safe and fitting environment for materials that are intimate by nature. The exhibition’s miniature format is introduced by an electromechanics study cheat sheet from the artist’s personal archive, dating back to his secondary school years. As a coping mechanism while obtaining the field of study, Rosso cultivated meticulous graphic models and writings to break through the curriculum.

Building on this experience, he developed a refined visual handwriting which, across twenty years of diary entries, forms a kind of knitted fabric. Alongside drawings depicting metaphysical matter on the pages of his diaries, he transforms the mental and physical notes of everyday life into visual material that becomes the seed for new techniques.

The gouache paintings in this exhibition serve as a means of testing ideas and developing seriality. Working with material for an animation film currently in progress, Rosso depicts environments gathered during expeditions through human-shaped landscapes. In these paintings, he addresses the accountability in transforming our living environment, the new sensations that accompany it, and its impact on our perception of the world.

Francesco Rosso’s solo exhibition “Gouaches and Other Graphic Notes” at the Estonian Academy of Arts Library presents works created since 2023 that have not previously been publicly exhibited. It is an exhibition that places time-resistant manual skills at its centre, within a context increasingly saturated with automated means of production. The exhibition is curated by Marika Agu from the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art.

More information:


Rene Mäe


EKA Library

Francesco Rosso (b. 1987) is an animator and artist living and working in Tallinn. His practice explores the mental and physical aspects of everyday life, transforming them into visual material. Rosso devotes a great deal of time to hand-made animation and detailed drawing. He merges animated material with filmed footage collected during exploratory journeys in urban and natural environments. Over the past decade, Rosso has worked across numerous artistic fields, including illustration, film, analogue photography, painting, printmaking, poetry, video art, and various animation techniques. His short animated films have been shown to international audiences, including at festivals in Clermont-Ferrand, Hiroshima, L’Étrange, Hamburg, Seoul, Interfilm, and the Encounters Short Film Festival.

Marika Agu (b. 1989) is a curator and archive project manager at the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art. Having studied semiotics, art theory, and library and information science, her curatorial practice focuses on creative work with archives, emphasising site- and time-specificity, interdisciplinarity, and symbolic as well as material shifts in the creation and perception of contemporary art. In addition to her curatorial work, Agu publishes articles in both Estonian and international outlets and works as a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Liisa Nurklik
WANDERING
Second floor of EKA Gallery 9.01.–15.02.2026
Open Tue–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm, free entry
Opening: Thursday, January 8 at 6 pm

Liisa Nurklik’s solo exhibition “Wandering” reflects on abstract painting and the accompanying desire to wander over a prolonged period of time. Explorations of color and surface allow one tone to smoothly shift into another; directions moving one way meet those moving oppositely. Playing with the boring of simplicity evokes a possibility for the painting to be longer looked at, lost and gradually rediscovered.

Liisa Nurklik is currently a third-year student of painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her first solo exhibition “If I Were-a-Person” took place in the Showcase Gallery of the EKA library in the fall of 2025 and presented the viewer with a series of drawings made with charcoal, pastel and pencil, depicting various creatures and objects, skin and hair, and focused primarily on evoking a sense of the uncanny.

Exhibition texts by: Kirke Kits
Graphic design by: Sunny Lei
Technical support by: Ats Kruusing
The exhibitions at EKA Gallery are supported by the Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from mirai™ and Põhjala Brewery.