The project focuses on the international contacts, ideas and artworks of the Estonian Artists’ Group (EKR) to explore the relationship between EKR and the European avant-garde. From the outset, EKR was oriented towards the international art scene and saw itself as part of the broader avant-garde movement. While the EKR’s connections with other European centres are widely recognised, they have not yet been analysed in depth. Drawing on archival materials, correspondence, photographs, magazines, and a detailed analysis of artworks, the research aims to reveal how the interpretation of different art movements and ideas shaped the EKR’s work, and to shed new light on the group’s internal functioning and its role in the development of Estonian modernism. The resulting publication will supplement knowledge of 20th-century Estonian art, linking it to broader international processes.
Period: 1.01.2026-31.12.2026.
Principal Investigator: Mari Laanemets
Financed by Estonian Ministry of Culture.