75 years of teaching architecture in EKA!

The Estonian Academy of Arts has been training architects for 75 years!

We will celebrate this at the Faculty of Architecture throughout the upcoming academic year.

You are invited to the opening of the anniversary year on August 28, 2025 in the EKA auditorium:

at 6:00 PM, with opening remarks and speeches, we will open the new newspaper of the Faculty of Architecture “c400”. Editors-in-chief Diana Drobot and Linda Li Arro.

at 6:30 PM, we will take a look at the longest-established architectural subject “30 x 30”, of which the curators of the exhibition, doctoral student Paco Ernest Ulman and Madli Kaljuste, will provide a historical overview.

at 7:00 PM, we will open the exhibition “30 x 30. Exhibition from the graphic arts archive of the EKA Department of Architecture” in the EKA Gallery.

You are welcome to join us!

While care has been a staple in feminist theory, activism and policy, its translation into critical architectural practice and theory is quite recent. Only in the past few years have architects, curators, and scholars of architecture started to engage seriously with the implications of care as a design principle, an ethical stance, and a mode of practice. Drawing on a range of examples from the recent past, including architectural projects, legal changes, policy interventions, and urban practices, this lecture situates its analysis within contemporary contexts to highlight complexities and conflicts in the relationship between architecture, care, and justice. The aim is to demonstrate that architecture has the potential to support the right to care and advance care justice, while also critically interrogating its complicity in care violence and the undermining of care sovereignty

Elke Krasny is a Professor for Art and Education and Head of the Program Art and Education at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. She is a feminist cultural theorist, urban researcher, curator, and author. Her scholarship addresses ecological and social justice at the globaal present with a focus on caring practices in architecture, urbanism, curatorial work and contemporary art. Together with Urska Jurman, she initiated Ecologies of Care. The 2019 exhibition and edited volume Critical Care. Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken Planet, curated and edited together with Angelika Fitz, was published by MIT Press and introduces a care perspective in architecture addressing the anthropogenic conditions of the global present.  Together with Angelika Fitz and Marvi Mazhar, she edited the book Yasmeen Lari. Architecture for the Future (MIT Press, 2023) Her book Living with an Infected Planet.  Covid-19, Feminism and the Global Frontline of Care introduces feminist worry and feminist hope in order then to develop a feminist cultural theory on pandemic frontline ontologies and feminist recovery plans.

2025/2026 open lecture series in held in collaboration of the Faculty of Architecture and the Institute of Art History and Visual Culture.

The Lecture series is supported by:

You are invited to Marta Konovalov’s home and garden. There you will have the possibility to investigate the development of the aesthetics of affect and promote emotional durability. To be engaged with my practice – to repair and to regenerate textiles. Or just to observe. I will also invite you for a walk in the landscape and my garden. To share some food together.

–

Please bring some textile artefacts or a piece of clothing with you – something that has worn out or perhaps has stains or holes. I will appreciate it if you will bring your observations and ideas.
You will meet all sorts of critters there. Your kin and children are also welcome.
Hope to see you soon, at the periphery.
Marta

Location: Veisjärve Village; Viljandi County

Duration: 22.08.2025 12.00–17.30
Language: English and Estonian

Contact: marta.konovalov@artun.ee
+37256630717

Registration: https://forms.gle/hgA818TaHnjMv15o7

Marta Konovalov is a designer-researcher, craftivist and educator focusing on repair and regenerative textile design. She is a lecturer and doctoral student at Estonian Academy of Arts.

Photo: Kärt Petser

Welcome to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Narva Art Residency!

September 5, 2025:

12.00 – Arrival at NART (Joala 18), welcome coffee and snacks. We will introduce the current activities and future plans of the house and the art residency.

13.00 – Lunch and bus tour of Narva city. On the tour, we will see, for example, the newly completed sculpture by Ihor Tkachevkõi (Ukr) in Stockholm Square and the dedication of the NART boat in the Venice of Narva.

15.00 – Official anniversary program at the director’s villa, or NART: we will present the video made for the anniversary, offer cake and sparkling wine, discuss the social dimension of art and create a direct connection with former residents from around the world.

17.00 – Art tour at the Kreenholm factory.

19.00 … – Free time. Those who wish to attend can take part in the Station Narva festival concerts at Narva Museum or join the evening gathering at NART.

The anniversary coincides with the Station Narva music festival taking place on the same weekend. On Friday, there is Future Day, the program of which partly coincides with the anniversary program. During the weekend, guests will also be able to attend several events organized by NART, such as the Narva Venice Annuale or the Day of the Single-Tree Pilot with boat rides, the ceremonial opening of a work by a Ukrainian sculptor to the city’s residents, the Kreenholm Community Garden Harvest Party and house tours. In other words, there is a reason to stay longer.

Please register by September 1st by filling out the form here: https://forms.gle/zidoyoBbvjXMz4vK6.

In the form, you can indicate whether you want to come from Tallinn to Narva and/or back by shared bus. We cannot offer overnight accommodation to everyone, but if you plan to stay, let us know and we will try to find a solution.

If you have already confirmed your participation, we still ask you to fill out the registration form so that we can take into account your food and program preferences. The anniversary event is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the British Council.

On Friday, August 29th, starting at 12:00, the opening ceremony of the 2025/26 academic year will be held. The ceremony takes place in the main hall (A101) and lasts approximately 1.5 hours.

23.-24. August in Valga

Yet another residency is coming to an end and we invite everyone to participate in the closing event of “Material Purgatory” residency and together with us celebrate the last weekends of summer in VARES.

In the beginning of July, four architects and artists – Beate Zavadska, Aivar Tõnso, Mia Maripuu and Stephanie Cellier – gathered in VARES to rummage through the sheds, attics and garages of our house and Valga, searching for poetry, potential and creative application of materials that are spending their retirement in forgotten storage spaces. Materials piles, where there is not enough stuff for starting a new project, but enough to not be thrown out. The quartet, who spent six weeks in Valga, have dissected this topic from different perspectives, have been exploring the installations of local material collectors-self-builders, playing with the peculiar sounds of found materials and mapping the nature of material storage spaces.

Now we invite you to come and participate in the residency’s public event for the weekend, where the program will include presentations of the residents’ thoughts and installations, lectures by guest speakers, VARES tour of Valga on bikes and the cozy VARESE pop-up bar in the Supibasiilika.

PROGRAM:

SATURDAY 23.08:
15:00 Introduction of the residents works
17:00 Lecture / presentation by stuudio Kollektiir (Mari Uibo and Rait Lõhmus)
21:00 Concert and VARES bar (Riia 5, Kreisihoone courtyard)

SUNDAY 24.08
11:00 VARES bunch in the residency courtyard, Uus 35. Bring something for the table!
13:00 VARES bike tour of Valga (max 10 people due to limit of bikes, more can join with their own bicycles)

A more detailed program will be gradually published on our website and social media channels. Registration form for guests wishing to stay overnight HERE.

Residency partners and supporters: European Culture Capital Tartu 2024, Estonian Culture Ministry, Estonian Culture Endowment, Valga county.

See you on August 23-24 in Valga! All friends and family are welcome!

This year’s public defenses of the Bachelor’s thesis/portfolio of the Department of Interior Architecture will take place on Monday and Tuesday, June 2 and 3, from 10:00 to 14:30 in the auditorium of the Designers’ House (Rävala 8).

Within the framework of the thesis, topics arising from individual creative interest are developed in parallel with the preparation of a portfolio. An exhibition will be put together of the developed projects.

June 2

10:00-10:30 Hanna Maria Kruusma “Unfolding space. The concept of Mari Makarov’s solo exhibition at the Viimsi Artium Contemporary Art Gallery”

10:35-11:05 Lotta Meet “Space, culture and communication: cultural influence on the use of space and the formation of conversations”

11:10-11:40 Anni Kärmik “Walking in the water with feet”

11:45-12:45 BREAK

12:45-13:15 Nelelis Tasa “Using textile waste in interiors”

13:20-13:50 Christine Rõõm “A relief map for the visually impaired”

13:55-14:25 Susann Vahe “The interior of Estonian summer houses in the 1960s-1990s.”

June 3

10:00-10:30 Caitlyn Kesa “Spatial planning in focus WINDOW. Interior architect’s proposals – a view from the inside out”

10:35-11:05 Simona Aleksandra Porta “Dialogue”

11:10-11:40 Katarina Ild “Memory”

11:45-12:45 BREAK

12:45-13:15 Arnold Zagurski “Tardkiri”

13:20-13:50 Villem Reimann “Community enclosure”

13:55-14:25 Kairi Mändla “How to identify the core of a space?”

*

Supervisors: Anna Kaarma (portfolio), Ville Lausmäe (project development), Veiko Liis (project development).

The Bachelor’s Thesis/Portfolio Committee consists of Maria Helena Luiga (chair of the committee), Peeter Klaas, Mari Põld, Gregor Taul and Merilin Tee. The secretary of the committee is Marie-Katharine Maksim.

The interior architecture thesis can be viewed at the TASE exhibition at the House of Designers. The exhibition is open until June 19th every day from 13:00 to 19:00. Stop by!

Estonian Academy of Arts Science Cafe is hosting a roundtable talk on the changing roles of religious and industrial buildings in contemporary Europe on the 4th of September from 1 to 3 pm at the Narva Art Residency (NART, Joala 18) as part of the Station Narva festival.

The event will be held both onsite and online from HERE.

Estonian Academy of Arts Science Cafe focuses on the shifting roles of religious and industrial buildings in contemporary Europe. As congregations shrink and industries relocate, churches and factories alike are increasingly left vacant, raising complex questions about reuse, heritage, and identity. The discussion will address how these spaces are being reimagined—as museums, cultural centres, or residential developments—and what this reveals about broader societal transformations in both secular and post-industrial contexts.

The discussion will feature musicologist and journalist Brigitta Davidjants, associate professor of social innovation at the University of Tartu Marko Uibu, Auxiliary Bishop of the Patriarchate of Lisbon (Portugal) and Associate Professor at the Portuguese Catholic University – Faculty of Theology Alexandre Palma. The talk will be moderated by art historian and semiotician Gregor Taul. 

The event requires pre-registration by August 29. A free bus service is provided from Tallinn to Narva and back, departing from EKA. More information is available upon pre-registration.

After the Science Café, you are welcome to attend the Station Narva opening concert featuring Estonian Voices at 5:30 PM in the Rugodivi Culture House, Grand Hall. Admission is free, and doors open at 5:00 PM.

More information: triin.kao@artun.ee
Facebook event.

The event will take place under the auspices of the Transform4Europe Alliance — a collaborative network of 11 European universities focused on climate change, digitalisation, and social challenges — and is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

*

The English saying “keep the church in the village” means “do not cause an uproar.” There are similar sayings in German, French and many other European languages. With some differences, they denote that the church forms the centre of community, the basis of identity, but also, in a figurative sense, the embodiment of common sense. Despite the geographical scope and cultural differences in Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran countries this has been the case in all of Europe. However, recent times have brought changes. Industrialisation, secular modernisation and large-scale urban planning schemes have shifted the principles of how communities are formed. This was especially so in the fundamentally atheist Soviet Union. For example in Soviet Estonia only a few religious edifices were erected between 1944 and 1991. 

The number of church-goers has also declined. As a result some churches have lost their congregations. This has raised the question of how to treat the disused churches? The situation resembles that of the post-industrial shift. Starting from the 1970s European manufacturers have left the continent in search of cheaper labour and thus the abandoned factories have made way for the birth of ‘creative cities’ – we have seen empty factories first used as squats and informal project spaces, then as gentrified creative quarters and eventually becoming expensive lofts. As for the repurposed religious buildings there are more thought-provoking examples where former religious buildings have been turned into museums, bookshops, concert halls or even swimming pools. As adaptive reuse of spaces and materials is becoming a legislative requirement in Europe, we will see more such examples in the near future. 

At the backdrop of a contemporary music festival, Narva’s fabled industrial legacy and the crossroads of divergent (religious) identities this roundtable will look at both historic case studies and current disputes concerning religious and industrial heritage in Europe.

*

Brigitta Davidjants is a journalist and researcher at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Estonia. In her academic research, she looks at national identity constructions and the marginalities of subcultures.

Marko Uibu is an Estonian social scientist and Associate Professor of Social Innovation at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. His 2016 doctoral dissertation in University of Tartu was called “Religiosity as Cultural Toolbox: a Study of Estonian New Spirituality”.

Alexandre Palma is a theologian, Auxiliary Bishop and university professor. He is an assistant professor at the Catholic University (courses: Mystery of God; Christology; and Theology of Religions) and a researcher at the CITER – Research Center for Theology and Religion Studies. He also serves as Auxiliary Bishop of the Patriarchate of Lisbon (Portugal) and is a member of the European Society for Catholic Theology and of the Seminar of young scientists of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences.

Gregor Taul is a teacher, critic, and curator based in Tallinn, working as an associate professor in the Departments of Interior Architecture and General Theory Classes at the Estonian Academy of Arts. In his academic research, he focuses on art in public space, with a particular interest in Soviet-era monuments and murals as well as contemporary public art commissions.

Kvadraat exhibition “Naabriga sama kena” at Lootsi 17, Kuressaare.

The focus of the exhibition is on collaboration, which is undeniably embedded in all artistic practices. Eight young artists have gathered under one roof, leaning on each other, both in this old weighhouse and outside it, for example, during their studies, as part of unions and collectives. All these intertwinings and encounters, growths and developments form the core of the exhibition.

The curators are members of the art collective Kvadraat: Elise Marie Olesk, Marten Prei, Paul Rannik, Sandra Puusepp, Triin Mänd. This is a continuation of their exhibition series, which explores the characteristics and expressiveness of graphic art in the field of contemporary art.

Participating artists: Asmus Soodla, Elo Vahtrik, Irma Holm, Kail Timusk, Liisa-Lota Jõeleht, Margarita Feofanova, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar and Sonja Sutt.

The exhibition will be open daily until August 18 between 12:00-18:00.

Liisa Chrislin Saleh’s & Hansel Tai’s duo exhibition “Dance of Resistance”
Second floor of EKA Gallery 1.–24.08.2025
Open Tue–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm
NB! EKA Gallery is closed during Wednesday, August 20.
Opening: Thursday, July 31 at 6 pm

Estonian-Yemeni artist Liisa Chrislin Saleh and Tallinn-based, Chinese-born artist Hansel Tai join forces for the first time in their duo exhibition “Dance of Resistance”. With a shared appreciation for each other’s artistic practices, Saleh and Tai engage in a powerful dialogue that confronts their rich cultural heritages through the lens of feminist and queer ideologies. By intertwining their personal narratives, they explore the intersections of identity, culture, and resistance.

Liisa Chrislin Saleh was born into an Estonian-Yemeni family and raised mainly in Estonia. Her perspective is shaped by this Northern European context, but she is increasingly engaging with her Yemeni background, navigating what it means to hold both identities. With this project she explores the connections and disconnections between historical resistance movements across different regions. The work examines how solidarity is formed—and where it breaks down—across cultural and political lines. Drawing on humanist values and intersectional feminist thought the artist considers how resistance is remembered, represented, and reinterpreted today. Rather than aiming to present a unified narrative, the project opens space for complexity, contradiction, and critical reflection.

Hansel Tai, born in Mainland China and now based in Tallinn, has long focused on queer culture in the Post-Internet era. His award-winning project, “Nude Jade Pierced”, explored Chinese cultural identity through a queer lense, blending traditional symbols with subcultural aesthetic. In “Dance of Resistance”, Tai re-contextualizes traditional Chinese calligraphy and incense—both of which have found resonance in Western culture, from tattoo parlors to metaphysical shops. His work aims to challenge the appropriation of these cultural symbols, while reclaiming their significance from a queer perspective.

This multifaceted installation brings together objects, jewelry, and immersive elements to examine how cultural identity and ideological resistance are experienced and expressed by the two artists. Saleh and Tai draw from their own positions to explore themes of cultural disconnection, feminism, and queer identity. The installation does not aim to present a unified message but instead opens space for critical engagement with the complexities and contradictions of identity, belonging, and resistance
Together, “Dance of Resistance” offers a poignant reflection on the fluidity of identity and the power of art as a form of resistance in the face of cultural and societal challenges.

Graphic design: Daria Titova
Technical support: Ats Kruusing and Karel Koplimets
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Sadolin Estonia and Tallinn City.
Opening drinks from Pühaste Brewery.