KVI research seminar: Kristina Jõekalda

How to Investigate a Propaganda Exhibition? Medieval and Contemporary Art at the Service of Politics 

The seminar will focus on a hitherto almost unknown exhibition: the Livland-Estland-Ausstellung, which travelled through Germany in the summer and autumn of 1918, with evident colonial ambitions. To the surprise of many scholars today, the exhibition included, among a wealth of other material, some of the best-known artworks from the medieval, Enlightenment as well as contemporary era. Moreover, the organising team of the exhibition that was supported by German royal families, included Heinz Pirang and Wilhelm Neumann, the best-known Baltic art historians at the time. Jõekalda will present new aspects of the subject, which several years of archival work in Estonian, Latvian and German collections have brought to light, asking: How to interpret projects with such high stakes today? As an embodiment of German imperialism? As the last straw for the preservation of Baltic German superiority in the region? As a desperate outcome of the turbulent war years?

The seminar presentation will look at how Baltic German art is approached in the Kumu Art Museum’s permanent exhibition Identity Landscapes and what opportunities the international exhibition programme offers for this.

The annual PhD Vitamin conference returns to the Estonian Academy of Arts on March 14, offering a day of inspiration, guidance and discussion for artists and designers considering doctoral studies.

PhD Vitamin is designed to support artists and creative practitioners with a research-driven approach, providing insight into artistic research as a methodology and helping potential candidates in planning on their doctoral thesis proposals. Through a series of public lectures, discussions and one-on-one consultations, experts in the field will share their work and experiences.

This year, the conference will focus on one of the key topics of the art doctoral program – Ecological Critique in Contemporary Art, exploring environmental and ecological perspectives within creative research. Speakers will reflect on how contemporary artistic practices engage with pressing ecological questions, fostering dialogue between artistic inquiry, sustainability, and environmental awareness.

For those considering doctoral studies, PhD Vitamin offers individual consultation sessions with invited experts and researchers. These 30-minute consultations provide feedback and guidance for finishing up a doctoral research proposal. Consultations will be scheduled in time slots following the conference. 

The event is open to artists, designers, EKA alumni, graduate students and creative practitioners interested in artistic research methods and postgraduate studies.

Please register through the following LINK.

To participate in individual consultation to discuss your PhD proposal, please fill out the FORM. A detailed consultation schedule will be sent to your email after registration. 

PROGRAMME

10:00 -10:30  Gathering, coffee and welcome words

10:30 -11:15   Keynote by Taru Elfving “Site-sensitive research on the shifting shorelines”

11:20 – 11:40  Presentation by John Grzinich “Serious play, experimentation or research? Stories from the field”

Lunch break

12:30 -12:50 Presentation by Britta Benno  “Of Becoming a Land(scape). Abstract Geology as a Way of Thinking”

12:55 -13:40 Keynote by Pascal Marcel Dreier “Activist Aesthetic Research”

Coffee break

13:50 -14:15 Discussion and Q&A, moderator Kirke Kangro.

SPEAKERS:

Taru Elfving, PhD, is a curator and writer focused on nurturing undisciplinary and site-sensitive enquiries at the intersections of ecological, feminist and decolonial practices. As artistic director of CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago she currently leads a research residency programme on the island of Seili in the Baltic Sea. Her curatorial projects include Research Pavilion (Uniarts, Helsinki, 2023); Hours, Years, Aeons (Finnish Pavilion, Venice, 2015); Frontiers in Retreat (HIAP, Helsinki, 2013-18); Towards a Future Present (LIAF, Lofoten, 2008). She has co-edited publications such as Contemporary Artist Residencies (Valiz 2019) and Altern Ecologies (Frame 2016). Elfving lives and works in Helsinki.

https://contemporaryartarchipelago.org/about/

Britta Benno is a drawing and printmaking artist living in Tallinn. Benno is constantly extending the fields and combining conventional media with unexpected layers. Benno defended her doctoral thesis Thinking in Layers, Worlding in Layers: Posthuman Landscapes in the Expanded Field of Printmaking and Drawing in 2023.  Benno is working as a lecturer in the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her artworks have been exhibited throughout Europe, also in Australia and Canada.

www.brittabenno.com

Pascal Marcel Dreier listens to and narrates more-than-human stories. They combine aspects of aesthetic research with activist, forensic, and ethnographic methods, employing a multitude of media such as 3D laser measurement data, bones, game engines, video, sound, and music. Pascal co-founded the non profit research group TRACES Studio for Creative Investigation (Berlin) and is a member of Minding Animals Germany. They studied Media and Fine Arts with a focus on Artistic Research at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and hold an MA in Art & Ecology from Goldsmiths, University of London. Currently, Pascal is assistant professor of Multispecies Storytelling at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and teaches, talks, and holds workshops at universities and art institutions internationally, among them the University of Cambridge, University of Western Australia, University of Siegen, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, Karlstad University, and Köln International School of Design (KISD).

www.pascaldreier.com
multispecies.studio
traces.studio

John Grzinich (b. 1970 in United States) is an audio-visual artist based in Estonia. His work integrates sound, moving images and site-specific installations to explore perceptions of sound and space, seeking resonances between people and places. Grzinich’s recent focus questions our anthropocentric views through performative and fixed media works by combining earthly agencies, expanded listening practices and participatory engagement.

www.maaheli.ee/main/

For more information contact kati.saarits@artun.ee

Dear EKA members!

I invite you all to the celebrations of the 107th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia on Friday, February 21st at 13.00 on the lobby steps.

The keynote speaker will be Signe Kivi, EKA’s Rector Emerita, textile artist and member of the Riigikogu. Among many other activities, Signe Kivi has a solo exhibition “Signature” running until the first Sunday in March at the Estonian Museum of Applied Arts and Design.

The event will end as tradition dictates with a shot of vodka, kissel and sprat sandwich.

Long live Estonia!

Mart Kalm
Rector

Pirjo Kääriäinen

19.02.2025

A-501 kell 16:30

Weaving textile design with material innovation

Pirjo Kääriäinen is a material enthusiast and textile specialist, working as an Associate Professor in Design and Materialities at the Aalto University, Finland. She operates between research and practice, and she is involved in several material research projects focusing on bio-based materials. Since 2011 she has been developing interdisciplinary CHEMARTS collaboration between the School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) and the School of Chemical Engineering (CHEM).  CHEMARTS is aiming to inspire Aalto University students and researchers to explore bio-based materials together, and to create new concepts for their sustainable use. Before her career in academia, Pirjo Kääriäinen worked over decade in the Finnish textile industry, and gained experience also as an entrepreneur and consultant for creative industries.

chemarts.aalto.fi
aalto.fi/en/aalto-university-bioinnovation-center

Supported by the Research Fund of EKA and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia

You are invited to the opening of Karlotta Lainväe’s exhibition “Where do I go when I follow the thread?” on February 20th at 18:00 at Uus Rada Gallery.

In the exhibition “Where do I go when I follow the thread?” I invite you to join me on my journey to unravel the secrets of the place I call home. The sea, the forest, the fields and the rocks, they all hold mystery and knowledge deep within. What parts of my family and ancestors are woven into this place and what do I carry forward? The sense of security shining from there is always with me, yet it is fragile and comes with the weight of responsibility to protect it all.

Karlotta Lainväe is an artist studying photography in EKA, in her work she focuses on the human search for security and belonging. She also examines how connections to history, nature, and rituals create a sense of safety that protects us yet remains fragile and easily lost. To bring her ideas to life, she uses photography, handcrafts and installations to create a visual world where viewers can reflect on their own internal and external sense of security.

Opening: 20.02 at 18:00

Exhibition open: 21.02 – 27.02 at 16:00 – 19:00

Uus Rada Gallery

At the EKA Open Doors Day, a special alumni meeting will take place, where different career opportunities for graduates of creative fields will be introduced. Alumni from various disciplines and graduation years will share their experiences of finding their paths as freelancers, entrepreneurs, or professionals in the public sector or academia.

Thursday, 27 February, 14:00–15:15, EKA Assembly Hall (A101).

Graduates from the Faculties of Design, Architecture, and Art and Culture will share their experiences:
– Ann Kristiin Entson | Tallinn Urban Planning Department, graduate of Architecture and Urban Planning
– Maarin Ektermann | art worker and critic, graduate of Art History– Maria Kristiin Peterson | SASK Design, graduate of Textile Design
– Meel Paliale | film director, graduate of Photography
– Renee Puusepp | Creatomus Solutions, EKA, graduate of Architecture and Urban Planning

The event takes place within the framework of the Transform4Europe (T4EU) Pupil Lab project, co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme. The project aims to introduce the principles of knowledge-based entrepreneurship and their application in the creative field.

Come and get inspired to shape your own future!

London-based art critic Orit Gat will be giving an open lecture on 12 February at 18.00 at the Estonian Academy of Arts (room A202) on the subject of being personal in (art) writing. She will be exploring different ways of bringing personal experiences to writing and making space for experiences that are often not reflected in culture. Gat also considers the importance of developing a writing practice as a social space and writing with others in mind.
The lecture will be followed by a discussion led by art critic and educator Maarin Ektermann.
Orit Gat is a British writer and art critic living in London. She has written about
contemporary art, books, digital culture, and football for numerous magazines including The White Review, frieze, e-flux journal and e-flux criticism, ArtReview, Jacobin, Texte zur Kunst, Paper Visual Art, Art Monthly, the Times Literary Supplement, the LA Review of Books, The World Policy Journal, Camera Austria, and Cultured, among others.

Orit Gat’s lecture in Tallinn is organized jointly by the Estonian Centre of Contemporary Art and the Institute of Art History and Visual Culture at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
The lecture will be held in English.

DANCING WITH THE STARS!
EKA Billboard Gallery 3.02.–2.03.2025
Open 24/7, free
Opening: 3.02.25 at 5 pm

Dancing with the Stars! exhibition showcases the designed letters and the process of the class Typography I. During 14 weeks several exercises and experimentations were carried out, drawing was done both by hand and on the computer, using toilet paper, towels, foam and even a metal engraver.

While the first seven weeks were dedicated to experimentation and playing, the last seven focused on creating an entire alphabet and going through the letter design process. Vectorised letters were created, several of which were also made into working font files.

Students:
Simon Janson, Ryan Kaabel, Anni Kangur, Riste Sofie Käär, Jan-Markus Maasepp, Alina Maškina, Elisabeth Mägi, Berit Raun, Mattias Erik Tiik, Rasmus Tikerpe, Katariina Tõnismäe, Mark Albert Villand, Artjom Ševtšenko, Kätriin Reinart, Eline Cremers, Mira Keygnaert, Dennis Vugts

Supervisor:
Agnes Isabelle Veevo

The fonts can be downloaded for free from the SUVA Type Foundry website: suvatypefoundry.ee

We warmly invite you to the opening of the exhibition “This time, my client is Nature” on February 7 at 18:00 at Uus Rada.

What if nature were not just an inspiration but a client—one we must listen to, understand, and collaborate with? This exhibition brings together three artists—Phoebe , Wen Lin Wang and Andrea Gudiño —who each explore the connection between humans and nature through illustration, printing, animation and so on.

Moving from silent observation to active engagement, the exhibition invites visitors to tune into nature’s presence and consider how art can translate their messages. Through their works, the artists create a space where landscapes, flowers, beetles and natural elements are not just subjects but voices in a larger conversation.

Opening 07.02 18:00

Exhibition open: 07.-14.02 14:00-18:00

We look forward to seeing you!