Open Lecture Gabi Schillig: Topologies of Softness – Future(s) of Space

TOPOLOGIES OF SOFTNESS – FUTURE(S) OF SPACE

On Friday 29 November at 5 p.m, Gabi Schillig, Professor of Spatial Design and Exhibition Design at the Berlin University of the Arts, will give an open lecture on softness and ephemeral spatiality at EKA. This semester, Schillig is teaching in the MA programme of Interior Architecture. In this lecture, she will open up about her creative practice and present past teaching projects.

Gabi Schillig explores and shapes responsive architectures and spaces of communication. Her artistic work and teaching resonates with an ephemeral, animate, imaginary and temporal understanding of spaces and bodies. She explores the spatial and dimension of a corporeal existence through the sensorial interrelationship of softness, fragility and intimacy as spatial, material and social concepts. Softness creates new possibilities for making contact and being in touch with the world – examining relationships with the „other“, the unknown, the foreign, in contrast and in opposition to violence and destruction that is on the rise in societies world-wide. Instead, as a counter movement, there is a need to unfold new forms of soft spatialities.

Gabi Schillig studied Architecture and completed her postgraduate studies in Conceptual Design at the Städelschule – Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Frankfurt am Main before founding her ‘Studio for Dialogical Spaces’ in Berlin in 2008. She has exhibited internationally and received several fellowships and prizes, amongst others: Akademie Schloss Solitude Stuttgart (2007-08), Van Alen Institute New York (2009), Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale (2010) , KHOJ International Artists’ Association New Delhi (2011), Largo das Artes Rio de Janeiro (2015), Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau (2016) and Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of the Arts (2018 – 19). Most recent projects have been „bodies without organs*“ for Liebling Haus in Tel Aviv (with Lila Chitayat, 2020-21) or „Accento – The City in the Piano VI“ (in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Yui Kawaguchi and jazz pianist and composer Aki Takase, silent green Berlin, 2022), where she explored the parallels between the structural elements of the piano, space and sound through performative soft architectures and spatial choreographic body-related objects.

From 2012 – 2018 she taught as a professor at the Düsseldorf Peter Behrens School of Art and in 2018 she was appointed as Professor for Spatial Design and Exhibition Design at the Berlin University of the Arts at the Institute of Transmedia Design. During winter 2024_25 she will be teaching as a guest at the EKA Estonian Academy of the Arts in Tallinn, Estonia.

In autumn/winter 2023 Gabi Schillig was an artist-in-residence at Saiko Neon and guest artist at ACAC – Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Japan to explore the potentials of soft matters – spaces of ephemerality and held her first solo exhibition in Japan at Kobo Chika Gallery in Tokyo. For spring 2024 she was invited to join ダイロッカン:dai6okkan 2024 Residency Art Festival initiated by 6okken, Yamanashi Prefecture. In spring 2025 she will return to Japan as an artist-in-residence at Space Department Nara to continue her artistic research on topologies of softness and the sensory, affective, poetic and socio-political dimension of air, space, bodies and atmosphere.

→ www.gabischillig.de
→ www.spacesofcommunication.de

Everyone from the fields of architecture, design, and art are welcome to join! The lecture will be in English and is free of charge. We wish to thank Erasmus+ programme for supporting this lecture.

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Photo Credits_
(left) Gabi Schillig, soft architectures / performed by Yui Kawaguchi / photo by Anna Pasco Bolta / VG Bild-Kunst Bonn / bodies move differently in presence / TUM / München (2022)
(right) Gabi Schillig, absolute interiority (2024)  

The exhibition by a group of seventeen artists from Ida-Viru County who live and work on the border of Europe — geographically, linguistically and culturally. The exhibition ‘Deep Skin’ offers a glimpse into how the biological boundary of the human body turned into a symbol in art telling stories that transcend linguistic and cultural barriers.

Paintings, sculptures and installations reflect the thoughts and feelings of artists from Ida-Virumaa, emphasising their similarities and differences. A 19-year-old is the youngest participant, and a 70-year-old is the oldest. Among the participants are anime fans, classically educated painters, mothers with an engineering background and young people dreaming of a professional career in arts. What can be said in common by artists of different generations, occupations and opinions? Come and find out!

The exhibition opens on November 30 at 17.00 in the gallery of the Tallinn Art House (Vabaduse väljak 6) and will run until December 15. Working hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 13:00 to 19:00.

Participating artists are Diana Semibratova, Eneli Heinland, Ira Sopina, Julia Rodionova, Kopylove, Kristina Belikova, Larissa Tunjova, Natalja Kapajeva, Nadežda Sabajeva, Olga Matseralik, Olga Toivonen, Olga Tjurina, Paulina Belik, Sergei Kirbenjov, Tanja Sonina, Tatjana Silašina, Valeria Kregždaite, Žanna Golubtsova.
These artists have been participating in the work of the Ida-Viru Artists Club for the past three months. The exhibition “Deep Skin” is their joint creative achievement. The club is led by Darja Popolitova, an artist, visiting lecturer and PhD student at the Estonian Academy of Arts. The project was initiated by Johanna Rannula, Director of the Narva Art Residence.

The exhibition and activities of the club are supported by the British Council in Estonia, the Estonian Academy of Arts, the Narva Art Residence and the Tallinn Art Hall.

 The works of EKA students offer a new look at Estonian design classics at the exhibition Selected Interventions

On the 29th of November, the exhibition Selected Interventions will open at the Estonian Museum of Applied Arts and Design. Selected Interventions is a collection of new works and dialogues within the museum’s permanent exhibitions by the MA students of Craft Studies of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The MA programme brings together people from various backgrounds and with a deep interest in materials and making. The Craft Studies curriculum expands on understanding contemporary crafts and advances professional development, critical expression, and artistic research into materials, processes, concepts and identities. 

Through this unique intervention, the exhibition examines the works of applied art and design classics on display in the permanent exhibitions Collected Works and Introduction to Estonian Design.

Based on their background and interests, each student selected a piece, a series of works, or an artist to have a closer dialogue with. They were encouraged to respond with new pieces based on past techniques, approaches, materials, stories, aesthetics, forms, and more. This project consists of interventions that redirect our attention, study the heritage or add a new layer of meaning. 

“I was intrigued by the opposition of qualities Rait Präät’s work gives; the glass was no longer used as glass but as a layered cake, painting each floor with a different life. Prääts’ work made me question the choices we make about storing memory in our bodies and minds. What do we put in the frame? What do we perceive?” explains Craft Studies student Sofiya Babiy. 

Selected Interventions includes work by Sofiya Babiy, Iohan Figueroa Rojas, Rait Lõhmus, Juulia Aleksandra Mikson, Alyona Movko-Mägi, Katariin Mudist, Maarja Mäemets, Kati Saarits, Hannah Segerkrantz, and Elias Sormanen. 

The project was supervised by Juss Heinsalu and Kärt Ojavee.

Selected Interventions is a satellite exhibition of the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial.

The exhibition tours conducted by students of Craft Studies will take place on 30.11 at 13:00 (in Estonian), 7.12 at 13:00 (in Russian) and 14.12 at 13:00 (in English).

More information: Sandra Nuut, tel: +372 58717871

Follow the announcements at etdm.ee 

December brings an opportunity to experience, in an exhibition format, works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects: every day there will be a fresh crop of university students’ works on display in the gallery.

Works in animation, contemporary art, installation and sculpture, painting, photography, graphic art, scenography curricula will be on display. On each evening of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the following evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

The assessments will take place in the main building of EKA (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206, EKA Gallery; Kotzebue 1), in the new EKA building (Kotzebue 10) and at Uus Rada gallery (Raja 11A).

On the assessment day, the exhibitions at EKA gallery and the new EKA building (Kotzebue 10) are open from 3 pm to 6 pm, on Sundays the exhibitions are open from 12 pm to 6 pm.

SCHEDULE
Mon 2.12. Photography, supervisor Krista Mölder (EKA Gallery)
Mon 2.12. Drawing, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja (2nd & 3rd floor general areas)
Tue 3.12. Drawing, supervisor Eero Alev (EKA Gallery)
Wed 4.12. Drawing, supervisor Ulvi Haagensen (EKA Gallery)
Thu 5.12. Anatomical drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk (EKA Gallery)
Fri 6.12. Scenography, supervisor Ene-Liis Semper (EKA Gallery)
Sat 7.12. – Sun 8.12. Scenography, supervisor Mark Raidpere (EKA Gallery)

Mon 8.12. New Media, supervisor Sten Saarits (EKA Gallery)
Mon 8.12. Photography, supervisors Marge Monko, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo NB! Uus Rada Gallery, the exhibition will remain open until 15.12.
Tue 10.12. Studio photography, supervisor Tanja Muravskaja (EKA Gallery)
Tue 10.12. Drawing (animation and scenography), supervisor Britta Benno (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206)
Wed 11.12. Painting, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja, Mihkel Maripuu, Holger Loodus (EKA Gallery)
Thu 12.12. Animation, supervisors Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Ülo Pikkov, Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (EKA Gallery)
Thu 12.12. Anatomical drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206)
Fri 13.12. Painting, supervisors Karl-Kristjan Nagel, Tõnis Saadoja (EKA Gallery)
Sat 14.12. – Sun 15.12. Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Alice Kask, Mart Vainre (EKA Gallery)

Mon 16.12. Graphic Art, supervisors Liisi Grünberg, Viktor Gurov, Liina Siib, Britta Benno, Eve Kask, Eve Kaaret (EKA Gallery)
Mon 16.12. Photography, supervisors Triin Kerge, Annika Haas (Kotzebue 10)
Tue 17.12. Graphic Art, supervisors Lembe Ruben, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, Paul Rannik (EKA Gallery)
Wed 18.12. Sculpture, supervisors Taavi Talve, Laura Põld (EKA Gallery)
Wed 18.12. Contemporary Art, supervisors Marge Monko, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Anu Vahtra, Maris Karjatse, Laura Põld, Holger Loodus, Kristi Kongi, Sten Saarits, Camille Laurelli, Eve Kask (2nd & 3rd floor general areas of the main building of EKA and the new building, Kotzebue 10)
Thu 19.12. Contemporary Art, supervisors Maris Karjatse, Eve Kask, Kristi Kongi, Camille Laurelli, Holger Loodus, Marge Monko, Laura Põld, Sten Saarits, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Anu Vahtra, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo (EKA Gallery & Kotzebue 10)

On Thursday, 21.11, at 19.00 Yujie Zhou will open their solo show White Shadow at Vent Space, all welcome! 

On Friday, 22.11 at 17.00 they will give an artist talk at EKA in room A302.

The exhibition White Shadows interweaves personal memory and political identity with collective ideologies. Featuring a series of handwoven Jacquard tapestries and video works, the artist Yujie Zhou explores the complex interplay between their autobiographical experiences and systems of discipline. Through these works, Zhou seeks to transform what once symbolized uniformity into something deeply personal and reflective.

White Shadows is centered around the notion of shadow. In Chinese, the etymology of the word photography has it translate as the action of capturing shadows, in contrast to that of drawing with light. It is on this regard that shadows hold great significance in the work of the artist, these are the lens through which they conceive an alternative way of seeing –one symbolizing both erasure and shelter. This duality heightens the tension of pairing an urge to resist with the subtle self-cersorship that is present in/all-throughout their body of work.

Yujie Zhou is a Chinese visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. They navigate performativity and a decoded notion of language through photography, textiles, video, and publishing. Based on the juxtaposition between their nationalist upbringing and their current life, their practice interrogates dominant historical narratives and power structures while reframing collective individuality.

Zhou completed a Master’s Degree in Arts with a Major in Photography and a Minor in Textiles—Materials and Structures at Aalto University in 2023. Selected solo exhibitions include QWERTY at Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland (2023), Four Women at Photographic Centre Peri, Turku, Finland (2023), and White Shadows at Taidekeskus Mältinranta, Tampere, Finland (2024). Group exhibitions include MoA 23 at the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland (2023); Make Me Find You at alpha nova & galerie futura, Berlin, Germany (2023); and Disrupted Narratives at the Singapore International Photography Festival, Singapore (2024). Select awards include the FUTURES Photography Talent 2024 nomination by Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway; the Finnish Art Society’s Young Artist Grant (2023); Shortlist of PhMuseum 2024 Photography Grant’s Main Prize; nominated artist for Plat(t)form 2023 at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland. Selected Residencies include Kone Foundation’s Saari Residency Fellowship (2024); and an 11-month Artist-in-Residence at HIAP (2024).

Mental Vitamin Week is back and happening next week! From November 18–22, we will host various exciting activities to bring some fun and relaxation to the long and tiring school days.

**MONDAY, 18.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Fruit in exchange for your phone
– 12:00–18:00 Sauna in the school courtyard
– Gaming in A300

**TUESDAY, 19.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Health shots
– 12:00–18:00 Sauna in the school courtyard
– Gaming in A300
– Scream room in the ÜE tower
– 19:00 EKAAJU quiz (in the atrium, registration required)

**WEDNESDAY, 20.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300
– Confession room and worry box (5th floor box)

**THURSDAY, 21.11.2024**

– Morning run at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300

**FRIDAY, 22.11.2024**

– Final morning run of the week at 8:00 (meeting in front of the school)
– Gaming in A300

Design Issues: Hasso Krull’s Talk “Earth Thought: sentipensar con la tierra Arturo Escobar and the Cosmovisions of the Relational Ontology” on Tuesday, November 19 at 4:00 PM, in room A501 at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA).

We have been taught that we live in the modern world. The axis of modernity is progress, based on rationality, development and technology. However, we have also learned that modernity is in a perpetual crisis. But why does development always lead to a disaster? Maybe modernity is not a solution, but in itself a problem? If that is the case, we need to redefine it. We need several new cosmovisions and something that Arturo Escobar has called pluriversal politics.
Hasso Krull (b. 1964) is an Estonian poet who has published sixteen books of poetry and nine collections of essays that include literary criticism as well as writings concerning art, cinema and society. During 1990-2017 he was teaching cultural theory at the Estonian Institute of Humanities (special courses on creation myths, oral tradition, continental philosophy and psychoanalysis). From 2019 he has been teaching creative writing in the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The Design Open Lecture series 2024 is part of Sandra Nuut and Ruth-Helene Melioranski’s Design Issues course. It is public and open to all.

A conference from the series “Studies in Contemporary Culture”, dedicated to Andrus Kivirähk’s novel from 2000 with the Estonian title “Rehepapp ehk November” and its multiple adaptations in various media, will be taking place on November 25th at Tallinn’s Writers’ Building (Harju 1). The conference is organized by the Research Group of Contemporary Estonian Culture in collaboration with the Estonian Writers’ Union.

Minna Henriksson: Archive as artwork. Kiila Feminist Archive and other cases

Artist Minna Henriksson will talk about the crucial role archives have played in her artworks, both as source of information and influence. In addition, Henriksson has built archives, or complemented existing ones, as artworks. During the talk she will introduce several cases, where she has implemented archives and archiving in her artistic practice in different ways, and aims to explain her motivations for working with archives, and history writing in general.

Minna Henriksson (b. 1976, Oulu, Finland, lives in Helsinki) is a visual artist working with a disparate range of tools including text, drawing, painting and linocut. In dealing with historical cases, Henriksson hopes to politicize contemporary events that seem neutral and inevitable. The ideological nature of historiography is a recurring theme in her work.

Contemporary Art and Context is a lecture series hosted by MA Contemporary Art. This lecture is organized in collaboration with Archival Impulse, an elective course taught by Lieven Lahaye that introduces students to the practicalities, considerations and possibilities of using archives and archival material as part of their practice as artists and designers.

The lecture is held in English, everyone is welcome to join!

Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen’s new mixed reality production, Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain, premieres on November 14 at the University of Tartu Library and will be open until November 28. This VR experience draws inspiration from materials collected from the public during the installation Held in Human at the EKA Gallery in the fall of 2023.

“Something is changing, I can no longer make sense of what here means, as I increasingly feel that while I am here, I am also always a little bit there. There, where my thoughts are, there where my imagination roams — and not only mine, but someone else’s as well, simultaneously. It is real. I am always inside a body, in this form that makes me visible and touchable; yet I am also always in a space, where no one can see me. It is a space of thought, an invisible space, but also an ever-present network, a movement. I am present, held in human.”

Held in Human II: Rose in Your Brain is a mixed reality performance, a collective thought space where linguistic thinking meets the instinctive physique. It is a physical reading experience, a choreography of thoughts that you can experience within your own body using mixed reality glasses. Plug in — let your body and thoughts carry you.

Authors: Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen

Mixed reality solution: Norbert Pape

Sound design: Mihkel Tomberg

Graphic design: Jaan Evart

Room design: Mari Möldre

Photographer: Alissa Šnaider

Producer: Anu Almik, elekrton.art

Premiere: 14.11.2024 at University of Tartu Library

Next performances: 15.-28.11.2024. UT Library is open Mon-Fr 9-21 ja Sat-Sun 12-18

Festivals: 26.-27.10 showing PAD festival Wiesbaden Germany

Supporters: Estonian Ministry of Culture, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn city, Dortmund Academy of Theater and Digitality, Estonian Academy of Arts through the ACuTe project, Erasmus program, VARES Valga Architecture Residency, University of Tartu

The production was developed as part of the ACuTe project, in which EKA is one of the partners.