Annual exhibitions of Soros Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia
The aim of the annual exhibitions of the Soros Center of Contemporary Arts, Estonia (SCCA, Estonia; 1993–1999) was to introduce new ideas, media, artists and theory. Participation in these exhibitions was open to competition. An exhibition committee consisted of the SCCA board members and/or people chosen by the board selected artists for the exhibition. The Center curated the exhibition and published a catalogue in English and Estonian. An international jury, invited and financed by the SCCA, Estonia, awarded the best works with prizes.
The annual exhibitions reflected the goals and ideology of the (S)CCA, Estonia. While working on the theme for annual exhibitions the staff of the Center was studying, on the one hand, the current issues and processes, which had been publicly debated in Estonia and were most polemical, and through them the Center actively engaged in the discussion of the ideas developed internationally. On the other hand the Center tried to familiarize Estonian artists with the new media technology. As a rule, the changes in the traditional art environment in Estonia used to be rapid and painful.
The annual exhibitions created a phenomenon – a generation of young artists who were prepared for controversy and, for the first time in a long while, we could again speak of the treatment of social problems in Estonian art, which was perhaps the most important result of the exhibitions.
