2004
EXHIBITIONS (CO-)ORGANIZED BY CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS, ESTONIA IN 2005
CORDIALLY INVITED
7 episodes on (ex)changing Europe
Episode 3
Who if not we should at least try to imagine the future of all this?
Curators: Maria Hlavajova, Gerardo Mosquera. BAK, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Holland. 31.10.-31.12.2004.
Participants from Estonia: Marko Raat and Ene-Liis Semper.
TALLINN XIII PRINT TRIENNIAL
"Exile"
10.09.-31.10.2004
Rotermann’s Salt Storage; Tallinn Art Hall (curator Sirje Helme)
Triennial’s president Eve Kask, secretary Mare Pedanik
E.U. POSITIVE. Kunst aus dem neuen Europa
19.sept.- 7. nov. 2004, Akademie der Künste.
Curators Matthias Flügge and Dr. Eckhart Gillen.
Participants from Estonia: Marko Laimre, Kai Kaljo, Eve Kask, Marko Mäetamm and Kaido Ole
Marko Laimre, “Wedding”, video, 2001
TALKING TO ME?
RAUMA BIENNALE BALTICUM.
Rauma Art Museum, 19.06–12.09.2004.
Curator Janne Koski.
Participant from Estonia: Jaan Toomik
Jaan Toomik, “Dancing with Dad”, video, 2003
BREAKTHROUGH. PERSPECTIVES ON ART FROM THE TEN NEW MEMBER STATES.
Grote Kerk den Haag, July 2 - August 29, 2004.
The exhibition space of the Grote Kerk den Haag, the largest church in The Hague offered a broad perspective on art in different media and different styles from the ten EU accessing countries. Among 40 participating artists were Estonian video artists Jaan Toomik (“Jaan”, 2001), Ene-Liis Semper (“Oasis”, 1999), Kai Kaljo (“AD”, 2003), Mare Tralla (“Feltboots”, 2000). Read more...
http://www.grotekerkdenhaag.nl
Mare Tralla, “Feltboots”, video, 2000
Kai Kaljo, “AD”, video, 2002
MANIFESTA 5
Donostia-San Sebastian, 11. 06- 30.09.2004.
More than 50 artists all across Europe took part of Manifesta 5, the contemporary art event. Manifesta 5 curators were Marta Kuzma and Massimiliano Gioni.
Estonia was represented by Külli K. Kaats with her project "Avifauna".
Külli K. Kaats. “Avifauna”, video installation 2004 (Manifesta 5, San Telmo museum)
FASTER THAN HISTORY:
Contemporary Perspectives on the Future of Art in the Baltic Countries, Finland, and Russia
KIASMA, Helsinki, 31.01. - 2.05, 2004.
Estonia was represented by: Mari Laanemets & Killu Sukmit, Herkki-Erich Merila, Ene-Liis Semper and Mart Viljus.
The exhibition was opened with Pink Punk’s (Sandra Jõgeva, Kristin Kalamees, Margus Tamm) performance "Give us money we are pretty".
A seminar in the occasion of the exhibition "WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?" took place on Jan. 30, dealing with the main issues of the exhibition: time and history, visions of future, and contemporary monuments. Lecturers also included Heie Treier (Editor of kunst.ee magazine, Tallinn) from Estonia.
The exhibition was produced by: FRAME -The Finnish fund for Art Exchange; Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia; Contemporary Art Information Center, Vilnius; Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Riga.
Herkki-Erich Merila and Arbo Tammiksaar, "Welcome to Estonia" I-IV, photo, 2002
Mart Viljus, "TM", installation, 1996-2004
Mart Viljus, "TM", detail of an installation, 1996-2004
Mart Viljus, "Tallinn 89-99-02", photo, 2002
Ene-Liis Semper, "Untitled", video, 2004
Pink Punk, “Give us money we are pretty”, performance, 2004 (Kiasma)
Kiasma, 30.01.2004
NEW VIDEO - NEW EUROPE
Video art exhibition at The Renaissance Society, Chicago, USA, January 2004.
Curator Hamza Walker.
Estonia was represented by: Ki Wa (“Displacement in Reverse” 2003, “My Dream Pop Star” 2003, “Work in Progress”, 1998); Kai Kaljo (“Love Letter to Myself“ 1999, “And Nevertheless” 1997, “Loser” 1997, “Domestic Violence” 2000); Tiia Johannson (“Black Sun” 1990/97, “Namebook”, 1996); Killu Sukmit & Mari Laanemets (“Lucy” 2000); Ene-Liis Semper (“Oasis” 1999).
Ki Wa. “Displacement in Reverse” & “My Dream Pop Star”, video 2003
SIMILAR SPACES
Estonian contemporary photo at Westminster Parliament, London, March-April 2004.
Curator Liina Siib.
Artists: Denes Farkas, Toomas Kalve, Raoul Kurvitz, Ly Lestberg, Urmas Muru ja Peeter Pere, Mark Raidpere, Liina Siib, Mare Tralla, Tarvo Hanno Varres.
Dénes Farkas, "15 portraits", photo, 2004
WELCOME(to)EUROPE!
Contemporary photo from the Baltic States in Giedre Bartelt Galeries, Berlin 2.04.-22.05.2004
Curator G. Bartelt.
Estonia was represented by Herkki-Erich Merila and Arbo Tammiksaar with their photo series “Welcome to Estonia” (2002). Egle Rakauskaite (Lithuania) and Kaspars Goba & pureculture (Latvia) also took part of the show.
Herkki-Erich Merila & Arbo Tammiksaar, “Welcome to Estonia”, photo, 2002
ISEA2004
August 14.-22
ISEA2004
Tallinn - Helsinki
ISEA2004 headquarters in Helsinki: Tapio Mäkelä, programme director, m-cult, Helsinki; Amanda McDonald Crowley, project coordinator.
ISEA2004 Tallinn: E-media Centre of Estonian Academy of Arts (Mare Tralla, Programme chair; Piibe Piirma – coordinator; Liisa Pakosta, director; Anders Kurg, conference coordinator; Piret Lindpere, exhibition coordinator).
ISEA 2004 Tallinn Art Hall
From the catalogue:
Step into ISEA 2004 in Tallinn
Mare Tralla
Estonian Academy of Arts
Programme chair, ISEA 2004 Tallinn
One of Estonia’s most read novels, Kevade by Oskar Luts, starts with aboy and his father arriving at school for the first time. They’re a bit late and class has already started. He stands at the doorway andlooks into his new environment, into a new process. He’s a bit shy and overwhelmed but already has a feeling of belonging and empathy with the crowd of people he is about to join.
For a long time the process of the development of technology and its related critical and non-critical environments has existed. At some point each of us has been on that doorway and knowingly, or unknowingly, we have crossed the threshold. The ways we relate and act within that environment differ. Most simply use what is given to them by way of consumerism. Others develop the products and services to be consumed. Then there are a handful of people who try to make critical sense of this, analyzing the impact of technology oncultures and societies. This group includes practitioners who find new and creative uses of the available technology, or even invent alternatives for specific uses.
My Helsinki colleague, Tapio Mäkelä, has often stated that one of the reasons to bring ISEA2004 to this north-easterly region of Europe again is that with ten years elapsed since ISEA94 there is an opportunity to assess how the then new technologies, like the Internet, have matured and how this has changed our cultures and societies. When ISEA94 took place in Helsinki, only a handful people in Estonia knew anything about electronic arts and culture. It was almost as if the doorway to international electronic culture had yet to be found by Estonians. For me, then, one of the key reasonsfor ISEA2004 is to raise further an awareness of the critical issues surrounding new media and technology in Estonia, and to provide some international reference points forre-assessing our local situation.
To my recollection, 1994 is a year when there was active mention of interactive multimedia in Estonia. This was to such an extent that, as young artistsoblivious to ISEA94, we referred to it as the “fashionable illness” amongst ourselves. Fora long time there was little critical discussion, just techno-optimistic statements from people and institutions close to the fields of technology and media. Nineties Estonia can be characterized, together withthe ultra right wing political turmoil of a regained independence, as e-euphoria.. IT and ICT were declared by government as priorities for development. Several initiatives, such as The Tiger Leap Foundation within education, were established to promote and guarantee the spreadand implementation of ICT. Simultaneously, the commercial sector developed services and infrastructure at a rapid pace.
I left Estonia in September 1996 forEngland. At that time, only a few of my friends and colleagues used the Internet daily and did not talk about the limited access to online facilities. When I returned less then a year later to give a workshop at the Estonian Academy of Art (EAA) I encountered a totally new scenario. In the morning, students would run to the E-media Centre at the EEA to go online and check their bank balances and pay their bills online. The Internet had arrived within daily life, but in a commercial manner. It was a space within which to do business: not for art, nor critical interaction. Ironically, online banking was not available for me in England, yet.
Estonians are proud of this rapid development. Just a few days ago Estonian media was full of references to Newsweek which admired Estonia's IT expertise and said that Estonia has a geopolitical edge over India, when it comes to cheap and professional software development (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5456911/site/newsweek/). This type of‘self-fuelling’ story is helpful for the Nation’s morale. However the situation is not quite so rosy, as the same people, who were praised by Newsweek work for western companies and do not necessarily contribute to local development, besides supporting a myth of 'east european whiz-kids’.. Furthermore their 'success' often makes critical discussion impossible within our small culture. In some ways Estonia still lives in an e-euphoria, even though in reality resources are scarce; experts working locally are in short supply; there is a lack of funding and funding strategies - playing only to one card of 'technological excellence' in education for a long time; no strategy on how to use differing creative potentials in collaboration and to build up a sustainable environment; and almost no active research into new mediaculture.
Interstanding in 1995 initiated some dialog and discussion in local circles and I am sureISEA2004 with the themes of Wearable Experience, Geopolitics of Media and Critical Interdisciplineswill engage the international participants and Estonian public. I also hope that ISEA2004, which geopolitically and culturally takes place on new ground - a former republic of USSR now a member of the EU - will provide a culturally interestinghistoric reference.
ISEA2004 would have not been possible in Tallinn without the previous expertise gained from organising international new media festivals such asInterstanding which was held biannually by the EEA and the Center for Contemporary Arts(CCA)between 1995 and 2001. It has been a privilege to work with both the EAA and the CCA. My special thanks go to Piret Lindpere, ISEA2004 Tallinn Exhibition Co-ordinator from the CCA whose exhibition production skills have been invaluable, and to Andres Kurg from the EAA, who has done a great job with conference co-ordination.
Further, the E-media Centre at the EAA has played an instrumentalrole. Current and former students of the Centre’s MA programme in interactive multimedia have formed an active volunteer team assisting at all possible levels of ISEA2004 organisation. Piibe Piirma from the E-media Centre has been there for us, always, and I would like to highlight former students Marge Paas and Mart Normet, who came on board at a difficult time yet lifted everyone’s spirits with their enthusiasm.
I am also delighted to see that local artists, DJs, VJs, journalists, cultural workers and others are seizing the opportunity ISEA2004 presents by organising independent satellite events and interventions. For a long time there have been complaints that the local community is too inactive and lacking independent initiatives. During ISEA2004 there will be two manifestations of local creativity: Multikultuurimaja, a week long open space with a live experimental sound event on 17th, and co-incidentally Culturefactory’sopening week takes place during ISEA2004 and incorporates meetings and sessions where local artists meetinternational artists attending ISEA2004.
Further, I am delighted with our collaboration with Estonia’s major newspaper, Eesti Päevaleht, which will be running a 16 page ISEA supplement during the event which will be filled with articles, interviews and information about the issues discussed at ISEA. This will really bring the message of ISEA2004 into the homes of Estonians.
There are many organisations supporting ISEA2004 in Tallinn. The most generous support has come from the Estonian Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, which demonstrates the importance of new media culture for Estonian society. In addition I would like to thank the British Council and the Centre Culturel Français in Tallinn as well as all the many international funds, which supported artists and presenters from their countries.
Besides public cultural funding, ISEA2004 Tallinn is generously supported by many Estonian companies and organizations and I would like to give special mention to some of them: Foorum Cinemas physically support the conference;Elionhas provided the internet connections; IM Arvutid has supplied Macintosh computers;Ellington printers support the catalogue printing;Estonian Music Academy supplied audio equipment;and BonBon is ours to use for the club night.
The ISEA2004 Tallinn Exhibition takes place in most major art venues in the City. We have had wonderful collaboration with the Art Museum, the Applied Arts and Design Museum and Tallinn Art Hall. Plus, all the complicated issues of designing new media exhibitions have been overseen by architects from 3+1.
Last but not least, I would like to thank all the artists and presenters of ISEA2004 Tallinn, who have been sopatient with us and whose ideas and actionswill make ISEA2004.
Organising ISEA2004 in Tallinn has been an incredible journey. From the moment Tapio Mäkelä invited me to cross the threshold of ISEA2004 four years ago until now - just two weeks to go. I have had an incredible time working with my colleagues here in Tallinn and in Helsinki. The interest and support for ISEA2004, both by theinternationalnew media community, who firstly applied to be part of ISEA2004 and then later by the local community,has been enormous. Every day still brings positive surprises and I hope it will result in an event which is contextually rich, full of heated discussions, fruitful meetings, enjoyable performances, local participation,and memorable exhibitions.
Tallinn, 1st August 2004
