Estonian Academy of Arts
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Subject 'Estonian Art In Context'

Name in Estonian: Estonian Art In Context

Year:   2016/2017    2017/2018    2018/2019    2019/2020    2020/2021    

State codeÜT7123
Study languageEnglish
ChairCenter of General Theory Subjects
Credit points 3 ECTS
Grading method Exam (letters)

Additional Information

Course takes place: 06.02.2020 - 14.04.2020, Thursdays, 16.00 - 17.30
Group size: 25 (15 students from all curriculums in EKA / 10 Erasmus students)
Lecturer: Eda Tuulberg

Aim

This course will provide an overview of contemporary art in Estonia, discussing the influences, such as historical precedent or social context, that have marked its development. By means of visiting different exhibitions, institutions and art professionals students will develop an improved understanding of contemporary art scene in Estonia. Students are expected to be active participants of the course by attending seminars and meetings, making presentations, etc.

Study outcome

As a result of the course, students will understand the main topics, tendencies, and perspectives of contemporary art in Estonia. They will also comprehend its wider context (historical, social, economical, political). Through a direct contact with the art world, students will grasp the position of contemporary art in Estonian society and will be able to analyse their own relation towards it.

Study activities

Õppetegevused

1. 6th of February (16.00-17.30)
Introductonary lecture. Local art scene, its institutional framework, political context, main challenges. (Meeting at the Estonian Academy of Arts).

2. 13th of February (16.00-17.30)
Visiting the permanent exhibition “Conflicts and Adaptations. Estonian Art of the Soviet Era (1940–1991)” at the Kumu Art Museum. (Institutional framework, art and politics in Soviet Estonia). (Meeting at the Kumu Art Museum).

3. 20th of February (16.00-19.00)
Art in the 90s. Visiting the new permanent exhibition at the Kumu Art Museum. Seminar (discursive shifts in art during the Transition Period). (Meeting at the Kumu Art Museum).

4. 27th of February
Independent work, no meeting. Students fieldwork: visiting art institutions and exhibitions. Preparing for an exhibition analysis.

5. 05th of March
Independent work, no meeting. Students fieldwork: visiting art institutions and exhibitions. Preparing for an exhibition analysis.

6. 12th of March
Independent work, no meeting. Students fieldwork: visiting art institutions and exhibitions. Preparing for an exhibition analysis.

7. 19th of March
Interim week, no meeting

8. 26th of March
Independent work, no meeting. Students fieldwork: visiting art institutions and exhibitions. Preparing for an exhibition analysis.

9. 2nd of April (16.00-19.00)
Presentations and discussion. (Meeting at the Estonian Academy of Arts).

10. 9th of April (16.00-17.30)
Estonian design, its Soviet history and contemporary questions. Design and contemporary art. (Meeting at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design).

11. 16th of April (16.00-17.30)
Estonian architecture, its Soviet history and contemporary questions. Architecture and contemporary art. (Meeting at the Estonian Museum of Architecture).

12. 23rd of April (16.00-19.00)
Professionalisation, internationalisation, commodification of contemporary art and the problematics of these processes. (Meeting at Kai Art Center and seminar at the Estonian Academy of Arts).

13. 30th of April (16.00-19.00)
Student presentations. (Meeting and the Estonian Academy of Arts).

Assessment methods and criteria

Lectures, seminars, institution visits, presentations, etc.

Independent work - preparing for discussions/meetings - reading available materials, being ready to ask questions, presenting ones viewpoints, etc.

For the final research students will form groups of max 3 members. Together they will present and discuss an artist/art work/event/problem/trend in contemporary art in Estonia in class for 15 min, followed by a Q&A session. Students are expected to explain why they find their selected topic important, to research it thoroughly, read reviews if available, talk with people involved, etc. Presentations could be playful, performative, experimental, etc.

At the end of the course, a meeting will be reserved for student presentations and discussions. Students are expected to participate actively in meetings and to prepare well for their final presentations. Students should display willingness to encompass different practices, to understand their development, to relate them to contemporary art in other (students own) countries and to wider social/economical/political context, and to form one's own opinion and to justify it.

Literature

Compulsory:
¥ Anu Allas. Conflicts and Adaptations. Estonian Art in the Soviet Times (1940–1991). The 4thfloor permanent exhibition of the Kumu Art Museum. Estonian Art Museum. 2016.


Recommended reading:
• Anu Allas (editor). Art Lives in Kumu. Art Museum of Estonia. 2006.
• Mare Joonsalu and Tiiu Talvistu. Pallas. Tartu Art Museum. 2010.
• Mart Kalm (Compiler). From the School of Arts and Crafts to the Academy of Arts. 100 Years of Art Education in Tallinn. Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn 2014.
• Krista Kodres (editor-in-chief). Eesti kunsti ajalugu (History of Estonian Art/summary in English) 1940–1991 (Volume VI, part I). 2013.
• Krista Kodres (editor-in-chief). Eesti kunsti ajalugu (History of Estonian Art/summary in English) 1940–1991 (Volume VI, part II). 2016.
• Peeter Linnap. Eesti fotograafia ajalugu 1839-2015 (History of Estonian Photography 1839 – 2015). Tartu Art Collage. 2016.
• Alla Rosenfeld (editor). Art of the Baltics: The Struggle for Freedom of Artistic Expression under the Soviets, 1945-1991. Rutgers University Press. 2001.
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• Liisa Kaljula. Harsh Style in Tallinn. Divergence of the ideology of modernity in Estonian Art of the Thaw Period (MA thesis). University of Tallinn. 2012.
• Anu Liivak (editor). Tallinn-Moscow. Tallinn Art Hall. 1996.
• Sirje Helme. Problems of Post-War Modernism and Avant-Garde in Estonian Art (Doctor's Degree). Estonian Academy of Art. Tallinn. 2013.
• Sirje Helme. Popkunst forever. Estonian Pop Art at the Turn of the 1960s and 1970s. AME. Tallinn. 2010.
• - Exhibition catalogue Harku. 1975–1995. Tallinn.1995.
• Sirje Helme (editor). Idealism of the Cultural Space of the 1970s. Addenda to Estonian Art History. Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 2002.
• Andres Kurg. Boundary disruptions: Late-Soviet transformations in art, space and subjectivity in Tallinn. Estonian Academy of Art. Tallinn. 2014.
• Sirje Helme (compiler). Lost Eighties. Problems, Themes and Meanings in Estonian Art on 1980s. Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 2010.
• Sirje Helme, Johannes Saar (editors). Nosy Nineties: Problems, Themes and Meanings in Estonian Art on 1990s. Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 2001.
• Johannes Saar (editor). Social Portraits of Estonian Art. Addenda to Estonian Art History. Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 2003.
• Eha Komissarov, Hanno Soans. Collected Crises. Estonian Art in the 1990s (Exhibition in the Kumu Art Museum 07.06.2006 – 05.02.2007). AME. Tallinn. 2006.
• Andreas Trossek (editor). Searching for a New Designator in the Year 2000+n. Addenda to Estonian Art History. Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 2005.
• Maarin Ektermann, Elnara Taidre (compilers). Artist Groups: Possibility of Collaboration in Contemporary Art of Estonia. Addenda to Estonian Art History. Center for Contemporary
Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 2009.
• Johannes Saar, Andreas Trossek. Artists of Estonia (I-III). Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 1998–2007.
• Rebekka Põldsam. Estonian Art Manual. Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia. Tallinn. 2014.
• Kati Ilves, Eha Komissarov, Annika Räim. Kumu Hits. Contemporary art from the Collection of the Art Museum of Estonia. Art Museum of Estonia. 2016.

Magazines:
- Studies on Art and Architecture
(http://ktu.artun.ee/11_eng_mainpage.html)
- kunst.ee
(http://ajakirikunst.ee/?c=home&l=en)
- Estonian Art
(http://www.estinst.ee/est/estonian-art/)

Web:
- cca.ee
- https://digikogu.ekm.ee/eng
- muis.ee

Is taught in following curricula

2019: VA*  
2018: VA*  
2017: MAN  MDC  MIA*  
2016: MAN  MDC  MIA  
2015: MAN  MIA  
* Optional subject

Is taught in rounds

     2019/2020 Spring semester

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