Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art's round-up 2021

Throughout the year, the CCA’s online magazine published weekly event recommendations and various longer articles. The magazine also featured travelogues from the Netherlands, Ukraine, Iceland and Latvia and continued collaboration with the Finnish art magazine Edit. Artists Johanna Mudist, Roven Jõekäär, Tanja Muravskaja, Jarõna Ilo, Kadi Estland, Pamela Samel, Ann Pajuväli, Liina Pääsuke and Mai Bauvald made their debut of illustrating the events recommendation section of the magazine.

For the first time, the CCA in collaboration with the Estonian Society of Art Historians and Curators announced art critic stipends, awarded to Kaisa Eiche and Maria Helen Känd. Throughout the year, both extensively wrote art criticism for numerous publications and Maria Helen Känd started publishing art reviews at Vikerraadio under the title “Kunstiamps” (Art bites) and in the magazine Edasi under the title “Kunstiorbiidil” (On the art orbit).

The joint interview series “Kunst sinu ümber” (Art around you) by the CCA and the daily Postimees was developed into an article series with an updated concept, titled “Elu koos kunstiga” (Living with art). This year, the two series in Postimees featured the following artists: Sigrid Viir, Mari Kurismaa, Laurentsius, Kärt Ojavee, Norman Orro, Sandra Kosorotova, Kai Kaljo, Peeter Talvistu, Ene-Liis Semper, Terje Ojaver, Jüri Ojaver, Anna Kaarma, Ingrid Allik, Marge Monko, Timo Toots, Kris Lemsalu, Mare Olev, Krõõt Juurak, Peeter Laurits, Alice Kask, Raul Oreškin, Kaili Kask, Maria Ader, Kai Lobjakas and Maria Metsalu. In autumn, the CCA begun a collaborative series with the morning programme “Ärataja” at the radio station Kuku, where every other week the CCA gives its exhibition recommendations. The CCA organised art trips to Brussels and Amsterdam for Estonian journalists and as a result, articles about the art scenes of the two cities were published in newspapers Postimees, Eesti Päevaleht and Sirp.

Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art will start publishing a new English language magazine on Estonian art. As the result of an open competition, Keiu Krikmann will start working as the managing editor of the magazine. Kaarin Kivirähk will begin as the editor-in-chief and the rest of the CCA team will act as the editorial advisory board.

In total, the CCA organised professional meetings in Estonia for 37 visiting curators, critics and artists, who were introduced to the art scenes of Tallinn, Tartu and Narva and met 70 different artists and curators in total. For the first time, the CCA also organised online studio visits, bringing together 14 curators with at least 12 different artists or collectives.

The CCA continued collaborating with the WIELS Residency Programme, where Eva Mustonen and Ingel Vaikla were selected as participants for 2021. In the open call for 2022 Krista Mölder and Sandra Kosorotova were selected to work in Brussels. The CCA together with eight partners from all over Europe set up the Peer-to-Peer ideas exchange programme, which provided Estonian artists with the opportunity to meet and get feedback from their European colleagues. In turn, three Estonian curators gave feedback to international artists. The following artists were selected for the Peer-to-Peer programme: Elo Liiv, Holger Loodus, Maria Metsalu, Laura Põld, Taavi Suisalu, Margit Säde, Diana Tamane and Kristina Õllek.

As part of the NBC programme, the CCA organised research trips for Finnish curators to Tallinn, Kohtla-Nõmme and Narva. In September, Estonian curators visited Helsinki. In collaboration with the Centre for Art Rupert and the Icelandic Art Center, the CCA founded a new cooperation network Borderland Poetics with the aim of bringing together the local fields of contemporary art in the region through internship programmes and curatorial research trips. As part of this collaboration, a research trip to Iceland was organised and later, a travel report was published.

Early this year, the CCA contributed to the production of Mare Vint’s solo exhibition “Nothing but time” at the Goswell Road gallery in Paris (curated by Francesco Tenaglia) and the accompanying catalogue. In October, Paul Kuimet‘s solo exhibition “Sidewalks and desktops” was opened at the WIELS Project Room and the artist’s first monograph was presented as part of the event. In December, Tõnis Saadoja‘s solo show “September, October…” was presented at the WIELS Project Room.

In the beginning of the year, the CCA and Estmak Capital collaborated on a series of exhibitions in public space, titled “Nocturnal visions”, in which the Explorer building in the Tallinn city centre digital artworks by Kristi Kongi, Flo Kasearu and Norman Orro were created. As in the beginning of 2021 exhibition spaces were closed due to Covid, the exhibitions of “Nocturnal visions” were the only exhibitions open in Tallinn at the time. During Covid restrictions in the beginning of the year, the CCA collaborated on the launch of the special issue of the magazine Idoine dedicated to the artist Camille Laurelli, conducted in the format of Instagram Live.

In summer, the CCA’s curator Sten Ojavee together with Siim Preiman curated the exhibition “Wearing a hundred shirts” at the Tallin Art Hall Gallery, focusing on the T-shirt as a cultural phenomenon. In September, Sten Ojavee opened his curatorial exhibition “Keep ___ close to your chest” at the Narva Museum Art Gallery, bringing together contemporary fashion and art. The aim of curated exhibitions and other public projects is to contribute new ideas to the field of Estonian contemporary art and empower local institutions.

The CCA has an archive of cultural and art historical significance, specialising in documenting Estonian art events and artistic activities both in print and in audio-visual media. The archive includes a public database of Estonian artists, where the profiles of the following artists were included in 2021: Anna-Stina Treumund, Marco Laimre, Erki Kasemets, Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Camille Laurelli, Anna-Mari Liivrand, Kai Kaljo, Kärt Ojavee, Ann Pajuväli, Darja Popolitova, Neeme Külm, Taavi Talve, Margit Säde, Anu Põder. New publications by Ann Pajuväli, Johannes Luik, Rein Muuluka, Eve Kask, Paul Kuimet, Diana Tamane and Marta Vaarik, the Narva Art Residency, the Graphic Design Department of the Estonian Academy of Art, Valiz, Rab-Rab, SMAK and Frame were also included in the archive. New videos by Darja Popolitova, Varvara & Mar, Liina Pääsuke, Urmas Lüüs, Mare Tralla and Eve Kask were included to the video archive. The list of the videos is available here. The CCA’s video archive was used to prepare for several significant exhibitions (Kumu, Tartu Art Museum). The project manager of the archive, Marika Agu gave an introductory intensive course on Estonian video art in the CCA’s archive.