The CCA’s new board includes Peeter Kutman, Sirje Helme, Jaanus Samma, Anu Allas and Triin Männik. Peeter Kutman assumes the role of head of the board previously held by Sirje Helme.
Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art’s five-member board includes experts who are invested in the CCA’s activities and developments as well as the role of contemporary art in society. The role of the CCA’s board is oversight of implementation of centre’s statute, its budget and annual plans. Since 1992, when the CCA was established its board has included artists, freelancers, representatives of various institutions and others working in the Estonian art scene. The members of the board are elected for three years and approved by Open Estonia Foundation.
Peeter Kutman is a barrister and a partner at law firm Cobalt. Cobalt has supported Estonia’s participation at the Venice Biennale since 2018. Peeter has been the CCA’s board member since 2018. “I first heard of the CCA when Maria Arusoo came to our offices in 2013 and proposed supporting Dénes Farkas’ exhibition in Venice,” says Kutman. “I do not know if the CCA got lucky or we did, but Dénes’ language-based exhibition had many links to the legal field, which is why we as lawyers found it so fascinating. This turned into a long-term partnership, so every other spring I am excited to see which project is going to Venice that time. It was only natural that after working together for this long I would contribute in a more direct way, as a member of the CCA’s board.”
Sirje Helme is the director of Art Museum of Estonia. She has previously also worked as the director the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art (1992–2005) and is a long time member of the CCA’s board. “Working at the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art was a very special time,” recalls Helme. “Suddenly everything was possible. The world opened up and new possibilities were revealed. It was not like a job, but more like living in unpredictable turbulence. There were no distinct “working hours”. Ours and artists’ continuous flow of energy meant we had new ideas each morning and it only seemed natural to follow through. Of course, this lifestyle was not sustainable, but that is also exactly why it was so precious and rare.”
Jaanus Samma is an artist who has worked with the CCA on numerous projects. In 2015 his project “NSFW. A Chairman’s Tale” represented Estonia at the Venice Biennale and in 2018 Samma was selected among Estonian artists for the WIELS Residency. “For the Estonian art scene, the CCA has played an essential role in developing international networks,” says Samma. “It has been my honour and pleasure to have been part of it. I hope that as a member of the board I will be able to contribute to support the CCA’s activities.”
Anu Allas is a curator at Kumu Art Museum as well as the Head of the Museology studies module of the Art History MA programme at Estonian Academy of Arts. She has collaborated with the CCA writing articles for a number of publications as well as used the centre’s extensive archive in her research. “As a member of the board, among other tasks, I will turn my attention to the CCA’s publishing projects and possibilities offered by their archive.”
Triin Männik is one of the founders of the communications firm Pluk and a long time member of Museum Night team. Triin studied art history at Estonian Academy of Arts and cultural management at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has been part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage in Estonia team, the communications team of Tallinn Architecture Biennale, and the coordinator of the arts and public space projects for European Capital of Culture in 2011 in Tallinn and cultural projects for the British Council in Estonia. As a board member of the CCA, Triin will above all share her experience with communicating large scale cultural projects.
