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An exhibition about constructiveness in art opens at Kai Art Center

04/10/2024

4/10/2024

This Saturday, on 5 October the main exhibition of the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial The Fine Lines of Constructiveness opens at Kai Art Center. This year, the Triennial focuses on artists from the Baltic and the Nordic countries, exhibiting works around the idea of constructiveness in art and exploring how this could also be helpful in other areas of life.

The curator of the exhibition, Maret Sarapu selected 28 artists via an open call that attracted 470 submissions.

“I wanted to highlight the possibilities art has to address complicated issues, offer solace, hope and new perspectives,” said Maret Sarapu about the theme of the exhibition. “I wanted to explore how to orient yourself towards solutions, both in art and life in general, to experiment and be open to new things.”

The curator was also intrigued by the grounding effect of manual work. “Applied arts and making by hand is something people often turn to in order to find release. Thinking with hands helps to explore ideas and solutions intuitively, which may not emerge when we take a verbal or abstract thinking approach.”

The artists selected for the exhibition share common traits such as playfulness and a courage to experiment, as well as a fresh and caring perspective on material and its life cycle. Sarapu also sees a lot of concern about sustainability and people’s mental balance.

The opening weekend programme includes a curator’s tour by Maret Sarapu (5 October, 12.00) (in Estonian), a day of artist presentations (5 October, 13.30–17.00) (in English) and a workshop by Latvian artist Linda Vilka (& October, 14.00–16.00) (in English).

The main exhibition of the Triennial is accompanied by a multifaceted satellite programme made up of more than 20 events. The opening weekend includes exhibitions at A-gallery, Hop gallery, the library of the Estonian Academy of Arts and Texstudio hall at Baltika kvartal. As part of the satellite programme, on 5 October, artist Rait Rosin and his group of swervers are performing at 12.00–16.00 in Tallinn’s Põhja-Tallinn district, using unique vehicles for transportation and exploring unexpected locations in the city.

Artists participating at the 9th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial: Karin Roy Andersson (Sweden), Riikka Anttonen (Finland), Ieva Baltrėnaitė-Markevičė (Lithuania), Sofia Björkman (Sweden), Per Brandstedt (Sweden), Vincent Dumay (Sweden), Signe Fensholt (Denmark), Hanne Haukom (Norway), Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė (Lithuania), Liisa Hietanen (Finland), Kati Kerstna (Estonia), Lauri Kilusk (Estonia), Karel Koplimets (Estonia), Arja Kärkkäinen (Finland), Krista Leesi (Eesti), Alves Ludovico (Soome), Jennie McMillen (Rootsi), Anda Munkevica (Latvia), Kadi Pajupuu (Estonia), Anu Penttinen (Finland), Tiina Puhkan (Eesti), Saara Renvall (Soome), Vilde Rudjord (Norra), Taavi Teevet (Estonia), Margit Terasmees (Estonia), Ketli Tiitsar (Estonia), Linda Vilka (Latvia), and Ellisif Hals, Yuvia Maini and Cassius Lambert (Sweden and Norway), presenting a collaborative work.

Exhibition design: Kärt Maran Technical team: Tõnu Narro, Mihkel Lember and Arvi Anderson Graphic design: Laura Pappa

Exhibition The Fine Lines of Constructiveness is open at the Kai Art Center 5.10.2024–16.02.2025. Kai Art Center is open from Wednesday to Sunday, 12–18.

Guided tours: 5.10 at 12.00 and 26.10 (school break special), 9.11, 23.11, 7.12, 11.01, 25.01, 15.02 at 14.00.

Tallinn Applied Art Triennial is an international applied art event, established in 1997 with the aim of supporting and empowering the development of the field of applied art and contemporary craft. The Triennial is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn Culture and Sports Department, DHL Express Estonia AS, OnTheGoSystems, Puumerkki, Raitwood and MULL°.

Anu Almik

Main exhibition

Applied art takes hold of Tallinn

28/05/2021
Photo: Hedi Jaansoo

Tomorrow, on 29 May the international applied art exhibition “Translucency” opens at Kai Art Centre. The main exhibition of the 8th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial is open throughout the summer and is accompanied by an extensive satellite programme with many of the exhibitions opening tonight.

The main exhibition is open until 15 August and focuses on the phenomenon of translucency. Depending on the context, translucency can reveal what is hidden or conceal what is seemingly visible.

“As the theme suggests, the exhibition includes works that play with the optic phenomenon but also those that look at translucency in the context of social behaviour, politics and relationships,” says Merle Kasonen, the chairwoman of the triennial. “Applied artists often focus on specific materials but they also work conceptually. In this exhibition, the conceptual approach is perhaps even more significant than functional qualities.”

Curator Stine Bidstrup. Photo: Hedi Jaansoo

The exhibition “Translucency” is curated by the Danish glass artist and art historian Stine Bidstrup. The 21 artists selected by Bidstrup are presenting new and recent works. The selected works are characterised by playfulness, willingness to experiment and a strong conceptual approach,” says the curator Stin Bidstrup. “The works look at presence and absence, the private and the public, individuality and collectiveness, time and temporality, politics and language, material decay and structural defects.”

Alongside the main exhibition the triennial also has an extensive satellite programme that includes jewellery and glass art, site specific installations and events involving various fields of art. For example, today Tanel Veenre opens his solo exhibition “Organ” at Temnikova & Kasela gallery and Kadri Mälk, Julia Maria Künnap and Kai Koppel present their exhibition “Holy Vessel” at Laboratooriumi street 33. A-gallery invites visitors to Ilona Treiman’s solo show “Fire” in their vault space.

At Okapi gallery, Rait Prääts and Gleb Divov bring together glass art and augmented reality and at the Manufactory Quarter design and applied art students from the Estonian Academy of Arts open a group show titled “Phantasmagoria”, showcasing jewellery, metalwork, ceramics and glass.

The exhibition “Translucency” at Kai Art Center (Peetri 12, Noblessner Quarter) is open from 29 May to 15 August, Wednesday to Sunday, from 12–19.

This Saturday, on 29 May at 13.00 the curator will be giving a tour of the show (in English). Previous registration is required. Register here. An Estonian-language guided tour with the curator’s assistant Keiu Krikmann will take place next Saturday, on 5 June at 13.00.

Photo: Hedi Jaansoo

Participating artists: Linda Aasaru (Estonia), Andrew Bearnot (USA), Erin Dickson (UK), Ditte Hammerstrøm (Denmark), Heidi Bach Hentze (Denmark), Sandra Kosorotova (Estonia), Eeva Käsper (Estonia), Julia Maria Künnap (Estonia), Helen Lee (USA), Jiyong Lee (USA), Eve Margus-Villems (Estonia), Reinoud Oudshoorn (Netherlands), Julija Pociute (Lithuania), Helena Tuudelepp (Estonia), Sandra Vaka (Norway), Hanna-Maria Vanaküla (Estonia), Sissi Westerberg (Sweden), Karlyn Sutherland (UK), Grethe Sørensen (Denmark) and Wang & Söderström (Sweden/Denmark).

Tallinn Applied Art Triennial is organised by NGO Tallinn Applied Art Triennial Society.

Anu Almik

General

Tallinn will be flooded with applied art

20/04/2017

The main exhibition of the 7th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial will be opened in the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design this Friday, 21 April. The opening weekend of the triennial will include guided tours at the main exhibition, but also artist talks. Prior to the opening of the main exhibition everyone is invited to take part in the seminar and extensive satellite programme.

The thematic main exhibition of the 7th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial features artists from Nordic countries, Central Europe, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Israel, but also China, Taiwan, USA and Canada. Their artworks reflecting on the concept of time were chosen to the exhibition out of 256 works submitted to the open call. The exhibition includes ceramics, jewellery, glass, textile and blacksmithing, but also video and large-scale installations.

It is also possible to visit the main exhibition in the Estonian Applied Art and Design Museum (Lai 17) with a tour guide. The first guided tours will take place on Saturday, 22 April at 11.00 (in Estonian) and at 16.00 (in English) and on Sunday, 23 April (in Russian). To participate in the guided tour museum ticket is required; the duration of the tour is approximately an hour.

On Saturday, 22 April everyone is welcome to meet the artists taking part of the main exhibition. From 12.00–15.00 the artists will be giving presentations at the Loewenschede tower (Kooli 7).

In addition to the main exhibition the triennial features an extensive satellite programme. This week alone will include 10 solo and group exhibition openings, as well as sound and participatory installations, a glass art project taking place in various cafés in Tallinn, a seminar on art mediation and many other events. To get more information on the opening weekend programme, see here.

Anu Almik