Tase ’08
Location: 4th floor, B-wing
The exhibition is part of the Estonian Academy of Arts festival TASE ’08. This year, the Academy is combining its main public events into a single whole, integrating thesis exhibitions, open masterclasses, and the ERKI Fashion Show into a festival that will visit various locations across Tallinn and last for an entire month. The goal of the festival is to introduce young artists, architects, and designers to the public and to highlight the value of art and design education in Estonian society.
According to Maarin Ektermann, head of the EAA Gallery, the exhibition of master’s theses from the Faculty of Fine Arts, opening at Kumu, is certainly one of the central exhibitions of the TASE ’08 festival.
“Expectations are traditionally high both within professional circles and among the general public, because although the participating artists have long since started their independent creative work, this exhibition still offers a kind of snapshot of the younger generation. At the same time, the particularity of a thesis exhibition is that each artist/work should be viewed individually, and generalizations like ‘where is the younger generation headed’ do not come easily. Socially critical themes and investigative art projects continue to be popular, along with mixes of reality and fiction, poetics, absurdity—all of which, of course, make use of (and take responsibility for) the possibilities of new media,” comments Ektermann on the content of the exhibition.
The Faculty of Fine Arts exhibition at Kumu features: Laura Kuusk, Marge Monko (photography), Tõnis Kenkmaa, Ilmar Kurvits, Maris Vahter (printmaking), Riin Kranna-Rõõs (interactive multimedia), Herlet Elvisto (painting), Edith Karlson, Jass Kaselaan, Johnson and Johnson, Pamela Weiss (sculpture), Leen Võrno (scenography).
“The names of the specializations listed on the diploma often give no real idea of what the young artist is actually working on; the medium is chosen according to the idea. It’s important to keep your eyes open and your mind sharp, and to move as an artist-researcher further out from the art field into the network of real societal issues,” warns Ektermann, advising against forming premature expectations about the exhibition.
Designer: Raul Kalvo
TASE ’08 festival supporters:
Estonian Cultural Endowment, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Kumu Art Museum, Friscom OÜ
