Programme

Tour group gathers at the entrance of the fair.

At Kai Art Center’s auditorium. The launch is held partly in Estonian, partly in English.

Launch of 3 photography books (all books are available throughout the art fair with special price):

 

Estonian Academy of Arts (EAA) Press has just published a photography theory reader, which encompasses texts from early 20th century to this day from 18 different authors: László Moholy-Nagy, Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, André Bazin, Roland Barthes, Pierre Bourdieu, Laura Mulvey, Peter Wollen, Joel Snyder, Rosalind Krauss, Christian Metz, John Tagg, David Bate, W. J. T. Mitchell, Hito Steyerl, Jacques Rancière, Ariella Azoulay and Trevor Paglen. The reader is compiled by Neeme Lopp and Marge Monko, and designed by Ott Kagovere.

 

The launch is held in Estonian.

 

Early 2021 EAA Press published another fascinating book: “The Beauty of a Social Problem. Photography, autonomy, economy” by American art and literary scholar Walter Benn Michaels that dissects by the example of contemporary photography the mental and economic climate of our time. Bertolt Brecht once worried that our sympathy for the victims of a social problem can make the problem’s “beauty and attraction” invisible. In “The Beauty of a Social Problem”, Walter Benn Michaels explores the effort to overcome this difficulty through a study of several contemporary artist-photographers whose work speaks in their original aesthetic form to questions of political economy. The book is designed by Maria Muuk.

Walter Benn Michaels joins the launch from Chicago to carry out a web-talk with Paul Kuimet (in English).

 

Lugemik has published the first comprehensive monograph from photographer Paul Kuimet “Compositions with Passing Time”, that includes his work from 2013–2020: mainly photographic installations and 16 mm films, the subject matter of which ranges from landscapes and architecture to objects and works of art. The large selection of images from Kuimet’s lightbox installations, films and C-prints are further discussed in five accompanying essays by Nico Anklam, Anthea Buys, Piret Karro, Chris Sharp, and Jaak Tomberg. The publication is edited by Laura Toots and designed by Indrek Sirkel.

 

Paul Kuimet’s work will be discussed with the artist at the launch by Neeme Lopp (in Estonian)

At Kai Art Center’s auditorium / online. The webinar is held in Estonian.

 

Participants are tech investor, art collector and co-founder of Civitta Riivo Anton, Luminor Pensions CRO Anton Skvortsov and Director of Operations of the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center and Kai Art Center Kadri Laas-Lepasepp.

 

The purpose of the webinar organized in collaboration by Luminor and Foto Tallinn is to introduce the wider opportunities art offers as an investment. Panelists will discuss art as an investment, give the audience an insight into the latest market trends, and introduce key takeaways from the Estonian Art Index, a project launched 3 years ago. 

Tour group gathers at the entrance of the fair.

Tour group gathers at the entrance of the fair.

Tour group gathers at the entrance of the fair.

At Kai Art Center’s auditorium. The conversation is held in English.

 

Foto Tallinn 2021 curator Isabella van Marle will have a discussion with artist Phelim Hoey about art as a form of remedy. Phelim Hoey is a visual artist who studied documentary photography at the School of the Arts (HKU) in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Here, in his first days at art school, Hoey encountered a series of optical difficulties. These difficulties were among the early symptoms of MS, a neurological illness with which he was formally diagnosed a few months later. His practice would subsequently acquire new meaning as a possible agent of healing, offering an important creative outlet for studying his condition, as well as the potential for tracing the ever-changing relationship he experiences with his body. At Foto Tallinn, Hoey presents the project ‘La Machine’, exploring who he is, and how the disease influences his identity.

At Kai Art Center’s auditorium. The discussion is held in English.

 

Participants are artists Cloe Jancis and Jenni Toivonen and curator Isabella van Marle. The discussion is led by artist and curator Johanna Rannula.

 

By now we all know what living in isolation means. But how can artists work and create when everything is in lockdown and you can’t meet other people? Some artists searched and found new creative challenges in isolation, and reflected upon the experience in their art. With this discussion, we’ll look into the strategies for adaption and the possible lessons learned from the pandemic.

Tour group gathers at the entrance of the fair.

Tour group gathers at the entrance of the fair.

At Kai Art Center’s auditorium. The discussion is held in English.

 

Participants are artists Iveta Gabalina, Kristina Õllek and Paul Railton. The discussion is led by Annika Toots.

 

The discussion focuses on the complex relationship between humans, nature and cameras. Photography has witnessed the rapid climate and environmental changes of the 20th century. It has had an important role of documenting the slow changes, which would have otherwise been left unnoticed or unwitnessed. This way photography has had an effect on the development of the so-called “ecological gaze”. At the same time, photography has been criticised for aestheticization of violence and catastrophes as well as for deepening the distance between humans and nature. The discussion touches upon this complicated relationship and looks at photographic art as a potential way for making sense of the world through uncertainty and not-knowing.