TMW 2021 art programme will be published in spring 2021. Till then take a look at what we had on offer in 2020.
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The TMW 2020 art programme is particularly extensive and versatile. In addition to the traditional city-wide Tallinn Thursday gallery tour curated by the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center (ECDAC), you can enjoy light installations by the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts and the unique immersive sculpture at the Port Noblessner area. Telliskivi Creative City hosts an outdoor exhibition as well as several excellent photo exhibitions at Fotografiska in Tallinn. In the latter, the first official Moomin Museum pop-up store in Estonia will also open before the festival.
Tallinn Thursday gallery night
Thu, 27 August 17:00 – 21:00
Various galleries
On 27 August, the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center (ECADC) hosts a gallery night with extended opening hours called Tallinn Thursday. The participating galleries are Kai Art Center, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery, EKA Gallery, the Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre, Gallery Positiiv, Okapi Gallery, Haus Gallery and Vaal Gallery. The programme includes exhibitions introducing new works by both Estonian and foreign artists as well as meetups with the gallerists and artists.
A special bus makes moving from gallery to gallery easier during the Tallinn Thursday. Entry to the bus at every stop is based on the first-come-first-served policy.
17:00 Kai Art Center (Peetri 12)
Kris Lemsalu Malone & Kyp Malone Lemsalu “Love Song Sing Along (Once Again With Feeling!)”
New and previously unexhibited works by Kris Lemsalu Malone & Kyp Malone Lemsalu will be on view together with a large-scale installation that was exhibited earlier in the year at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. “Love Song Sing Along (Once Again With Feeling!)” is a comeback of the Berlin exhibit, as well as the very first post-crisis exhibition at the Kai Art Centre. Taking on the roles of archetypal Adam and Eve, the artists tackle the world’s creation myth, giving central roles to characters such as a swan, rabbit, and jaguar. In the artists’ words, “It’s a work that’s taken from the personal in real time then abstracted through myth, some borrowed, some improvised. A cosmogony of our relating to one another.”
Kris Lemsalu’s portfolio includes highly acclaimed projects, among them representing Estonia at the Venice Biennial and solo exhibitions in the world’s leading galleries. Artist and musician Kyp Malone is best known as the member of the Brooklyn group TV On The Radio. Through his music, this year he has supported community initiatives created on the crest of the wave of civic unrest in the US, as well as small cultural organisations that have suffered due to the pandemic.
On Tallinn Thursday, Kai Art Center’s programme coordinator Triin Metsla will introduce the exhibition.
17:20 Temnikova & Kasela Gallery (Peetri 12)
Kaido Ole “All Together”
Kaido Ole’s solo exhibition comprises three new works and three paintings previously shown at the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga in 2019. In the series, Ole finds himself in a museum dressed in overalls putting together an imaginary exhibition which brings together works by his Estonian colleagues, international contemporaries and modern classics. With help from various invented characters from his own oeuvre over the years, Ole performs the roles of an artist, curator, installer and museum director.
On Tallinn Thursday, Temnikova & Kasela’s gallerist Lilian Hiob will introduce the exhibition.
18:00 EKA Gallery (Põhja puiestee 7)
International group exhibition “Resemblance Through Contact. Grammar of Imprint”
The exhibition focuses on printmaking as a process that is cultivated through contacts between forms and counterforms (negative space), and by the tension produced by these interactions. The artists are not so much interested in specific images, proofs, shapes or manners as in printed matter’s ability to introduce the new space that emerges between matrix and multiplicity. They focus on forms, and their dissemination through various statements and manifestations of printmaking in the post-disciplinary era.
The exhibition features artists from Europe and the Americas. On Tallinn Thursday, curators Liina Siib and Maria Erikson from the Department of Graphic Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts will introduce the exhibition.
18:30 Juhan Kuus Documentary Photography Centre (Telliskivi 60a)
Group exhibition “Outlook – 40 Years of Street Photography in Estonia”
Juhan Kuus Documentary Photography Centre presents the first comprehensive exhibition of Estonian street photography. The exhibition gives an overview of the Estonian street photography over the last 40 years, featuring over 90 works by 40 different artists. The exhibition is curated by Airi Leon, Kristel Aimee Laur, Tanel Verk, Toomas Järvet. On Tallinn Thursday, at least one of the curators and one participating artist will be introducing the show.
19:00 Gallery Positiiv (Roo 21a)
Kristel Schwede & Kadri Pettai “Behold”
The duo show by Kristel Schwede and Kadri Pettai, open on the windows of gallery Positiiv looks at the world on the outskirts of the city where every house has as many stories to tell as many dwellers it has had. Kristel Schwede has photographed houses, streets and yards between the houses, which, when processed, look like illustrations of a novel. Her work is accompanied by Kadri Pettai’s dramatically shadowed plant photos, which add humorous excitement. On Tallinn Thursday, both artists will be present at the gallery.
19:30 Okapi Gallery (Niguliste 2)
Pop-up art sales day
Okapi gallery will host a pop-up art sales day. There is a wide selection of artworks by contemporary photographic and graphic artists available for purchase at the gallery.
On Tallinn Thursday, many of the artists will be present at the gallery accompanied by a DJ Tarrvi Laamann.
20:00 Haus Gallery (Uus 17)
Vano Allsalu “Of Nature” / Elvi Rangell “Life is Good” / Elina Laurinen “Colour Appeals”
During the gallery night, Haus Gallery presents three exhibitions. Vano Allsalu’s solo show “Of Nature” is open on the upper floor of the gallery. Downstairs, visitors are welcome to explore Elvi Rangell’s “Life is Good” and Elina Laurinen’s “Colour Appeals”.
On Tallinn Thursday, gallerist Piia Ausman will introduce the exhibitions.
20:45 Vaal Gallery (Tartu maantee 80L)
Piret Karro & Laura Põld “Shedding Skin”
The exhibition features drawings and an installation by Laura Põld and poetry and short prose by Piret Karro. “great, there’s no one in the kitchen, / new people, new rules, clean up, / don’t bother, do you have a razor, i don’t need much furniture”. On Tallinn Thursday, the exhibition’s opening event will take place.
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Light installations by the EKA students
Fri, 28 August – Sun 30 August
Port Noblessner city square
Light installations by the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) provide an enjoyable and enlightening night-time experience in the area between Krusenstern Square, Kai Art Center, PROTO Invention Factory and the Noblessner Foundry. The locations of the installations can be found on the map between this leaflet.
Marianne Jõgi: “Interaural Contour I”
12:00–18:00, Fri, 28 August – Sun 30 August
In front of Kai Art Center (Peetri 12)
Marianne Jõgi’s outdoor installation “Interaural Contour I” at the Noblessner Marina promotes both relaxation and learning. The immersive sculpture is accompanied by composer Ülo Krigul’s sound piece “Water Itself”.
Raul Meel: “Truth and Justice: Elders”
3 July – Sun, 30 August
Telliskivi Creative City Outdoor Gallery (Telliskivi 60a)
During TMW, the Telliskivi Creative City Outdoor Gallery displays the exhibition “Truth and Justice: Elders” by renowned Estonian avant-garde artist Raul Meel in which the author interprets an Estonian literary classic – A.H. Tammsaare’s “Truth and Justice”. To enjoy and perceive the exhibition, it is neither necessary to be familiar with the work inspiring the album, nor to understand Estonian. The design of the artworks speaks of silence, thus setting the visitor somewhat at odds with one’s inner world.
Moomin pop-up shop and photo exhibitions
18 August – Sun, 30 August
Fotografiska Tallinn (Telliskivi 60a – 8)
The Moomin Museum and the Tampere Hall Shop will open an original Moomin Museum pop-up store at Fotografiska from 18 to 30 August. The shop highlights the themes of the Moomin Museum’s exhibitions, based on the original artwork of Tove Jansson, and the selected Moomin products not available anywhere else – from posters, postcards and magnets to mugs, tea and chocolate bars.
Four notable exhibitions are also open during TMW at photographic art centre Fotografiska: “Exposed” by the renowned Canadian musician Bryan Adams, “The Dark Testament” by Lina Iris Victor, “Gold” by Sebastiao Salgado and “Waterproof Heart” by Ignas Pavliukevičius.
A discounted ticket price applies to the TMW Festival Pass and PRO pass holders at Fotografiska Tallinn. More info at the site
Digital Audio-Visual Sensory Experience Nordic Escapes Lounge
26 August sessions at 17/18/19/20/21/22
27 August sessions at 17/18/19/20/21/22
28 August sessions at 17/18/19/20/21/22
KinoMaja Bar & Stage (Uus 3)
Nordic Escapes Lounge is a unique experience concept created by Kristjan Järvi. Entering the area, you will be met with Nordic Escapes welcome drink and menu of escaping gear.
When ready, you can enter the Nescapes vibration chamber – a room of Nordic Lights and surrounded by stone walls. Once you’ve settled in, get ready for an exciting journey. Soon you will find yourself in a state that exists between the visible and the unseen – the dimension of yourself.
The visuals created by Glowing Bulbs, together with the Nordic Escapes playlist curated by Kristjan Järvi, will accompany your 45-minute journey to far North and over the heliosphere. The selection includes music from Kristjan Järvi’s new album of the same title and works by Robert Koch, Max Richter, Arvo Pärt, Kerli, Billie Eilish, Mick Pedaja and others.
Nordic Escapes Lounge is open all evening, from 16:00 to late night.
There are 5 Nescapes Journeys a day, starting accordingly at 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.
Wishing to start your journey peacefully with a welcome drink, you should plan your time reasonably before the time of the take-off.
The event-series will take place only on August 26-28, at Kinomaja (Uus Str. 3, Tallinn Old Town)
Tickets for the event from Piletilevi or on the spot.
Organisers: Sunbeam Productions, Full House Agency