Diana Kull
Selection of artworks
About a hundred works were submitted to the first, nation-wide round of the Estonian expo competition. 36 were selected for the second round, during which the works were further developed both individually and in workshops supervised by artists. 26 young people made it to the third round and the works of five authors were admitted straight to the E! triennial exhibition.
With the enhancement of the rest of the works, the number of final candidates has by now decreased to 16 young authors, whose works will likely be exhibited either in the E! Estonian expo or in the accompanying programme (videos and performances).
In addition to the strength of the ideas, the balance of substance and form was an important selection criterion, in order to exclude the works with mostly entertainment value, where idea is in short supply despite the enormous amount of matter. Also, the works where good ideas were lost behind weak execution, were left out. The personal ability and willingness of the young artists to refine their work, both with regard to substance and execution, was considered highly important as well.
Mediums
Installations have the biggest representation in the Estonian exposition. Installation is a costly and difficult art form that even professional artists, let alone youngsters, are not always able to establish. Eksperimenta! provides a unique opportunity to create installations. Yogita Sharma’s “Personal Room” is interactive, responding loudly to the movement of the audience. Kersti Nigols’ video installation “Language Room” analyzes the development of the Estonian language over time.
Helme Pihel
Surprisingly, very few photographic projects were submitted. Helme Pihel with her urban exploring project is still up and running in the exhibition competition. A lot of paintings were submitted, but none of them made it to the finals. Unfortunately, some capable painters dropped out, due to not adhering to the deadlines for example.
The classical so-called pictorial art is represented by two youths-prodigies who practice charcoal drawing: Karl-Erik Illik depicts contemporary people in a photorealistic manner, while Mihkel Kaarma studies archetypal structures.
There are three bold youngsters who practice performance art. Mairi Mölder’s video is based on an action by which she relives her birth process. Semele Kari is planning a live performance of the dialogue between the real and virtual body. Pärtel Reppo wants to analyze his relationship with chocolate.
Mairi Mölder
Themes
The subject matter of the works, revealing the inner world of the youth, is very diverse. Social and political themes, which are popular in contemporary art, are less prevalent in the works of young people – for example, Katariin Mudist’s object empathizes with the situation of the Roma people in Europe. Maarja Pabunen’s video interprets life as a staged play where the collective body dictates our roles. Anna-Mari Liivrand with her sculptural installation tries to find the real person behind virtual avatars.
The association of the subject “Space” with living space brought many clichéd approaches to the competition, but also a very clever analysis of public vs. personal space in Kati Saarits’ installation. Of the pubertal turmoil of youngsters’ psychological self-analysis, Sirkka Johanna Siimso’s installation, which interprets life and choices as a complex labyrinth, made it to the exhibition.
Quite a few young people are interested in the deeper structures of the world and life on a rather mystical level; Edward Juhkam, for example, tries to find links between the migration of souls, DNA and the meaning of life. Diana Kull’s object shows the young author’s vision of the time when the entire world was contained within a single original egg. Kati Zakilova’s sci-fi film is about the uniqueness of each person, which often tends to be forgotten in everyday life.
Mari Kartau
Curator of Eksperimenta! Estonian exposition
