Portrait project of everyday urban cyclists in Tallinn, Estonia for civic project #liigunrattaga. Exhibited publicly in Tammsaare Park in April, 2021. More information at: https://www.liigunrattaga.ee/
I was also a team member for this project which is aimed at getting more people to use bikes as a way to get around in Estonia.
This was a pop-up exhibition of student works. MA Urbanism year I students presented the results of the Art and the City studio I conduct. This year the studio focused on the future Rail Baltic Tallinn terminal building designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The futuristic station is set to become a hypermobile node, possibly shifting the centre of the city towards the south, away from the sea.
Student works ranged from social analysis of the adjoining areas, a proposal for a bench-pavilion of petty crime and a handbook for living next to a construction site to musings on the meaning of connectivity, the smart city and how past and present are simultaneously manifest in the urban fabric.
This experimental gallery format and organisation was the result of my time at the 86 Film and Urbanism Festival, Urbanism residency curated by METASITU in Slavutych, Ukraine.
The Slavutych Gallery was the 1st independent art gallery in the city. Its primary aim was to both highlight local talent as well as showcase artists from Ukraine and abroad. The secondary aim of the gallery was to be a vehicle for intermediate use for empty spaces in the town. The tertiary aim of the gallery was to function as a platform for the collective of local curators to create meaningful experiences for the inhabitants of Slavutych.
The gallery project consisted of setting up an infrastructure which could then function independently after the residency period ends. The first incarnation consisted of 10-12 easels which could be used to place work in a variety of contexts – both indoors and in public space. I put together a group of locals who would be interested in owning and managing the project after I leave. In addition, I struck a deal with the mayor for the permission to use vacant municipally owned spaces for the purposes of the gallery as well as help in covering any costs the gallery might have.
I was happy to see the format outlive my time at the residency, as was planned. The infrastructure of the easels, curatorial group and municipal support saw a number of exhibitions take place across the city. I am currently unaware of the fate of the gallery and await the chance to revisit Slavutych for a follow-up.