Minimalism and vulnerability shine at EKA final degree exhibition Tase

The Estonian Academy of Arts' annual final degree exhibition Tase opens this year at the university campus. Art historians Olivia Soans and Poul Jakob Levertand invited director and actor Jarmo Reha to join them in discovering works by young creators and discussing their work. This year's Tase is defined by minimalism, vulnerability and emotional honesty.

The Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) annual final degree exhibition Tase is open this year at the university campus, showcasing nearly 280 works from various disciplines. Olivia Soans and Poul Jakob Levertand, alumni of the Department of Art History, invited director and actor Jarmo Reha to join them in discovering the work of young creators.

Minimalism and honesty as common ground

This year's Tase stands out for its tenderness and care. A shared characteristic is minimalism, both conceptually and materially. Jarmo was surprised that the works are not particularly elaborate in form: each one expresses its idea through a single clear line. "Vulnerability expresses courage and honesty, a willingness to make visible one's inner world and observations," he explained during the walkthrough.

Jarmo admitted frankly that he rarely visits exhibitions in Estonia, more often abroad. In his view, the reason is simple: at Estonian exhibitions poverty is too visible. Artists and curators lack resources to realise ideas on a grand scale, and a good concept can suffer as a result. He added without hesitation that when it comes to arts funding, he would prefer to give more to the few rather than little to the many.

Works that leave their mark

The walkthrough's first stop was on the fifth floor in the mezzanine terrace, where Kail Timuski's work "Requiem Larium" sings a funeral song to disappearing architecture. The whistling of a Heliorat organ produces a sad soundscape dedicated to Saxby village on the island of Vormsi, where in 1944 almost the entire Swedish-speaking community fled and the Soviet military did as it pleased with the abandoned houses. Wooden planks remaining from a Saxby house burn to ash in the work-a final ritual to honour the dignity of the community's lives and sufferings.

August Joost's "Hollow Men", a work comprising six monumental paintings separated from viewers by black curtains, has a disturbing and profound effect. Jarmo summed up the experience briefly: "You immediately see when you're dealing with good art, and August simply needs to be given time and space so that more works can come to be."

Deportations, Siberia and drag

Sculpture graduate Eva Maria Põldmäe's installation work "Etudes from Siberia" demanded silence and concentration, and visitors were able to provide that at just the right moment, on 14 June, the Day of Remembrance of Deportation Victims. The work features the voice of Eva Maria's great-uncle Alo, who tells the story of his father, who in a Siberian labour camp tried to ease women's burdens but fell victim to bullying, until he put on stockings and a skirt and the bullying stopped. According to Jarmo, a shocking anecdote: "Drag saved him from bullying in Siberia!"

Graphic design graduate Olga Dubrovskaja's poetic work "Here echo the whispering banks of the river Lethe" depicts a state of intensive care delirium, the loss of reality perception in a hospital room. Everyone was surprised to learn that the work's creator is a practising doctor. The installation, which combines lithographs, lighting solutions and plastic human organs equipped with bellows, breathes and rustles, leaving Jarmo with the impression of an ambient sound work.

Tase belongs in the academy's walls

By the end of the walkthrough, Jarmo acknowledged that the artistic level had pleasantly surprised him. In his view, Tase should continue to take place in EKA's spaces: "Here the future Estonian artists will wear out the benches, and paint splotches on the studio floor are for all to see and sniff at. In this school you can feel the body and soul, spirituality is present!" Despite the constraints of arts funding, young creators have made something beautiful and alive, with little room left for hesitation.