EKKM kicks off the season on 5 April with the international group exhibition Trigger which is the first collaborative project of museum curators Evelyn Raudsepp and Maria Helen Känd. The exhibition features nine artists from Estonia, USA, Mexico, France and elsewhere.
The exhibition is the result of its time, a reaction to the situation where we are forced to witness the chaos and elevated tensions of political crises. The constant global information sharing and the overwhelming flood of news have led us to an emotional exhaustion. In addition to therapy and self-care, one might feel a need for a release of adrenalin and a bodily shake-off of accumulated tension.
The curators were seeking ways of expression that similarly to music, dance or performing arts would balance the intellectual engagement with sensory and physical stimulation. To create this kind of an environment, video works emphasizing the energy of choreographic self-expression and contemplative soundscapes by the French collective (LA)HORDE and the artist Jacolby Satterwhite from the USA have been included in the exhibition. The Turkish artist Cevdet Erek creates a site-specific sound installation for the deck room of the EKKM building, while the Romanian-Hungarian artist Adrian Kiss exposes large-scale leather and metal sculptures. The Estonian artist Mihkel Maripuu combines new digital-synthetic paintings with an older series using a similar technique, and the Swedish artist Hanna Antonsson presents fragile kinetic sculptures. Objects that break with the tradition of applied arts by Mexican designer and artist Bárbara Sánchez-Kane and Estonian artist Darja Popolitova create visions of the transformational capacities of the human body through clothing and jewellery.
The dance performance Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus by the Irish choreographer Oona Doherty that takes place on one evening, but is an equal part of the exhibition, launches also EKKM’s performance and performing arts programme. The performance takes place on 13 May in cooperation with the Tallinn Creative Hub at their Cauldron Hall.
On the same evening, before the performance, a performative activation of Bárbara Sánchez-Kane’s work will take place in collaboration with the performer Maria Metsalu. The performative activation of the work can be witnessed also on the last day of the exhibition, on 2 June.
Opening programme on 5 April (exhibition will remain open until 22:00):
17:00 Tour with the curators and artists (in English)
18.00 Opening
19.00 DJ vaatab jooksvalt
22.00 Coverboy
23.00 Mihkel Maripuu
On Saturday, 6 April, from 14:00 to 18:00, it is possible to meet the curator Evelyn Raudsepp at the EKKM bar as part of the public programme of the exhibition. This is a new format that allows the audience to meet the creators of the exhibition in an informal setting and to engage in longer discussions about the exhibition.
In addition to the curator’s tour on the opening day of the exhibition, guided tours take place as always on museum Sundays, i.e. 7 April, 5 May and 2 June. On the occasion of the Museum Night on 18 May, the exhibition tours are followed by a special programme. More information about public events will be announced on an ongoing basis.
The exhibition Trigger is open from Wed to Sun (12:00–19:00) until 2 June 2024.
The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn Culture & Sports Department, British Council, French Institute of Estonia, SAHA Association, Goethe Institut, AkzoNobel, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture.