Opening of EKA SIIN

You are warmly invited: on 11 September at 6:30 pm, EKA SIIN, a new outdoor space and open-air gallery, will open at Kotzebue 2.

As part of the opening, EKA PAKK will also unveil the Met(s)aRing outdoor classroom – a pilot shelter developed as part of an RMK research project on visitor infrastructure.

As part of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB), as of 8 September, the K2 Gallery at EKA SIIN is already hosting its first exhibition on the scaffolding: an outdoor exhibition resulting from the international workshop “How much Ex.Change?”

Estonian Academy of Art students have transformed the Kotzebue 2 site into an urban landscape built from leftover materials, demonstrating that temporary use can be feasible, affordable and fun.

WHAT IS EKA SIIN?

EKA’s front door has never been – and should never become – a physical boundary. EKA SIIN (siin means both “here, present” and “a rail for hanging work” in Estonian) is a collaborative process and project driven by the desire to bring EKA’s character and creative life into the area immediately surrounding the school. EKA SIIN presents a comprehensive vision for the outdoor spaces of the Estonian Academy of Arts, strengthening EKA’s presence in our local urban environment and allowing

creative work to spill out of the building and into the city. The first focal point of this process is the site at Kotzebue St 2, which in the longer term is intended for a brand new EKA building.

The name EKA SIIN grew out of the idea of creating a rail (siin in Estonian) for outdoor exhibitions in EKA’s exterior spaces. Hanging from it, students’ works could call out to passers-by in their own distinctive way: “EKA on SIIN” (EKA is HERE!) This is why the first stage of EKA SIIN took the form of a supporting structure made from scaffolding. It creates opportunities for events and outdoor exhibitions, offers a place to sit and rest, and invites students to continue shaping EKA’s outdoor environment. The lower horizontal scaffolding tubes of the structures at Kotzebue 2 can be seen as this exhibition rail, but the scaffolding also offers plenty of room for more imaginative uses and interventions.

As a part of EKA SIIN, temporary landscaping has recently been created at Kotzebue 2 during a landscape workshop. The workshop was organised by the Estonian Academy of Arts, the Youth Council of the Estonian Association of Architects, and the Estonian Landscape Architecture Students’ Association.

What happens next on the site is still completely open – and waiting for ideas!