M Yearbook / 2013
contents MoKS info / 4/ Summary MoKS activities and programmes / 5/ AIR Artist in Residence programme / 6/ Madli Kütt / 8/ Reichrichter / 10/ Bita Razavi / 12/ Art group LAIK / 14/ Katrin Laur, Jaak Valge / 14/ Brit Pavelson, Koit Randmäe / 16/ Jules Horne / 18/ Gunnhildur Una Jonsdottir / 22/ Necesér Collective / 24/ Olga Dermendji / 26/ Katinka Hajas / 28/ Vedelik / 30/ Nadin Reschke / 32/ Jörg Piringer / 34/ Jiyeon Kim, Dawn Scarfe / 36/ Jorge Uriel Najera / 38/ Jay-Dea Lopez / 40/ Travis Patterson / 42/ Anne Liis Kogan / 44/ Rudy Deceliere / 46/ Camilla Graff Junior / 48/ MoKS Gallery / 50/ Darkroom / 52/ Educational Activities / 54/ Workshops, Artists to Schools Events / 62/ MoKS meetings, Helikoosolek, Cine MoKS, FoodClub Budget / 66/ Timeline / 68/ Credits / 70/
MoKS info MoKS, Centre for Art and Practice Mooste m천isa valitsejamaja Mooste 64616, P천lva maakond Estonia moks@moks.ee www.moks.ee www.facebook.com/MOKSperiphery
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summary MoKS activities and programmes 2013 marked 13 years of continuous activity for MoKS as an international artist in residence center and project space for workshops, exhibitions, artist talks, film screenings, community events and more. Many events extended outward into Tartu, and the neighbouring communities surrounding Mooste. The diversity and quality of our programming and activities not only makes MoKS unique in Estonia but also in the wider European context. Each year, artists travel from all areas of the world to develop and share their artistic visions specifically in our small corner of rural Estonia. A short overview of our 2013 activities includes: Artist-in-residence programme (40 artists for longer and shorter stays, from 19 countries) | Gallery (11 exhibitions / approx 2000 visitors / nearly 1000 metres of thread spent for hanging exhibits) | Educational activities that included over 10 workshops, student summer practice, artists to schools visits) | Member projects, including building a traditional photo darkroom, screen printing of unique t-shirts and bags, continued research into local sonic environments and more. | Event series: CineMoKS, Helikoosolek, MoKS meetings, Foodclub (nearly 30 events held, hundreds of cups of tea drunk)
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air Artist in Residence programme
AIR @ MoKS in 2013
In 2013 MoKS hosted all together around 40 artists. 25 artists stayed in long-term residencies (1-2 months) and 15 artists in shorter-term (3-5 days). 3 + 1 studios were for artist use.
Reichrichter: Rebecca Reich, Markus Vila Richter; Bita Razavi, art group LAIK: Kristin Orav, Hans Günther Lokk, Kaspar Aus, jt; Katrin Laur, Jaak Valge, Kerttu Tuberg, Liina Vedler, Brit Pavelson, Koit Randmäe, Jules Horne, Kate Foster, Gunnhildur Una Jonsdottir, Madli Kütt, Jelena Glazova, Necesér Collective: Alma Rajala, Ewa Zurakowska, Susanne Kass, Lucie Nováčková, Kateřina Fojtíková, Svetlana Sarkisjanova, Olga Dermendji, Runorun: Mari Kalkun, Maija Kauhanen, Nathan Riki Thomson, Tatu Viitala; Katinka Hajas, Vedelik, Nadin Reschke, Jörg Piringer, Jiyeon Kim, Dawn Scarfe, Jorge Uriel Najera, Jay Dea Lopez, Travis Patterson, Anne Liis Kogan, Rudy Deceliere, Camilla Graff Junior
5 programmes were available: Open Studio for artists and researchers from various disciplines, 1-6 months, free studio and accommodation, 10 artists received a monthly grant of 235€ (altogether 13 artists) | Nordic Baltic residency programme, free studio and accommodation for artists for 2 months, 123€ stipend and travel costs covered (altogether 3 artists) | Axis of Praxis in cooperation with Ptarmigan Tallinn 1 month of free studio and accommodation, stipend 700€ and travel expenses covered (2 artists) | exchange with FKSE Budapest 1 month of free studio and accommodation, artist stipend and travel costs covered by Amadeus Foundation | Rental studio use of studio-apartment 7-9€ per day/night (21 artists for shorter stays 3-10 days) Artists from various disciplines applied from all over the world. As usual, quite a significant group of sound artists pondered on the fields and forests around MoKS with their microphones and recorders. Microresidencies related to exhibitions and projects (MoKS artist talks) were also offered. With regard to exchange artists we cooperated with FKSE Budapest and Ptarmigan Tallinn. 6
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03 Madli Kütt
“
I am writing a PhD thesis on litterary translation from French to Estonian, and the time in MoKS was one of the most intense writing periods in that process. My residency time fell on the first weeks of the year, when the weather was cold and snowy and MoKS felt as though it was abandoned and left for me to take care of. Being the only resident and a kind of caretaker was a perfect oppurtunity to enjoy a hermit's life and get in touch with the spirit of the place, both historically and in its everyday life. Reading old Estonian poetry and writing my PhD thesis in French on Marcel Proust's Time regained, in the side-building to an old manor, transported me gently to a different time a hundred or more years ago, and helped me to see how these different cultures - in time and in space - could co-exist in a translation.
“
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Reichrichter: Rebecca Reich, Markus Vila Richter Reichrichter is the name for a collaboration between Rebekka Reich and Marcus Vila Richter. The content framework of Reichrichter focuses on the questioning of peoples' relationship to space, the nature of social spaces and their transience. Spaces are approached and scanned indirectly by the artists, similar to the operation of sonar. The reflected waves of sonar thus consist of the subjective comments of the residents, of the people in these areas. The artists create their work using this selfdeveloped method for the production of new material as well as including existing film and sound clips, which originate from an archive developed by the duo on the basis of their own taxonomic arrangement. The two media formats used by Reich and Richter in their work - audio and video - provoke theoretical media-related questions about the blending of signifier and signified. Questions about the truth of the media and the look beneath the surface of signifiers are an elemental part of their work.
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Bita Razavi
“
During my MoKS residency I worked on the
research phase of my project Some Critique from Our Parents.
Some Critique from Our Parents comprises a series of videos, exploring the relationships between artists and their parents. It is based on interviews with the parents of artists, in which the parents discuss their perceptions of their children's work and creative pursuits. Parents form an inevitable and very particular part of an artist's audience. They are at once intimate associates but also art world outsiders who might fail to understand the professional language used, and implicitly understood, by the artists themselves. The idea for this project comes from my own struggles in trying to communicate my work to my parents. Some Critique from Our Parents draws on the experiences of the parents of artists to explore in greater detail the relationships that exist between artists and their audiences and between parents and children, as well as addressing the challenges of human communication more broadly. I will be working on this project in the long-term and as part of different programs in different countries. During my stay in MoKS I conducted research on the Estonian art scene to chose the possible Estonian candidates to be included in the project. The residency was especially useful for me because I met and got to know some Estonian artists and researchers there who helped me a lot with finding contacts in Tallinn and with the Estonian Art Museum.The project is commissioned by Checkpoint Helsinki and will be realized in their program at the Helsinki City Festival in August 2014.
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30 March ) R I I F ( i v a z a R a t i B : R I A dcluiabn, food slam o o F e t s o o M sian-Bavar Per
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10 AIR: Art g roup LAIK
: Kristin O
AIR: Katr
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15 March
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15
25 April
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AIR: Brit Pavelson, Koit Randm채e
(EE)
07 May
Brit Pavelson, Koit Randm채e Koit (b. 1983) and Brit (b. 1986) both have a graphic design background, working mainly on commissioned jobs. Since artistic ambition and everyday work don't always meet to a satisfactory degree, many non-work-related thoughts and ideas acquired throughout years, scattered throughout notebooks, needed to be looked over and digested. There were projects that needed finishing and projects that needed developing. No definitive outcome was set, other than to see and put things into perspective. 17
Jules Horne
“
In October 2012, I spent two weeks at MoKS as part of a research visit with two other Scottish artists, Kate Foster and James Wyness. It was a magical and productive time. I was keen to come back and breathe some more of this
and its mysterious qualities, which have helped me to write and think. It's something to do with the landscape. There's a quality of stillness and richness, abundance at the same time. Maybe it has to do with bogs, the thick sponginess of sphagnum, cranberry, absorbent and squelching with life. MoKS welcomes a lot of sound artists, so I won't develop this tenuous theory further. But for comparison, look at what's underfoot in Scotland: whinstone, granite, concrete, rocky coast, wind whipping the country into submission. It's a very different substrate to put a country on. Also, a writer coming to another language environment is wonderfully unmoored. The individual sounds of Estonian aren't too far from Scottish, so I have the odd feeling that if I can just pull some giant switch in my head, I can understand. Sadly, this never happens. I discover also that Estonian dogs aren't bilingual and will chase you on a bike and bite your leg, even if you tell them quite loudly not to. Importantly, I realise how much I rely on verbal cues. My other senses are heightened. Strange tricks of the light happen. The frogs in the Mooste pond are croaking for their lives. Some of the topics I want to research turn out to be tricky because of the language, but I'm very lucky. The Museum of Occupations in Tallinn is running an exhibition on the Forest Brothers, so I'm able to see films and artefacts and a reconstructed bunker. But the KGB Dungeon Museum in
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Tartu leaves more of an impression. A theatre maker is always interested in spaces, but seeing the cells makes history more real. Not distant facts and figures in a book, but one human bullying another, sweat and stench and breath. The sense of primal loneliness is horrific. And the ordinary life of the city is just a few steps away. The Estonian Literary Museum in Tartu turns out to be an archive rather than a museum, with no displays for curious English-speaking visitors. But the Estonian National Museum is outstanding. I'm from a textile town in Scotland, and this is textile paradise! I also visit Kumu to see an exhibition on landscape (Afterlives of Gardens), which helps with our thinking around representation of landscape for our Working the Tweed exhibition. Most of the time, though, I'm at MoKS, taking advantage of the beautiful studio space and lochside for pacing, talking to myself and talking to invisible others (aka playwriting). I work mainly on my Book of Blood play, and write a large chunk which has a reading when I return to Scotland. Various bits of Estonia find their way into the playlets stones, herring, a lochside, a melancholy man with a gun, and the Incident of the Dog. I'm fascinated by the Veskiteater and want to meet local theatre makers, so offer to teach a playwriting workshop. This is tricky because of the language, but local director Arvo has excellent English and kindly agrees to interpret. Siiri helps me work out translations for key drama concepts: impulss, pinge, tegelased, esemed, lugu, seius, and the idea that 'playwright' is not näitekirjanik but näitesepp, a kind of engineer. Maia, Arvo, Iris, Astrid, Helje and ''Ulo take part and do a dialogue exercise showing how conflict is needed to drive a play. I don't understand a word, but can tell it's working from their pace, rhythms, gestures and interruptions. Being at MoKS and the contact with visual artists makes me more aware of the relationship between land and language. I find myself shrieking at Kathleen Jamie's book Sightings, when she says 'our ability to think in metaphor has evolved over 1000s of years.' Rubbish! It's innate. Several times at Mooste and in Tartu I have strange visual experiences: A leaf is a frog. A tin can is a toad. A child is a rucksack. Only for an instant, and then it's back to itself. But for an extraordinary moment, the two are conflated in my head. I have a deep sense that metaphor is a visceral and not a cognitive understanding. It only becomes
At the Scottish-English border (we've been talking about the Saatse boot), I stop and look at the land for the first time. It looks like this
I find myself noticing elusive, in-between feelings: a rollerblader wanting to stop and go at the same time; anthropomorphising trees and their togetherness, while knowing they're trees; being amused at a jogger while knowing you couldn't do it yourself; seeing places from the bus that you'll never stop at; wondering how the man feels about his leather hat; the moment when the toad turns into a leaf.
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cognitive when you're a clever poet and say things like 'The ridges had become sculptural, land art.' The hill had become a representation of a hill. No! Stop being meta. Go chop wood, sweep leaves, light a fire. MoKS is a breath of fresh air like that. It gets you thinking about what is, rather than the words we stick into the world like flags. In my notebook, I write 'un.verse'. One day, I hope I'll write some.
There's a referendum about independence ahead, and I find myself thinking about my own place, and my place in it, and wanting to write about that. M o K S i s a n a m a z i n g p l a c e . I t sends you home wi th new eyes and ears.
On the way back in the plane, I'm still in that place of new 'noticing'. The Royal Court Theatre is looking for found plays, and I find one right there, in the Estonian air between Tallinn and Newcastle, in a flight magazine. I send it to them, and it's performed at their 'Found Play' Festival in London.
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AIR: Jules Horne (UK
)
12 wSorcrkipsht wopriting
30 May 19
20
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Gunnhildur Una Jonsdottir
“
I stayed in residency in MoKS for the months of July and October 2013. In July I studied the history of artist residencies and created a journal of writing and photos, reflecting on my own experience of being 'in residency'. The history of the country, the village and the manor houses all had an influence on me, but in a different manner. The history of cultural isolation during the Soviet occupation created a link to my experience of growing up in a small fishing village in southeast Iceland. My experience of growing up in cultural isolation is created by geography, but Iceland had very limited media services until the 1980s when the government first passed laws opening the media, allowing TV and radio stations other than the national ones to exist. Later on, I experienced the residency differently. The geographical isolation of the village of Mooste became apparent and a certain process of redefining oneself started when the physical isolation came into affect. All of this creates a curious view of the artist residency as a learning space. For my second visit in October I brought with me books and writing projects that were due to be finished. This time the place influenced me very differently. I came back, still as a visitor, but not a complete outsider, since the place was now familiar. This created an intense focus for working, where the plan of the weeks did not include weekend breaks and the plan of the days could be very flexible, opening up for a different approach to writing and reading. After finishing a book chapter on auto-ethnography and family stories, I worked on my part of the CAVIC anthology. CAVIC is a research network including researchers from across the Nordic and Baltic countries, focusing on contemporary art and visual culture in education (www. cavic.dk). I am one of four members of our editorial team, and attended a meeting on the subject on my way to MoKS through Denmark. Again, the situation of being in residency created a different working space for me than I can experience at home. The limited outside disturbance created a way of being in time that flexed the hours of each day, allowing more time for ideas to develop. Daily walks around the manor buildings and forest let me reflect
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s n o J na
01
AIR
U r u d l i h n n : Gu
1 3 07
r e b Octo
on the summer experience and all of this created my base for completing my PhD research outline.
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Seeing how MoKS has been the first cultural activity to take place in a renovated manor building in Mooste, it is extremely interesting how other small employment opportunities have been found and initiated by other Estonians. This serves as a base for my questions about social sustainability and how contemporary art centres can be seen as a creative way to make 'the good life' possible. 'The good life' is a term related to social sustainability, and refers to individuals having the possibility of living the life they want, in the place they want. There are many reasons for studying what can contribute to 'the good life' in smaller villages, since this creates different possibilities than the urban city life can offer. Research in Iceland has shown the influence that distance education on university level can have and how this influence seems to be different for men and women. I have found no indications of other research on the influence of culture on social sustainability, and expect my PhD research to offer valuable knowledge on what role artist residencies play in development of society and culture. The next step in my dissertation work will be to visit an artist residency in northern Iceland and explore the society in and around the residency. I expect that in Iceland I will go deeper into the influence of the residency on daily life in the village and how the opening of the residency in 2008 has changed the notions of identity and value. Findings from this research might bring me back to Mooste, to see if there are similarities or differences in the experience of the local habitants around the residency.
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i t t o d s
r (IS)
e n u J 4
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01 AIR: Necesér Collective (CZ, PL, FI, FI/AU, SK/AZ) 31 July Performance of a work in progress Žena, kůže, píseň, kost, (a dost?) (eng. 18 Woman, bone, skin), Tartu Uus Õu
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Necesér Collective are: dramaturge-performer Katerina Fojtikova (Czech); performer-musician Ewa Zurakowska (Poland); director-puppeteer Alma Rajala (Finland); performer-video artist Susanne Kass (Finland / Australia); performer-singer Svetlana Sarkisjan (Slovakia / Azerbajzan); and performer-textile artist-set designer Lucie Novackova (Czech).
“
Before the one-month period in MoKS we had a theme and rough plans about a performance. We were making a show about our relations to past generations, about the links between female generations generally. But as we didn't know each other very well before, in the residence we started to establish our own specific way of working. We did exercises mainly out doors, and we searched for our materials in the surroundings of MoKS - materials from nature and abandoned houses. The circumstances in the residence were specially useful for us, as we could dive so deeply into work together and use so much time for searching for our theatrical language. At the beginning we shared topics and themes by talking and collecting texts and images. Then we started to for search materials related to these, to search for images and actions with materials and objects. The questions for each material was: what can you do with it, how is it related to your body, how is it to be with this material, how can you communicate with it and through it with others? We filmed our exercises and collected a diary of what we had found. All the time we did exercises that combined movement, breath and voice. We wove using different methods, built primitive looms using our bodies, created voice landscapes and built simple puppets out of branches. We sang traditional songs from our home countries a lot and many of those ended up in the performance.
“
During July 2013, MoKS and it's surroundings served as a wide rehearsal place for a theatre project. Six women from the international Necesér Collective were searching for common ways of working, common aesthetics and a common theatrical language, as they came from different countries and different fields of art.
The performance had its premiere in Prague on the 16th September 2013 and is called Woman Skin Song Bone. In Czech it is Žena, kůže, píseň, kost, (a dost?) which is a list of the female gender declinations of nouns. It leads one to think clearly of grammar rules in a new, poetic way. What actually combines these words and why? Is there some other logic than this one of grammar?
The first presentations of the performance were at MoKS on the 17th of July, and at Tartu Uus Õu on the 18th of July. At MoKS we also built elements for the set design and filmed material for the projections on stage. The environment of Mooste was brought into Prague through the images filmed there and also through the specific atmosphere in the theatrical material we created there.
[Alma Rajala]
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Olga Dermendji
“
I'm Canadian artist, born and raised in Bulgaria. After studying Illustration at Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, I received a BFA from the University of Windsor, a teaching degree from the same institution, and an MFA degree from the University of Saskatchewan. My work flows between artistic disciplines but is predominantly concerned with sculpture, installation art and drawing. For the past year I have been working as an art instructor in Jeonju, South Korea. I had the pleasure of being artist-in-residence at MoKS, Mooste, creating a number of interventions in the landscape, as well as drawings and photographs.
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01
AIR: O
lga De rmend
ji (CA)
20-31 MBetween
31 July
oKS g nature allery and fa bricat ion,
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07 August Katinka Hajas FKSE-MoKS exchange programme Katinka is a Hungarian sculptor who created two earthen sculptures in Mooste park. The sculptures were made from soil and clay and represented the circles of life and the year. They have hidden layers of symbols that will be revealed, washed away, as the powers of nature (wind, temperature, rain, snails, etc.) work on them until there is again just pile of soil...
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AIR: Kat
Sculptu
inka Ha
res in P rocess i n
jas (HU)
Mooste
Park,
Earth C
ircles
17 Septem
ber 29
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30
31
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Nadin Reschke Mooste Apple Jam Session
“
The first thing in Mooste that really surprised me were the huge apple plantations. Apples as far as the eye can see. I had never seen that many different kinds of apples in my life. It was harvest time, so I invited people to join me in a "Mooste Apple Jam Session". On August 30th people came and brought their own apple recipes and together we made the best apple jam. We learned about other apple jam recipes and everyone who joined the event took home an original Mooste Apple Jam. Temporary Library The following few weeks I spent walking around the village asking people for their favourite book. With these books I wanted to establish a Temporary Library. The starting point for this venture was the building next to MoKS, the old horse stable, as one of the last building belonging to the manor estate which has not been restored yet. There are plans to transfer the village library to this building, as the present library is suffering from the lack of space. However, the project has stalled as there is currently no funding for it. Meeting with people on the streets as spontaneous encounters I asked people "If the building would ever become a library, a community library in the true sense meaning coming from the community for the community which book of yours would you like to be in it?" I continued to ask people if they would lend this book for a period of one month to become part of the Temporary Library, signing a contract with each borrower. I was curious about the kind of situations and relationships that will appear: people not only shared their books with me but part of their daily life in Mooste. The collection of books that came together through the encounters bear stories and tell about Mooste as a community. My favourite book in the library was a handmade artistic children's book by Lembit Rull called "Juks ja Tuks seenel" ("Juks and Tuks Go Mushrooming") which Rull made for his grandson in 1973 using characters from children stories from right before WWII. For the first time this book became part of a library and was shown to the public.
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AIR:
llec Ap tive ple jam Jam mak . ing
Nad
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In The Woods
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13 S
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“
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Just shortly before the end of my residency I had the chance to meet and work with children from the local school just across from the residency building. Since my childhood I have been afraid of the woods. Maybe because I grew up in the city my relationship to the forest has never been easy. In Mooste I saw myself surrounded by forest. Estonia is a country of woods, almost 48% of its territory is covered with forest. I felt it is time to challenge my fears. I wanted to explore the forest anew by asking the kids to teach me how to 'talk' to the woods. We spent 3 days together. I walked blindfolded and remember the feeling of warm hands holding and guiding me through the forest while I repeated the words they whispered into my ears. The video piece documenting our event in the woods became a mysterious witness to our collaboration. Special thanks to Mari Käige for her assistance, all people who contributed to the library, the children for thei r ener gy a nd p a t i en c e a nd S a sh a Kheyfets for his great camera and editing.
T exehmpora ibiti ry l on a ibra t Mo ry, KS g a
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Jörg Piringer
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Things I did during my stay at MoKS: recorded power lines, slowed down bird songs, listened to the hail pattering on the roof, used the sound of water running through the rain pipe as a drum track, cycled the forests, walked into abandoned houses, got hit by acorns, was interviewed while picking mushrooms, repaired a bicycle without tools, chased foxes with a camera, made noises inside a hollow tower. Listen to some of it here: http://joerg.piringer.net/sounddiary/
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01
Jiyeon Kim, Dawn Scarfe
“
One key objective was to spend time with Jiyeon, learning about her working process, investigation, equipment, manipulation of material, and to try and shape ideas together. I think it was very successful in that respect. It helped that we had some events lined up (including the broadcast) as this gave us a concrete deadline to aim for. As well as being able to go adventuring together (sleeping out in the forest, exploring in general) we also wanted to investigate our new environment alone, and I enjoyed the time I had listening and walking alone in the forest. The balance of solo time and communal time was good. It was also great to see the primeval forests with John and to have the company of Evelyn, Danny and the other artists at MoKS. If I had the time again I would aim to spend even more time in the forests.
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What I did (overview): Walking Listening to Mooste and surrounding forests Listening through the night Listening to Estonian folk music and learning about the instruments Recording Following paths Getting lost Enjoying the sauna Cooking for others Getting cold Listening with others Shaping collected sounds and images Selecting big fallen leaves to put in bottles and catch the wind (an Aeolian harp of sorts) What I didn't do: Deal with London (was great to have a change of scene and scale and air and so on) What I gained: Insight into how other artists work Collaboration with Jiyeon Insight into Estonian culture New friends New landscapes [Dawn Scarfe]
“
During their residency at MoKS, Jiyeon and Dawn have been exploring the autumnal wilderness together, sharing experiences of listening, recording and composing. The purpose of their collaboration is to learn from each other's personal responses to unfamiliar landscapes and atmospheres. Their audio set streamed to a live audience in London (CRiSAP, 24th October) presented some of the sounds they collected and shaped together.
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AIR:
Jiye on K i
m (K
R) a
nd D
awn
Sca
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29 O
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Jorge Uriel Najera
“
MoKS is truly a rare gem. A splendid house, fully equipped, designed to facilitate creative work and with plenty of room for experimentation. This was, and continues to be, my impression of this beautiful haven for artists, at the heart of Mooste, a village remote enough and small enough to submerge you in a privileged Estonian context. Shortly after settling in, I rediscovered a profound interest in video and photography, perhaps driven by the scenery. And thus, my initial intentions of working on audio pieces shifted towards a narrative of imagery, myths and impressions borrowed from the place. I believe MoKS has an unwitting capacity to transform each artist lucky enough to spend a season there. My experience, although brief, proved to be very rewarding. It enabled me to connect with challenging and exciting ideas, turning my blank sheets of paper into receptacles ready to hold the seeds of further projects inspired by the location and the people surrounding MoKS. It is my wish to return for a longer period of time and make use of the capabilities of harnessing creativity that the site possesses.
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4 November 38
) X (M ra je a N l e ri U e rg Jo AIR:
03 December 27
presentation nd a op sh k or w , ls oo ch S Artists to -Kuuste primary school at Vastse
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25 November
40
AIR: Jay-Dea Lopez (AU)
Jay-Dea Lopez
“
Leaving the familiar sounds of my Australian home boarded a plane to Estonia and the MoKS residency with a set of goals and targets. I hoped to record the sounds of a European winter landscape: ice cracking, snow falling, microscopic life forms burrowing beneath the frozen earth. I also hoped to be granted a space in which I could work undisturbed on a number of projects not related to Estonia. To borrow a phrase from Virginia Woolf I imagined myself having the space to record and compose in "a room of one's own" free from the demands of work and other distractions. Due to a late winter in Estonia my recording plans had to be reassessed. With a lack of thick snow and ice my microphones needed to be directed towards objects that hadn't featured in my original plans. Turning from the natural world I instead focussed on the farming and telecommunications infrastructure within the village of Mooste. It was with these objects that I filled the four weeks of my residency at MoKS. Massive towers dominate Mooste's skyline - their support cables vibrate at a frequency that would go unheard if not for the placement of contact microphones on their metal bodies. The cables hum hypnotically, eternally, providing an experience that is uniquely exhilarating and disturbing. The ease of access to these sounding objects was a highlight of my stay in Mooste.
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ng tings: Worki MoKS mee tion contexiet.re and la al d inst ud exhibitioninan el ts R y Deec John Grz Loicphezm, ee bi, Tartu lu K tid lis ia en G ea D yJa
“
23 Dweithcesomundbiner
It wasn't until my last day at the MoKS residency that I realised the recording potential of the wire fences surrounding the local farms. With thoughts of my imminent departure I stood in the fading light listening to the eerie tone of the wind moving over the wires. It sounded as if the desolate winter landscape was haunted by the secrets of the past. Although living in Mooste wasn't always easy, experiences such as these made the expense of travelling to Estonia worthwhile. From these moments I learnt the value of flexibility in the artistic process and I now have some valuable additions to my sound bank. Field recordings made during my residency can be listened to at http://soundslikenoise.org/moks-estonia/.
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) U A ( n o s r e t t a is P
v a r T : R AI
r e b m e v o N 5 2
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Travis Patterson
“
My time at MoKS enabled me to try to diversify my arts practice as I was away from my usual studio and equipment. It gave me the space and time to focus on drawing as well as to concentrate on my next exhibition. The local environment provided lots of inspiration and will feature in my next body of work. I was able to visit and access the letterpress equipment at the Trükimuuseum in Tartu. Here I was able to work on a postcard project while gaining new printmaking skills that I am able to use back in Australia.
“
I think the full effect of my time at MoKS and Estonia is still to be realised. More will be understand as I engage with my next project.
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Anne Liis Kogan Axis of Praxis programme
11/26
“
I stayed in MoKS for a month completed several ideas that I had before arriving. I also experienced a lot of new impulses that I believe will evolve my artistic practise further. One of my main purposes was to spend time on research for several projects. Another of my goals was to get to know the inhabitants in Mooste, and use this knowledge to develop my project that concerns my so called "lost identity and culture", since I am originally from Estonia but now live in Norway since 1997. I arrived with several project ideas and tried to fulfil them and test things in that environment. The location provided a good atmosphere to work for preparing the project in Tallinn (in the Axis of Praxis context) where I could film and photograph different ideas. I also wanted to reconnect with playing the piano, which I did, with a local music teacher, to be able to practice and record at the local school. This was also a method for making daily routines and producing material that will be used for an exhibition in Tallinn.
“
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Artists to Schools: Workshop and Vastse-Kuuste primary school
30 November
AIR: Anne Liis Kogan (EE-NO)
d presentation at the
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MoKS meetings: Tanel Rander meets Anne Liis Kogan, at Y Gallery, Tartu
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03
AIR: Rudy Dece
liere (HE)
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Rudy Deceliere Substantial simplicity ...and people now ask me, "so, how was it?"
“
How was it? I hesitate and venture to say marvellous or something similar, but that's not what I have in mind. I would prefer not to summarise my experience at MoKS in one word. Actually the experience was cannot only be summarized in words, not in numbers, not in degrees, not in hours, not in centimetres, not in kilometres, not in languages, not in seconds, not in decibels, not in megabytes, not in euros, not in countries, not in days, not in grams, not in silence, not in sounds, not in audiences, not in performances, not in darkness, not in cooking, not in a void, not in lost time, not in waiting, not in rest, not in walks, not in cold, not in rainy days, not in solitude, not in family, not in nature, not in laughs, not in help, not in feeling lost, not in being lost, not in wind, not in abandoned buildings, not in lack of bells, not in discussions, not in black and white, not in hearing trees falling, not in the cat, not in long nights, not in double windows, not in miracles, not in ice, not in trips, not in snowflakes, not in beliefs, not in roommates, not in dried leaves, not in rays of light, not in blank papers, not in breaths, not in attention, not in calculations, but perhaps precisely somewhere in between all of that.
“
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30 December
MoK eeting s: Working with conteSxm t. J o h n G Genialistide Klurzinich meets Rsuodund in exhibition an y Deceliere an d installation bi, Tartu d Jay-Dea Lop ez.
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a l l i am
Camilla Graff Junior Axis of Praxis programme
“
My plan during the Axis of Praxis residency was to develop and test new material within different contexts and in interaction with various audiences in Tallinn and around Mooste, for my interactive media performance of our inner and outer animals, "My mom is a wolf, my dad..." . It was performed ten times in Estonia and once in Finland during my stay. It was good for my performance practice to engage with different audiences with such great regularity. Estonia is a good size for an outsider to get an overview of the art scene in a relatively short period of time. I came to like how my working schedule during the residency somehow already was established through the project, which I had applied with in June 2013. I had my first performances, both at Ptarmigan and at MoKS, relatively soon after my arrival. This was very productive for me as a concrete dialogue about my work could happen at the start of my stay and I found both the dialogue with the audience and different Estonian artists and curators both challenging and rewarding. Walking through the door at MoKS, I immediately felt at home. I appreciated the company of my fellow residents and the shared meals and discussions. I also started a small collaboration with my fellow resident, Rudy Decelière around the performance project 24 DECEMBER that we did on Christmas Eve. The level of reflection, the helpfulness and the simplicity of human relations with the people I've met and spent time with, both in Tallinn and in Mooste, made the Axis of Praxis residency an enriching and unique experience.
“
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01
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26
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19
10
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Moks gallery The gallery is located in the restored cellar of MoKS and is open to the public several days per week and by appointment. There are two rooms and an entry foyer with brick walls and arched brick ceilings. When compiling the exhibition programme for 2013 both proposals by artists-in-residence and artist proposals for a concrete topic (drawing) were considered. This exhibition program partially based on a medium gave the possibility to focus more thoroughly on drawing, to investigate its different manifestations, possibilities, relationships and interplay with other artistic mediums. The use of the gallery space is free of charge, with the transport costs of artists partially covered and micro-residencies of 1-2 weeks offered for artists. Altogether there were 11 exhibitions. 6 exhibitions focused particularly on drawing (Pastacas ballpoint pen drawings, FINEST- comics by 24 estonian and finnish artists, Jarmo Nuutre tattoo and record cover designs, china ink drawings by Margot Kask, large-scale graphite drawings by Evelyn M端端rsepp-Grzinich, Ulla Saar pencil miniatures. Besides that exhibitions by resident artists Olga Dermendji , Katinka Hajas, Nadin Reschke, Liina Vedler- Kerttu Tuberg and art group Liquid, were also held. The Gallery received approximately 2000 visitors for the year. Sometimes the local schools or preschools had their art lessons at the MoKS gallery. Usually the lesson topics were related to the exhibition- with both an introduction of the works on display and some practical hands-on activity.
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darkroom
“
For me, 2013 was the year of the darkroom.
We had previously been given an old Soviet 35mm enlarger at the beginning of the year and we were able to set this up and test it. There is no darkroom as such at MoKS, but the sauna and the shower room next to it convert easily into temporary facilities. To begin with we used a bicycle rear light as the red safe light, old food containers to hold chemicals and generally made do with a rather ad-hoc set-up. Despite this, a couple of reasonable prints encouraged us to continue through the winter and into the spring. The next step came when I bought a more modern medium format enlarger and was shown how to use it by one of the visiting artists, who had previously studied photography. This enlarger allows more sophisticated printing of black and white from any negative up to 6 x 9cm, producing prints up to 60cm x 60cm. Since the summer the darkroom has gone from strength to strength. It's still housed in the sauna but we now have two proper safelights, various trays, thermometers, developing tanks and other equipment. Together with John Grzinich we regularly shoot B+W film and develop it ourselves at MoKS. We will be working in 2014 to establish a fully functioning darkroom for making enlargements and prints. [Daniel Edward Allen]
“
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educational activities Workshops MoKS continues its commitment to foster exchange of knowledge, skills and artistic practices through workshops by visiting artists. It has been shown that these kinds of workshop do not only benefit the participants but also the artists themselves by encouraging them to make their work accessable to audiences outside conventional artistic environments.
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Tartu Art College Sculpture department summer practice on site-specific art (10.-14.06) by Evelyn and John Grzinich Each year students take a week to explore the idea of site-specific environmental sculture, starting off with structured exercises in materials, site-work, sensory perception, reflexive design and more. Then the students are allowed open work time to develop their own project either indiviually or as a collaborative group effort. The result is a map of the area with each artwork noted and then a guided tour to visit each work for a public discussion and critique.
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Sonic Interventionism (10.-15.08) by Mads Bech Paluszewski Danish artist Mads Bech Paluszewski has been wanting to return to Estonia since his first visit in 2011 for Tuned City Tallinn. After several attempts we successfully managed to organize a workshop with his cooperation and gather an enthusiastic group of participants. Sonic Interventionism is a workshop about intervening with objects and structures in public and leftover spaces, to convert them into special, temporary sound installations that participants explore with their own prepared material in order to perform a series of hit-and-run performances and concerts. The participants spent 6 days exploring the areas around Mooste, collecting suitable objects, retrofitting them for tests and then developing more elaborate intereventions at several selected sites. The sites included a water tower, empty silo and abandoned metal shed.
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Artists to Schools! An outreach project done in the frame of MoKS AIR program or artists who make an exhibition at MoKS gallery. Artists are taken to visit some of the schools in the nearby communities to conduct a workshop or give a presentation of their work. In 2013, 6 visits took place. P천lva High School: Pastacas (presentation), Camilla Graff Junior (performance) | Ahja primary school: Kertu Tuberg, Liina Vedler (presentation) | Vastse-Kuuste primary school: Jorge Uriel Najera (workshop), Anne Liis Kogan (workshop) | Mooste primary school: Evelyn M체체rsepp-Grzinich (presentation-discussion) 60
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events MoKS meetings is a series of moderated artist talks held publically in Tartu. The idea is to present MoKS artists in residence for wider audience and to instigate critical discussion on topics related to their work. Though only 3 events took place in 2013, more events are planned in 2014. Anne Liis Kogan and Tanel Rander Y Gallery (28.11) | John Grzinich, Rudy Deceliere, Jay-Dea Lopezl Genialistide klubi (17.12) | Camilla Graff Junior, Katja Novitskova and Kati Ilves Y Gallery (19.12) Helikoosolek / Sound gathering takes place since 2010 and mostly at the exhibition house of Estonian National Museum. Organised by Patrick McGinley, sound gathering is investigating different aspects of sound through workshops, presentations and listening sessions. Altogether 10 events took place in 2013.
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Community events MoKS is open for the various community events. Cine MoKS Movie nights in conjunctions with Kodanikukino and the Foodclub are regular gatherings for people from and around Mooste. The Cine MoKS programme was coordinated by Lauri Laanisto and Aiki Hainsoo. Altogether 14 screening were held, at some of which the directors were also present. FoodClub aims to broaden our understanding of food through local and international encounters. Questions like how do we eat, what do we eat, how do we make it, help share knowledge around food and to experiment and enjoy both preparation and eating. Every food club is organised by different host, be it local citizens, MoKS AIRs or invited special guests.
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65
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budget Income
Expenses
Total
Main activities Projects
Self-generated income
3244
Materials, tools, etc
905
720
185
Estonian Cultural Endowment
14320
Space maintenance (rent, water, heating,electricity, etc)
9532
7484
2048
Estonian Ministry of Culture
13893
Transport costs
1474
339
1135
Kulturkontakt Nord
11650
Errands / per diems
766
766
Tartu City
446
Honorariums and stipends
8234
2585
5649
Salaries (taxes included)
15567
14651
916
Administrative costs
1974
1767
207
Project costs
4503
Other expenses
564
564
43519
28876
TOTAL
43553
4503
14643 67
timeline July 1.06-31.07 AIR: Necesér Collective (CZ, PL, FI, FI/AU, SK/AZ) / 18/ 1.-31.07 AIR: Olga Dermendji (CA) / 26/ 15.07-30.09 Gallery: Emapuu by Margot Kask Performance by Necesér Collective of their 18.07 work in progress: Woman, bone, skin, Tartu Uus Õu / 26/ 20.-31.07 Gallery: Between nature and fabrication by Olga Dermendji 23.-26.07 AIR: Runorun 24.07-29.09 Gallery: Emapuu by Margot Kask 31.07 Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 34, Alernatives for recording sounds, Estonian National Museum, Tartu
August 24.07-29.09 Gallery: Emapuu by Margot Kask 2.-4.08 AIR: Vedelik/Liquid / 30/ 2.-31.08 Gallery: Vedelik/Liquid / 26/ 7.08-17.09 AIR: Katinka Hajas (HU) / 28/ 10.-15.08 Workshop: Sonic Interventionism by Mads Bech Paluszewski / 56/ 20.08-16.09 AIR: Nadin Reschke (GE) / 32/ 28.08 Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 35, World listening day, Estonian National Museum, Tartu 30.08 Mooste Apple Jam by Nadin Reschke / 32/
January 3.-24.01 25.12-02.01 4.02 23.01 24.01-24.02 30.01
AIR: Madli Kütt (EE) AIR: Jelena Glazova (LV) CineMoKS .. Artists to Schools: Pastacas, Põlva UG Gallery: Ballpoint drawings by Pastacas Helikoosolek / SoundGathering 29, Estonian National Museum, Tartu
June 08.05-16.06 Gallery: Finest, comics exhibition by 24 Finnish and Estonian artists 1.-24.06 AIR: Gunnhildur Una Jonsdottir (IS) / 18/ 6.06 CineMoKS 1.06-31.07 AIR: Necesér Collective (CZ, PL, FI, FI/AU, SK/AZ) / 18/ 10-14.06 Summer practice of Tartu Art College / 54/ 13.06 CineMoKS 27.06 CineMoKS 30.06 CineMoKS
September 24.07-29.09 13.09-09.10 7.08-17.09 20.08-16.09 10.09-06.10 25.09
Gallery: Emapuu by Margot Kask Gallery: Temporary Library by Nadin Reschke and Earth Circles by Katinka Hajas / 32/ AIR: Katinka Hajas (HU) / 28/ AIR: Nadin Reschke (GE) / 32/ AIR: Jörg Piringer (AT) / 34/ Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 36, Jörg Piringer Estonian National Museum, Tartu
October 1.-29.10 1.-29.10 7.-31.10 30.10
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AIR: Jiyeon Kim (KR) / 36/ AIR: Dawn Scarfe (UK) / 36/ AIR: Gunnhildur Una Jonsdottir (IS) / 22/ Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 37, Nele and Taavi Suisalu, Estonian National Museum, Tartu
March February 24.01-24.02 Gallery: Ballpoint drawings by Pastacas 1.02 CineMoKS 03.02-03.03 AIR: Reichrichter (GE) / 10/ 01.02-30.03 AIR: Bita Razavi (FI-IR) / 12/ 14.02 CineMoKS CineMoKS 21.02 22.02 FoodClub: Persian-Bavarian foodslam / 12/ 27.02 Helikoosolek / SoundGathering 30, Estonian National Museum, Tartu 28.02 CineMoKS
01.02-30.03 AIR: Bita Razavi (FI-IR) / 12/ 3.04 Artists to Schools: Liina Vedler, Kertu Tuberg, Ahja PK 3.-28.04 Gallery: N채itelung, Liina Vedler, Kerttu Tuberg AIR: art group LAIK (EE) / 14/ 8.-15.03 10.-22.03 AIR: Katrin Laur, Jaak Valge (EE) / 14/ 14.03 CineMoKS CineMoKS 21.03 27.03 Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 31, Stefano Pocci, Estonian National Museum, Tartu 29.03-3.04 AIR: Kerttu Tuberg, Liina Vedler (EE)
April May 01-30.05 AIR: Jules Horne (UK) / 16/ 08.05-16.06 Gallery: Finest, comics exhibition by 24 Finnish and Estonian artists 12.05 Workshop: Script-writing workshop by Jules Horne / 18/ 13.-22.05 AIR: Kate Foster (UK) 17.07 FoodClub: Whole foods, whole body by Maarika Blosfeldt 29.05 Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 33, Sven Vabar, Patrick McGinley, Estonian National Museum, Tartu
November 4.11-3.12 AIR: Jorge Uriel Najera (MX) / 38/ 10.11-5.01.2014 Gallery: Trees were... eku (Evelyn Grzinich) 11.11 Artists to Schools: Anne Liis Kogan, Vastse Kuuste PK / 44/ 14.11 CineMoKS 25.11-23.12 AIR: Jay-Dea Lopez (AU) / 40/ 25.11-23.12 AIR: Travis Patterson (AU) / 42/ 26.11 Artists to Schools: Anne Liis Kogan, Vastse- Kuuste PK / 44/ 27.11 Artists to Schools: Jorge Uriel Najere, Vastse Kuuste PK / 38/ 27.11 Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 38, Pilootkaste, Estonian National Museum, Tartu 28.11 MoKS meetings: Anne Liis Kogan, Tanel Rander, Y Gallery, Tartu / 44/ 1.-30.11 AIR: Anne Liis Kogan (EE-NO) / 44/
CineMoKS 13.04 CineMoKS 18.04 Helikoosolek / Sound Gathering 32, Sound 24.04 Walks, Estonian National Museum, Tartu AIR: Brit Pavelson, Koit Randm채e (EE) / 16/ 25.04-7.05
December 25.11-23.12 AIR: Jay-Dea Lopez - Travis Patterson / 40, 42/ 2.12-5.01.2014 Gallery: Housekeeper by Ulla Saar 1.-26.12 AIR: Camilla Graff Junior (DK) / 48/ 3.-30.12 AIR: Rudy Deceliere (HE) / 46/ 3.12 Aritsts to Schools: Evelyn Grzinich, Mooste PK 5.12 Performance by Camilla Graff Junior: My mum is a wolf, my dad... MoKS / 48/ 7.12 Mooste FoodClub in cooperation with NGO Utsitajad: Preparing food for public consumption at your home kitchen. Health and safety requirements 10.12 Artists to Schools, Camilla Graff Junior visiting with performance: My mum is a wolf, my dad... P천lva UG / 48/ 16.12 Performance by Camilla Graff Junior: My mum is a wolf, my dad.. Genialistide Club, Tartu / 48/ 17.12 MoKS meetings: Working with sound in exhibition and installation contexts. Rudy Deceliere, Jay-Dea Lopez, John Grzinich, Genialistide Club, Tartu / 46, 40/ 19.12 Performance by Camilla Graff Junior: My mum is a wolf, my dad... / 48/ MoKS meetings: Camilla Graff Junior, Kati Ilves, Katja Novitskova, Y Gallery, Tartu / 48/ 21.12 Performance by Camilla Graff Junior: My mum is a wolf, my dad... MoKS / 48/
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In 2013 MoKS was supported by
credits Organiser .. Mooste KülalisStuudio MTU Producers Evelyn Grzinich (AIR, Gallery, Artists to Schools, MoKS meetings, Foodclub, workshops) John Grzinich (AIR, Workshops) Daniel Edward Allen (Darkroom) Patrick McGinley (Heliksoosolek) Design and Layout: Agnieszka Pokrywka Big thanks Siiri Kolka, Lauri Laanisto, Mari Käige, John W. Fail, Agnieszka Pokrywka, Ptarmigan Tallinn, Kati Ilves, Tanel Rander, Maarin Ektermann, Kaisa Eiche, Y Gallery, Patrick McGinley, Tuuli Tubin, Kayt Grzinich, Ellen Laanisto, Sasha Kheyfet, Aiki Hainsoo, Vastse-Kuuste Põhikool, .. Ahja Põhikool, Põlva Uhisgümnaasium, etc.
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Yearbook / 2013