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Apart from ECADC and CCAE, which both have played an important role in the
professionalisation and internationalisation of the Estonian art scene, there are
number of exhibition spaces that deserve mentioning. 1 Tartu Art Museum
(Tartmus) managed to cause quite a stir with their provocative and socially
engaging exhibitions program during the period of 2013–2017 when the curator
and critic Rael Artel was director of the museum. The transformative aim towards
producing, exhibiting, collecting and popularising local and international
contemporary art has been important for both Tallinn Art Hall and Contemporary
Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM). Since 2015, Tallinn Art Hall is directed by Taaniel
Raudsepp who is also a member of an artist group Visible Solutions LLC. Marten
Esko and Johannes Säre are directors of EKKM since 2016, with Säre also being
active as an artist himself. Artists taking over the leading roles in the large scale
projects has been a growing trend for a while already. Other examples include
Tallinn Photomonth Contemporary Art Biennial (under the management of Laura
Toots, an artistic director since 2017) — a current leading international biennial
in Estonia — and the Estonian Photographic Art Fair, the only art fair in the local
scene (under the direction of Helen Melesk since 2010).
1
A thorough article about the professionalisation and internationalisation of the Estonian art scene is
available in weekly cultural journal Sirp. – Airi Triisberg. Uus põlvkond, vanad probleemid. Sirp, 29.04.2016.
2
http://www.kul.ee/en/artists-and-writers-wage-writer-or-artist-their-creative-peak.
Since 2015 five artists received the wage monthly. Since 2017 the wage is paid out monthly
to eight artists.
A pilot project started by the Estonian Artists’ Union together with the Ministry of
Culture is another important development that causes polemic reactions in the
media. This project aims to provide artists, writers, curators and art critics with a
monthly wage that enables them to dedicate themselves to creative work for a
longer period of time (the wage is paid out for the period of three years)a
significant attempt to contribute to the development of Estonian culture. 2 The
Artists’ Wage Project is definitely one of the most significant steps towards
ecuring a more autonomous and socially stable life for freelance artists, curators
and writers in Estonia.