(ANTI-)CAREER DAYS
EKA Gallery 5.–07.02.2025
See schedule below, participation is free
The three-day event series “(anti-)career days” invites all those active in the field of art and culture to participate in workshops, reading groups, discussions and exercises that seek to explore what it means to be an artist today. The event focuses on the personal, collective and institutional touchpoints on a creative journey, initiating discussions on themes of precarity, solidarity and social and political responsibility. Academic education asks us who we are in order to shape us into prescribed frameworks and prepare us for a professional career. What if, instead, we focused on who we would like to be and the kind of world we would like to live and create in? The aim of the “(anti-)career days” project is to abandon the individualistic idea of surviving as an artist in order to discuss how we can collectively flourish. Realizing collectivity can, in turn, be a liberating and unifying force to critically rethink the role and function of institutions and intervene in the broader social context to which art is inevitably connected. The event is an open platform for several collectives, networks and creative individuals who will explore the topics from different perspectives.
Initiated by: Laura Konsand
Participants: Community in EKA for Palestine, Daylight Project, ENKKL (Estonian Young Contemporary Art Union), Frederik Klanberg, Kolkaplikad, Laura Konsand, Performing Arts Curator, EKA Students’ Queer Association, Ulvi Haagensen, Yvette Bathgate & Jake Shepherd
Graphic design: Fatima-Ezzahra Khammas
Technical support: Mattias Veller
Drinks for the communal dinner from Põhjala Brewery.
SCHEDULE
DAY 1, February 5th – BITE THE HANDS THAT HOLD US (IN COMPLICITY)
3 – 5 pm collage workshop “What Could Make EKA Safer for LGBTQIA+ People?” organised by EKA Students’ Queer Association (in Estonian and English) Please sign up here: https://forms.gle/9SoPQUMRFHzwP4M79
6 – 7.30 pm roundtable talk “A Political University” hosted by Community in EKA for Palestine (in English)
DAY 2, February 6th – A LITTLE SOLIDARITY CAN GO A LONG WAY
2 – 5 pm workshop “Solidarity in Artistic Biotope” facilitated by Laura Konsand. Please sign up here: https://forms.gle/jiyLDb1ap3MDqMNaA
6 – 7.30 pm discussion “Appropriated Rest: Critical Examining of Anti-work Narratives” led by Veriko Dundua, organised with Daylight Project. Please sign up here: https://forms.gle/oEycnaLArHH7tub2A
DAY 3, February 7th – ONE DOESN’T LEARN TO SWIM BY READING THE MANUAL
2 – 5 pm workshop “Beyond Professional: Rehearsing for the Future” led by Frederik Klanberg (in English). Please sign up here.
6 – 8 pm Digesting / Food for Thought communal dinner hosted by Yvette Bathgate & Jake Shepherd. Please sign up here.
7.30 – 8 pm Nancy Nakamura Räpipunt
Throughout the event visitors can try their hand in meme art at a temporary meme production house founded by the Performing Arts Curator (@performingartscurator). Ulvi Haagensen has contributed a video lecture “In Praise of Unprofessionalism” based on a conversation between her three imaginary friends: Thea Koristaja, Olive Puuvill and Artist Researcher. In addition, a selection of artworks from ENKKL and Kolkaplikad collective are displayed that illustrate and reflect the event’s themes.
Read more about the events and the participants here.
