As it is the beginning of the new year it is time for a fresh start! We will also reflect back on the previous year which has been full of challenges.
Construction process in Maajaam has taken much longer and has gotten way more expensive than we had planned. But we believe this time and energy will eventually pay off and fill our hearts with joy. Through the rough struggles we are on the finishing line with the residency house and the new trolley workshop. You can see some of the progress on our updated website. We have already hosted first autumn and winter residencies even though the final touches were missing. Our chaotic process aligns well with the world and we do hope for a better year for all of us.
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We have made our plans on how to operate the residencies in 2023. As a private residency space we will be working towards being self-sustaining. We operate mainly from our own resources and currently do not have any operational grants. In order to survive we have created different residency programs with different ways of funding them.
Per project basis we organize residencies that are fully funded and aimed at more specific topics. For example Wild Bits residency is fully funded and aimed at producing a new art work. It is made possible because of our partner Tartu 2024 European Capital of Culture and other sponsors. We are looking for ways to collaborate with other organizations to host their residencies in Maajaam. We can provide space and accommodation for museums, galleries, festivals and universities to host their artists in Maajaam.
The rest of the time Maajaam is open for self-funded residencies. For this, we encourage the artist to apply for funding from their local funds. We provide an official invitation letter to make it possible for individual artists to look for financing options. There is no open call for this type of residency as we try to fill all the voids in the calendar. Individual artists or groups of all culture fields are welcome to apply!
We have announced our second open call for Wild Bits, the outdoor exhibition of technological art. Wild Bits is a residency program that culminates with an exhibition in the summer of 2024 around Maajaam’s natural landscapes. Wild Bits is part of the main program of European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024.
We are looking for art works that deal with the human condition in contemporary society and explore the points of contact between people, technology and nature. The artworks should withstand outdoor conditions and fit into the natural environment surrounding Maajaam. Artists of various disciplines from all around the world are all welcome to participate.
The selected artists will get a chance to take part in the three week residency in Maajaam in the summer of 2023.
For the 2023 residency three to five projects will be chosen, each project will receive an artist fee and expenses on production, transport and housing will be covered to an extent agreed upon. Activities related to the Wild Bits residency and exhibition program are co-funded by European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Centre of Folk Culture, Embassy of Germany in Estonia.
In August we had the pleasure to host Junny Yeung, the winner of Estonian Academy of Arts Young Sculptor Award. 4-week long residency was the main prize of the award and gave Junny time and space to reflect back on the studies and make plans for the future.
We also hosted Bulgarian filmmaker and producer Andrey Paounov in the framework of Tartu 2024 Survival Documentaries residency program for his research trip. Andrey was exploring places and local phenomena, meeting people and gathering ideas for a possible next documentary film about South Estonia.
In November we had Estonian installation artist Katrin Enni in a 2-week residency. She was developing a new interactive sound installation, collecting data about different movements in nature to explore ways to experience the sonic world around us.
In November we welcomed a residency project curated by Ann-Mirjam Vaikla in collaboration with MagiC Carpets and Tartu 2024. Three international artists Laura Põld, Gary Markle and Anica Huck were invited to South Estonia to interpret the smoke sauna tradition through the Arts of Survival. Laura, Gary and Anica tried out heating our smoke sauna and visited other saunas in the region.
Previous year brought us heartbreaking and terrible news about the situation in Ukraine. The same day when war broke off, we announced an open call for Ukrainian artists and cooperated with other Estonian residencies to find better possibilities to help provide working and living conditions for artists from Ukraine.
In October we hosted a 3-member group consisting of artists Alex Sirous from Kharkiv, Dmytro Tentiuk, Igor Sokolov from Kyiv from a collective called Photinus studio. Their residency in Maajaam was supported by Ernst und Olga Gubler-Hablützel Stiftung.
Check out their sound performance under the alias Mediaklub in Maajaam where also our iconic dog Muuro makes an opening appearance.
Maajaam will announce an additional open call for Ukrainian artists later this year. We will keep you updated.
