European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 | Open call for an public outdoor installation/mural at the Ice Age Centre, Äksi/ Southern Estonia

Decision: 30 April 2023

July – August 2023
Residency/Realisation: July – August 2023
Release Event: End of August

We are pleased to announce an open call for an artist or artist group to create an outside piece for the facade of the Ice Age Centre building in Äksi, Estonia. The unveiling of the wall piece will be the first in a series of events such as exhibitions, performances, and workshops within the project Look into my Ice organised by the MTÜ Eesti-Saksa Kunstikoostöö (Association for Estonian-German cultural and art exchange) and curated by Maria Helen Känd between 2023 and 2024. Look into my Ice is a part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme.

About the Ice Age Centre
The Ice Age Centre is flanked by the Saadjärv lake and a national park as an impressive natural surrounding.
Ice Age Centre is a thrilling educational theme park located in Southern Estonia. Its exhibitions provide a broad overview of the origins of ice ages and their effects on the Earth, Estonia, and Vooremaa. It introduces the development of Estonian nature and human settlement after the last ice age and the causes and research on climate change. Its location next to a beautiful lake symbolises both the extraordinary beauty of Estonian nature and the challenges posed by climate change-related heat waves affecting the region’s ecosystem.

About Look into my Ice
Look into my Ice heightens empathy for ice, which is one of the most powerful indicators of the devastating impact of the human-caused climate crisis. For decades, people have discussed and proven the importance of ice in this context. By doing so, the subject has become something we are used to, a normalcy within the disaster. As a result, this project makes a romantic statement in order to warm our feelings towards ice. It aims to raise emotions by better to understand climate processes betterunderstanding climate processes, as well as to encourage and attract a diverse audience through transdisciplinary exchanges between art and science. Look into my Ice event programme is carried out using environmentally friendly methods. We want to leave as little of an ecological footprint as possible when we build the outside installation. A key aspect of the project is the sustainable management of transportation, travel, and production materials.

The artwork

The following elements could be included in the artwork intended for the Ice Age Centre’s wall:

• Sustainable materials
• A complete artistic concept for the outside installation (mural, wall piece)
• An art installation fit to be installed outside
• A growing installation/ mural
• Negative carbon emission installation

We provide

• Planning trip
• Residency stay (flat, travel costs)
• Artist fee 3000 €
• Production costs (depending on the budget, min. 5.000 max. 7.000)
• Release event at the end of August 2023
• Communication/PR within the context of the European Capital of Culture Tartu programme starting in 2023

How to apply:

• Examples of previous work / Portfolio
• Sketch + description
• Statement about the intended work
• Budget regarding materials
• CV

Please hand in one pdf with all needed information or a shared cloud folder to: @email

Contact
Feel free to contact us for further information:
Helene Bosecker, Marie Mergler, Kristen Rästas @email

Details of the wall

• Measurements of the structural wall are 12m height and 55m length.
• The material is a concrete wall, with soft plastics.
• It is decorated with structural concrete plaster.
• We put together a photo kit with detailed views.

We are very much looking forward to your application!