A New Multi-Purpose Art Center in Estonia Will Open in a Former Russian Tsarist Submarine Warehouse

A new cultural hub in Estonia
opens this week inside a 100-year-old submarine
warehouse.

The Kai Art Center takes over the massive heritage site on the
waterfront of the capital city of Tallinn and will host
exhibitions, classes, events, and the city’s annual art fair. The
multi-purpose space will also host residencies and workshops.
It opens to the public this Friday,
September 20.

Sprawled across the former
industrial building’s 4,800 square feet of space will be an
100-seat auditorium, an education center, and working spaces for
local arts organizations.

The Kai Art Center’s unique architecture includes 20 foot tall
ceilings and a concrete roof, which will offer opportunities for
artists to spread out and create large-scale installations.

The project is spearheaded by
the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center, which has offered
educational programs and residencies for contemporary art
professionals since 2012.

“Kai is a new type of contemporary art center in
Tallinn,” says Karin Laansoo, the center’s director. “In an
increasingly active art scene, the center’s support of grass-roots
organizations and [its] purpose-built exhibition space is in
demand.”

Although the city is already home to the Tallinn Art Hall
and the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, neither is intended to
serve as a pop-up space for other, smaller organizations, as the
Kai Art Center is. “Kai is driven by the vision of bringing
together local synergies and international collaboration,” Laansoo
says.

The venue also holds spaces that can be rented for weeks at a
time or for long-term projects. Tenants will also have
opportunities to seek legal advice, communications support, and
help with grant proposals. Two large rooms are also able for
private meetings and seminars.

The opening group exhibition,
titled “Let the field of your attention… soften and spread out”
(September 21 through December 1) is curated by Hanna Laura Kaljo and includes Danish
artist Marie Kølbæk Iversen, Finnish artist Pia Lindman, and
Italian artist Andrea Magnani, among others. The show explores
approaches to healing, and also includes meditation and
deep-listening exercises and presentations of traditional medicinal
knowledge.

The building was originally a submarine plant that served the Russian Tsarist
navy. Until last year, and after Estonia became an independent nation in 1918, it
used used as a ship repair and building facility.

The Foto Tallinn art fair
will take place at the Kai Art Center from September 27 to 29
this year. The fair is organized by the Estonian Union of
Photography Artists and is part of the Tallinn Photomonth art
biennial.

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