The project Artists in Collections, produced for the Estonia 100 jubilee year, brought together artists and (small) museums across Estonia to draw attention to cultural heritage and to interpret it from new angles. The outcome of the residencies were ten very different exhibitions. Artists working with collections or archives is a rather common practice in contemporary art but for Estonia this is the first thorough effort of this kind to create new ties and connect different communities.

Our proposed formula was very simple — 10 artists would go to 10 museums, complete a residency there and create something that could be publicly viewed (exhibit, installation, event, etc.). The ten projects all turned out very different, but notionally they can be divided into three groups: additions to the permanent exhibition, additional exhibition spaces added on to the museum, and standalone works and events. For the collaborating museums the project provided new ideas and contacts for further endeavors; the artists in turn have gained experience working further away from the usual art world context and have got to know one museum in its natural environment. 
From now on, we plan to concentrate each year on a maximum of one or two analogous projects that offer artists new opportunities to complete a residency in the Estonian context, also in non-art environments, and bring the contemporary art working methods beyond the art field itself. 

The project is led by proloogkool, a self-organized platform that brings together contemporary art and nonformal education.

Project managers are art historians Maarin Ektermann and Mary-Ann Talvistu, the graphic designer is Viktor Gurov. 

More information: maarinektermann@gmail.com / maryann.talvistu@gmail.com or by phone at +372 5552 0882