EKA Gallery, Estonian Academy of Arts
Dear Friend Exhibition (2022) curated by Sandra Nuut and Ott Kagovere was an exhibition that featured letters from the publishing project Dear Friend as well as publications and other ephemera by writers of the Dear Friend letters at the EKA Gallery.
There was also a public programme that included presentations of periodical publications and books, readings and recordings of letters in a programme Tracks as Envelopes by oH radio, Dear Friend Symposium, a day full of presentations and discussions, and Dear Friend letter writing workshop and more.
SYMPOSIUM
24 September 2022, EKA Gallery
Dear Friend Symposium was a gathering where we explored practices and questions around experimental and self-publishing, mailing as a form of publishing, and design as writing through presentations and discussions.
Symposium schedule:
12:30 Presentation Undisclosed Relations, Henk Groenendijk
Henk Groenendijk travels from Sofia, Bulgaria to open some boxes full of student publications, a selection of works from the Test Press exhibition, and copies of Test Press magazine. Henk will tell us about his library and collection of student publications and the links that are perhaps not visible. The connections are in the books, posters, and other paraphernalia.
Henk Groenendijk is a collector, educator, and curator of Test Press Books. He worked as a professor at the Graphic Design Department of Gerrit Rietveld Academie and initiated the Rietveld & Sandberg Library Publications Archive.
13:00 A Lecture on Nothing: on the Legibility of Illegible Text, Arja Karhumaa
What do typographic texts consist of? How does typography relate to language, image, and writing? How do you read illegible text? What is type beyond only form, as part of our coexistence and social environment? This performative talk has no answers to these questions but aims to stay with the trouble they make.
Arja Karhumaa is a text designer, a feral academic, and a language animal. She is Assistant Professor and Head of Programme in Visual Communication Design at Aalto University ARTS, Finland.
15:00 Presentation about de Appel’s publication The Remote Archivist, Nell Donkers
Nell Donkers, archivist of de Appel in Amsterdam will talk about The Remote Archivist, a recurring (one-page folded poster) publication from the Archive. There are four series of the publication that have been presented so far. The aim is to invite artists, thinkers, and readers to dive deeper into the archive and recalibrate the archive materials for their own practice. Bardhi Haliti is the designer of the project and of de Appel’s house style.
Nell Donkers has managed the archive (library, archive, and collection) of De Appel in Amsterdam since 2022 and made it digitally accessible.
15:30 Talk about Queer.Archive.Work and the resting reader, Paul Soulellis
Paul Soulellis’ talk will present his work at the nonprofit library, publishing studio, and residency Queer.Archive.Work in Providence, US with a focus on collectivity in the context of independent publishing. The resting reader is a book of texts and images assembled from source material found on the shelves of the Queer.Archive.Work library. The content was selected during the rise of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in December 2021, around the loose themes of rest, quiet, care, queer, sanctuary, reflection, collective, and generosity.
Paul Soulellis is an artist and educator based in Providence, RI. His practice includes teaching, writing, and experimental publishing, with a focus on queer methodologies and network culture.
17:00 presentation of the Dear Friend Catalogue, Ott Kagovere & Sandra Nuut
Exhibition and symposium: Ott Kagovere and Sandra Nuut
Exhibition design: Ulla Alla and Nika Gabiskiria
Letters by Alicia Ajayi, Stuart Bertolotti-Bailey, Claudia Doms, Nell Donkers, Maarin Ektermann, Rosen Eveleigh, Maryam Fanni, Saara Hannus, Eik Hermann, Paul John, Maria Juur, Ott Kagovere, Maarja Kangro, Arja Karhumaa, Kristina Ketola Bore, Nicole Killian, Rachel Kinbar, Tuomas Kortteinen, Keiu Krikmann, Kadri Laas, Else Lagerspetz, Lieven Lahaye, James Langdon, Jungmyung Lee, Kai Lobjakas, Michelle Millar Fisher, Maria Muuk, Sheere Ng, Sandra Nuut, Laura Pappa, Jack Self, Indrek Sirkel, Paul Soulellis, Triin Tamm, Laura Toots, Alice Twemlow, Loore Viires, Sean Yendrys, Justin Zhuang
Letter visuals by Mai Bauvald, Pärtel Eelmere, Martina Gofman, Kersti Heile, Laura Merendi, Mikk Oja, Rex, Johanna Ruukholm, Robin Siimann
Thank you Andres Alliksaar, Louis Biasin, Pärtel Eelmere, Maarin Ektermann, Mark Foss, Triin Jerlei, Mette Mari Kaljas, Kaur Karu, Kertu Klementi, Else Lagerspetz, Rasmus Lukas, Laura Merendi, Anete Ots, Laura Pappa, Steven Pikas, Lola Maria Pärna, Emma Reim, Filipp Rotšenkov, Maret Sarapu, Georg Ander Sild, Indrek Sirkel, Mariliis Tarja, Ljubov Terukova, Taylor Tex Tehan, Laura Tursk, Pille-Riin Valk
Supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Academy of Arts, the European Regional Development Fund
Photos by Katrin-Maria Terras