Artist Karel Koplimets at the Observatory of the University of Tartu in Tõravere

Project “ArCo3 – Artists in Collections, Communities and Collectives” presents: site-specific installation by artist Karel Koplimets at the observatory in Tõravere thats transports you to the future.

Estonia’s own space centre and legendary community of scientists: this is the Observatory of the University of Tartu in Tõravere! Completed in 1964, this place is an enchanting combination of peak science, green nature and infrastructure which looks mysterious to the untrained eye: besides the main building, the landscape is full of telescope towers and other objects. Walking between them, visitors will find themselves in a unique environment, but this year they can also investigate one of these towers more closely.

The artist Karel Koplimets took an artistic residency at the observatory in 2023, conversing with the scientists working there and getting acquainted with the everyday life on this scientific “campus”. These observations and experiences led to a site-specific spatial installation, which encompasses the whole tower of one telescope, along with adjacent rooms: the tower of the 48cm AZT-14 reflector (Castor). In summer 2024, this will become a different space: it might still be located in Tõravere, but the time will be bent towards the future. One theme constantly highlighted by the scientists was the difficulty of sensing the influence of climate change on the everyday level. Research has shown that our planet is clearly on an undesirable course, even politicians have acknowledged this, but here in Estonia the frequency of hurricanes hasn’t increased, the winters are nice and cold and some summer days of +35 Centigrade can be managed. Koplimets, however, takes the collected data and creates a model based on it which imagines one possible future scenario. Opening the door of the tower with a code, the visitor will enter a space deserted by its inhabitants, but the why, the where and the how will be up to the viewer to decipher based on the way the artist has created the space. What could the arts of survival have looked like during the interim period?

Opening 12 May during the Prima Vista literary festival!

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The project “ArCo3” has grown out of the initiative “Artists in Collections (ArCo)”, which has been mixing together contemporary art and cultural heritage since 2018. “ArCo3” is a part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 main programme and the participants are next to the Tartu Observatory of the University of Tartu in Tõravere (artist: Karel Koplimets) Järvselja Training and Experimental Forestry District Foundation in Kastre County (artist: Uku Sepsivart), the riverboat Lonny at the damn on the Ahja River in Taevaskoja (artists: Sigrid Viir and Līga Spunde) and the Räpina Paper Factory (artist: Ingrid Allik, with colleagues from Estonia and Finland).

The ArCo curators and project managers are Maarin Ektermann and Mary-Ann Talvistu.
Supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

If you want to grab a bite or need a place to stay, see what the Tartu 2024 hospitality network offers in the area: https://tartu2024.ee/recommendations-noo