Mari Männa | “Kunstnikud on kohal” (Estonia)

Bio

Mari Männa (b. 1991) is a sculptor and installation artist whose artistic practice explores the formation of Estonian cultural identity and narratives. She holds a Master’s degree from the Estonian Academy of Arts and has pursued further studies at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and Aalto University in Helsinki. Her works intertwine folklore and contemporaneity, which she expresses through an intuitive sculptural language that experiments with materials. Männa has exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions in Estonia and abroad, including at Tartu Art House, Draakon Gallery, and Editorial project space in Vilnius. In addition to her artistic activities, she works as a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Project

I introduce school students to sculpture and installation through playful tasks in which they participate as authors themselves. The course presents sculptural thinking through practical and playful exercises: it begins with creating a so-called ‘1-minute sculpture,’ continues with a sculptural intervention, then moves on to clay modeling, and concludes with working with found objects. Each stage develops creativity through the tangible three-dimensional world, drawing inspiration from the works of contemporary artists as well as from the learning process itself.