Sirje Helme (née Sirje Reitel; born January 1, 1949 in Tallinn) is an Estonian art historian and art critic.[1][2]
Early life and education
Sirje Helme was born in Tallinn,[1][3] the daughter of the sculptor Kalju Reitel (1921–2004) and the makeup artist Silvia Reitel (née Taalmann, later Kromanov; 1926–1990).[4] She graduated from Tallinn School No. 21 in 1967 and from Tartu State University in 1973 as an art historian.[1][3][4] In 1995 she defended her master's thesis in art history,[1][4] and in 2013 her doctoral dissertation Sõjajärgse modernismi ja avangardi probleeme eesti kunstis (Problems of Post-War Modernism and Avant-Garde in Estonian Art).[2][5]
Career
From 1973 to 1975 she was the editor of the Kunst [et] publishing house, from 1975 to 1996 the editor-in-chief of the almanac Kunst, from 1989 to 1990 the editor-in-chief of the Kunst publishing house, and from 1990 to 1992 the director of the Kunst publishing house.[2][4] From 1993 to 2008 she was a member of the board of the Kunst AS publishing house. From 1992 to 2005 she was the director of the Estonian Center for Contemporary Art,[2] and from 1995 to 1996 the coordinator of the Soros Centers for Contemporary Art network.[4]
In 2005, Helme started working as the director of the Kumu Art Museum.[2][4][6] From 2009 to 2016, she worked as the director general of the Art Museum of Estonia,[2][7] and she has been a member of the board of the Art Museum of Estonia Foundation since 2016.
Her articles on art have been published in journals in Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Croatia, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Russia, and elsewhere. She has curated exhibitions in Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, and Germany.
Works
1999: Lühike Eesti kunsti ajalugu (A Brief History of Estonian Art), with Jaak Kangilaski. Tallinn: Kunst
2000: Viron Taiteen Historia (A History of Estonian Art), Finnish translation, with Jaak Kangilaski. Helsinki: Taifuuni
2000: Jüri Okas (with Tamara Luuk). Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus
2010: Popkunst Forever. Eesti popkunst 1960. ja 1970.aastate vahetusel (Pop Art Forever. Estonian Pop Art at the Turn of the 1960s and 1970s). Tallinn: Eesti Kunstimuuseum
2013: "Kujutavas kunstis toimunud muutused: taastamine, kohanemine, uuenemine (1955–69)" (Changes in the Visual Arts: Restoration, Adaptation, Renewal, 1955–1969). In: Eesti kunsti ajalugu. 1940–1991, vol. 6, part 1, pp. 233–365. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, SA Kultuurileht
2016: "Paradigmamuutus kümnendivahetusel. Popkunst. Kontseptuaalne ja geomeetriline kunst" (Paradigm Shift at the Turn of the Decade. Pop Art. Conceptual and Geometric Art). In: Eesti kunsti ajalugu. 1940–1991. vol. 6, part 2, pp. 29–76. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, SA Kultuurileht
2016: "Realismi mõiste hajumine ja peavool kunstis" (The Dispersion of the Concept of Realism and the Mainstream in Art). In: Eesti kunsti ajalugu. 1940–1991. vol. 6, part 2, pp. 83–180. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, SA Kultuurileht
2016: "Kaheksakümnendate lõpuaastad" (The Late Eighties). In: Eesti kunsti ajalugu. 1940–1991. vol. 6, part 2, pp. 181–224. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, SA Kultuurileht
2017: 101 Eesti kunstiteost (101 Estonian Works of Art). Tallinn: Varrak
2017: Jüri Okas, editor and article author. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstimuuseum
2018: Leonhard Lapin: Tühjus ja ruum (Leonhard Lapin. Void and Space), compilation and article author. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstimuuseum
2018: Eesti kunsti 100 aastat (100 Years of Estonian Art). Tallinn: Post Factum
^Puss, Fred; Benno, Agur; Rebane, Ivo Manfred; Uustalu, Kalev (2005). Eesti tänab: 2004–2005. Tallinn: RiigikantseleiIlmumisaeg. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
