Sirje Helme


Sirje Helme is an Estonian art historian and art critic.

Early life and education

Sirje Helme was born in Tallinn, the daughter of the sculptor Kalju Reitel and the makeup artist Silvia Reitel. She graduated from Tallinn School No. 21 in 1967 and from Tartu State University in 1973 as an art historian. In 1995 she defended her master's thesis in art history, and in 2013 her doctoral dissertation Sõjajärgse modernismi ja avangardi probleeme eesti kunstis.

Career

From 1973 to 1975 she was the editor of the 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. 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, and from 1995 to 1996 the coordinator of the Soros Centers for Contemporary Art network.
In 2005, Helme started working as the director of the Kumu Art Museum. From 2009 to 2016, she worked as the director general of the Art Museum of Estonia, and she has been a member of the board of the Art Museum of Estonia Foundation since 2016.

Academic activities

Helme lectured on modernism and Estonian art after the Second World War from 1989 to 1994 at the Estonian [Academy of Music and Theatre|Estonian Academy of Music and Theater]; in 1997/1998 and since 2003 at the University of Tartu; and from 2000 to 2009 and since 2020 at the Estonian Academy of Arts. During the 2012/2013 academic year, she was a professor of liberal arts at the University of Tartu.
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, with Jaak Kangilaski. Tallinn: Kunst
  • 2000: Viron Taiteen Historia, Finnish translation, with Jaak Kangilaski. Helsinki: Taifuuni
  • 2000: Jüri Okas. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus
  • 2010: Popkunst Forever. Eesti popkunst 1960. ja 1970.aastate vahetusel. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstimuuseum
  • 2013: "Kujutavas kunstis toimunud muutused: taastamine, kohanemine, uuenemine ". 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". 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". In: Eesti kunsti ajalugu. 1940–1991. vol. 6, part 2, pp. 83–180. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, SA Kultuurileht
  • 2016: "Kaheksakümnendate lõpuaastad". In: Eesti kunsti ajalugu. 1940–1991. vol. 6, part 2, pp. 181–224. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, SA Kultuurileht
  • 2017: 101 Eesti kunstiteost. Tallinn: Varrak
  • 2017: Jüri Okas, editor and article author. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstimuuseum
  • 2018: Leonhard Lapin: Tühjus ja ruum, compilation and article author. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstimuuseum
  • 2018: Eesti kunsti 100 aastat. Tallinn: Post Factum

Memberships

Awards