Mari Laanemets

Mari Laanemets is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Art History and Visual Culture, Estonian Academy of Arts. Her research focuses on alternative art in Soviet Estonia (1960s-1970s) intersecting with architecture/design, post-war abstractionism, and modernization aesthetics in Eastern Europe.

• PhD in Art History from Humboldt University Berlin (2011)
• MA from Estonian Academy of Arts

Publications include the monograph Zwischen westlicher Moderne und sowjetischer Avantgarde: Inoffizielle Kunst in Estland 1969–1978 (2011) and edited volumes like Abstraction as Open Experiment (2019). Active in academic journals like ArtMargins, Centropa, and Rethinking Marxism. Curated major exhibitions including Prognoos ja fantasia: piiredeta arhitektuur 1960.-1980. talut (2023).

Current research emphasizes transnational art networks and institutional critique in Cold War contexts. Maintains active collaboration with international institutions through exhibited works and editorial projects.