In Memoriam: Heie Marie Treier

Heie Marie Treier was born on January 15, 1963 in Tartu. She studied at the Faculty of History of the University of Tartu from 1981 to 1986 and completed her postgraduate studies at the Central European University in Prague in 1993 and at the Central European University in Budapest in 2000.

In 2000, she defended her master's degree at the Institute of Art Studies of the Estonian Academy of Arts and her doctorate in 2004. Treier worked at the Kunst publishing house as the head of archives and later as an editor, and also as an art history teacher at the Kopli Art High School.

In 2000–2007, Treier was the leader of the relaunch of the art and visual culture magazine kunst.ee and the first editor-in-chief, and in 2009–2011, he was co-editor. In 2006–2015, she was an associate professor at the Department of Art History at the Institute of Arts of Tallinn University, in 2015–2017, an associate professor at the Baltic Film, Media and Arts Institute (BFM) of Tallinn University, and since 2017, Treier has worked as a lecturer in art history at the BFM. Heie Treier has also served as a member of the council of the Estonian Artists' Union in several capacities.

Heie Treier worked as an art historian and critic with a focus on 20th-21st century art. Her main focus was the reflection of societal paradigm shifts in art and art history (monuments, paradigm shifts in art, etc.). Treier has curated exhibitions, published monographs and is the author of several art history textbooks. In 2007, she worked as an ArtsLink fellow in Philadelphia, USA, where he worked in the archive of the world-renowned Estonian-born architect Louis I. Kahn and has devoted years to researching Kahn's creative legacy.

In 2004, Heie Treier received the Kristjan Raud Prize for launching the art magazine kunst.ee. In 2019, he received the Kristjan Raud Prize for his thorough and dedicated research into the architecture of Louis Kahn.

Heie Treier's colleagues at the TLU BFM remember him as a thorough and passionate researcher. Elen Lotman: "Her desire was always to share her findings, inspire others, and contribute to Estonian culture and art education. The Estonian University of Applied Sciences and Arts has lost another cultural and educational locomotive."

Barbi Pilvre-Storgard: "I remember a good classmate from high school 21, later a collaborator in cultural journalism at Areen in the 1990s and 2000s. Heie's father, a scientist and cultural figure, Elem Treier, worked at the Vilde Museum in Kadriorg, and it was exciting that Heie lived in an apartment that was located in the museum building where we went on a class excursion. She grew up in the midst of cultural heritage, took piano lessons and played tennis in Kadriorg, and at school she was rather reserved, like a recluse. Later in her professional life, it became clear that Heie could be very passionate when he was interested in something: painter Karl Pärsimägi, later architect Louis Kahn. I also remember the Saaremaa Biennials in the 1990s, where she was in her element. The world opened up and she especially liked New York. With the baggage she had accumulated by now, it would have been very exciting for her to continue to act, both for herself and for others, sad that this journey was interrupted by a terrible illness."

Dr. Gerhard BE Lock: "Dr. Heie Marie Treier had an extraordinary ability to see and simply explain the great connections in art and philosophy, while directing attention to the details that were important for this. I was very lucky to still work with her and it is a great sadness and loss that I can no longer continue this path with her... memories, principles and ideas remain to be carried forward..."

Sirje Runge: "Farewell dear Heie. You have been a truly creative and understanding art historian and a good colleague. Thank you very much."