Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid stopped the support auction of the Artists' Union. This happened on Thursday evening. The reason was a technical issue. It may have been a cyberattack.
The technical team is working to resolve the issue. Zone, which provides technical support, says it may be a cyberattack. The auction will continue on Friday, October 9 at 6 pm. It will resume from where it was interrupted. After that, the painting auction part will begin.
The problem occurred after the sale of the first artwork. Jüri Arrak's "Tiiger" (1985) was sold for 23,500 euros. Its starting price was 1,600 euros. The Artists' Union knew there was great interest in the auction. They asked technical partners to take this into account. The partners chose the best technical solution. Initially, it is assumed that the problem is not due to overload.
The auction organizers apologized to everyone who was following the auction. They wanted to offer but couldn't. "It is important for us that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate," said Reigo Kuivjõgi. Therefore, the auction is postponed to Friday.
The Estonian Artists' Union is organizing an emergency art auction. It will take place at the ARS art campus from October 8 to 10. 162 artworks will be sold. The aim of the auction is to cover the damage incurred by the Union. In spring, fraud caused damage of 700,000 euros. The auction is organized by Eesti kunsti oksjonid.