Overload caused glitch at Estonian Artists' Association support auction
The failure at an art auction held in support of the Estonian Artists' Association was caused by excessive load on the auction app, not a cyberattack. The auction resumes on Friday at 18:00.
An art auction held in support of the Estonian Artists' Association, organised by the company Eesti Kunstioksjonid OÜ (EKO), suffered a technical failure on Thursday. The company says the cause has been found and fixed, and the auction will resume on Friday at 18:00.
According to EKO board member Andres Veske, the problem occurred in EKO's auction application. An initial suspicion of a cyberattack was not confirmed. The cause was extremely heavy load: although the organisers had prepared for strong interest, one part of the application could not cope. The server service provided by Zone worked without problems.
Veske apologised to art lovers and said experts were brought in so that the auction environment could withstand the load. The system has been thoroughly tested after the fix, he said.
What participants should do
Because some bids may not have reached the system or may have been lost due to the failure, participants are asked to check their bids in the auction environment and, if necessary, place them again. This applies to both regular and automatic bids.
How the auction proceeds
One work was sold on Thursday: "Tiger" by Jüri Arrak. EKO representative and auction host Reigo Kuivjõgi said the buyer has been contacted and the usual sale details are being clarified.
The auction continues on 9 October with Arrak's "Games Around the Tree" (day 1, work 2) and runs through to Viktor Karrus's "Legend" (day 2, work 26). Saturday's session starts at 15:00 with Flo Kasearu's "Tomorrow Is Worn on You" (day 2, work 27).
Maarin Ektermann, president of EKL, which represents the Estonian Artists' Association, said it was regrettable that the EKO environment failed. She said a large turnout was expected, but the glitch was an unpleasant surprise, and that the organiser has confirmed the system has been fixed and tested.
The auction takes place on 9 and 10 October at the ARS art town and can also be followed live on the ERR culture portal.
