“A chair, a door, a rose, a spoon”
EKA Gallery 27.10.–22.11.2026
Open Tue–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm, free entry
Opening: Thu, 29.10. at 6 pm
Curatorial tour: Fri 30.10. at 7 pm
The group exhibition “A chair, a door, a rose, a spoon”, curated by Kati Saarits and Hannah Segerkrantz, stems from their shared interest in practices that move between craft, applied arts and design. Gathering works from artists, designers and makers based in the Baltics and Finland, the exhibition places contemporary pieces in relationships with selected objects from local museum collections.
Functional objects tend to need bodies around them. A chair expects weight, a door ought to be opened, a rose longs for a vase, a spoon needs a hand. These things have been made to be used, looked at, lived with, inherited, displayed, collected, owned. Their functions accumulate and recede. And sometimes use remains only as a memory of use, or as a possibility.
Decorative objects have historically existed to attract, to impress, to seduce, be adorned, touched and possessed. Their beauty has never been supplementary to function, sometimes beauty was the function. Such objects were made by hands that also thought of them as pictures. Objects that served a purpose and, at the same time, refused to be reduced to it.
Function and art are placed on two ends of a vast spectrum, and in between there is a narrow field called applied arts, as if application were a compromise rather than a form of thought – conditioning the way we read objects. Thus, a vase on a table, in a museum vitrine, in a store display, an archive, or in someone’s home remains materially constant, while the terms around it become less certain.
“A chair, a door, a rose, a spoon” begins somewhere inside these distinctions. A museum object leaves the logic of the collection. An applied object leaves the logic of use. For a moment, they meet elsewhere. The display becomes an additional material in the exhibition space. Objects carrying different histories of use, craftsmanship, ownership and recognition are gently misplaced from their habitual settings into temporary company, to allow the reading of one to influence the reading of another. Their origins remain, while the stories attached begin to loosen.
These are not contradictions to be resolved, they are how the objects argue their existence. Rather than approaching craft through heritage or technique alone, this exhibition brings together designers, artists and makers whose works exist in the overlap of these practices, carrying both use-value and decorative autonomy, and asking to be read on both terms simultaneously.
A chair is hung on the peg rail, a door is opened, roses are brought inside, a spoon is placed on the table.
Exhibition text: Sophie Turner
Participating artists and designers: Anna Larionova, Aleš Rezler, Brit Pavelson, Bruno Tomberg Studio, Carlo Raymann, Carmen Kremm, Claudia Lepik, Darja Popolitova, Garbage Kids, Hannah Segerkrantz, Helena Keskküla, Heli Juuti, Helle Gans, Hertta Kiiski & Janne Punkari, Juss Heinsalu, Katahana, Kati Saarits, Katrin Kask, Kay Shek, Kirsikka Tuuli, Kärt Ojavee, Maarja Mäemets, Maile Grünberg, Mariam Mestvirishvili, Marite Kuus-Hill, Muusa Stuudio, Paul Flanders, Rait Lõhmus, Rita Vaali, Santeri Mortti, Tatu Laakso, Tea Tammelaan, Teresa Ra, Veera Gontsugova, Viieline, Vilius Dringelis, Ville Aakula and Yrjö Kukkapuro (Artek 2nd Cycle)
Curators: Kati Saarits, Hannah Segerkrantz
Exhibition design: Kadri Villand
Technical support: Ats Kruusing, Asmus Soodla
Graphic design: Simon Janson
Exhibition team: Kaisa Maasik-Koplimets, Aleksander Metsamärt, Valve Saarma, Marily Simenson-Plasko, Andreas Vrettos, Hanna Õunapuu
Thanks to: Estonian Museum of Architecture, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, EKA Museum
The exhibition is supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Embassy of Finland, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn City and Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from mirai™ and Põhjala Brewery.