Exhibitions

Join the NART resident artists for an evening dedicated to the artistic side/perspectives of Narva. The event is held at Narva Artist Residency (Joala 18, 20103, Narva, Estonia).

Programme all evening:

⎆ Installation “Firewall” – Vitalli Shupliak
⎆ Virtual installation “If These Walls Could Speak” – Bart Kuipers

17:00 Welcome with soup, bread, and snacks!

17:15 Tour of the installation “Firewall” by Vitalii Shupliak
Vitalli Shupliak works primarily with video installation, painting, and performance and will present video work and an installation based on his modular spatial installation “Firewall”, that is scheduled to be built in Narva later this year.

Liso Stec (BY) is a curator and researcher exploring the context of Narva and the artistic potential of NART.

18:00 Workshop “Writing the Poetry of Narva” by Bart Kuipers
Bart Kuipers is a poet and multimedia artist and is looking to write the poetry of Narva together with people who know Narva the best!

19:00: Artist talk “Artistic Unlearning in Narva” and discussion by Yulia Krivich
Yulia Krivich is a visual artist and scholar. In her artist talk, she will present her research on how visual culture shapes identity, memory, and belonging in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union space, inviting us to unlearn inherited ways of seeing and imagine different futures.

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“It Always Seems Impossible”, Irma Holm and Sonja Sutt trace a Journey from Suffering to Hope.

“Why does it seem more believable that suffering must have a deeper meaning than that it could simply end? And why do we try, even in the hardest moments, to give the impression that we’re coping?”
Irma and Sonja

From 28th of August till 6th of September 2026, OUJEA Gallery presents “It Always Seems Impossible”, the first duo exhibition by Irma Holm and Sonja Sutt. Bringing together video, installation, and sculptural objects, the exhibition follows an attempt to find a way out of the trial of suffering.

The exhibition begins with the artists’ observation that suffering is not merely a personal experience but often a role that people learn to perform. At times, this performance becomes absurd, leaving a person appearing both tragic and comic at once.

Divided into five spaces, the exhibition unfolds as a simplified narrative. Its protagonists do not inhabit a fairy tale, yet their world follows a similar logic – every trial is expected to end in redemption, and every hardship should ultimately lead to something better. Along this journey, everyday activities become an artist’s portfolio, amateur sword fighting transforms into a heroic epic, and a makeshift hut built at home becomes a castle.

fb event – https://fb.me/e/8jtRQtynh

Opening: 27 August 2026, 6:00 pm
Exhibition: 28 August – 6 September 2026
Opening Hours: Daily, 12:00–19:00
Venue: OUJEA Gallery, Laboratooriumi 14, Tallinn, Estonia
Artists: Irma Holm and Sonja Sutt
Gallery: Hanna Samoson and Genius loci OUJEA
Graphic design: Kadri-Ann Kivisild

OUJEA GALLERY

Some places are born from a finished plan. Others are born out of a need. OUJEA belongs to the latter.

It is a gallery in Tallinn’s Old Town, but above all, it is a space for thinking, experimenting and coming together. A place where art does not have to justify its existence before it has had time to breathe.

OUJEA believes that meaning is not something an artist hides inside a work for the viewer to find. Meaning emerges through the encounter between people, time, space and attention. Sometimes it happens immediately. Sometimes much later. Sometimes only when, for a moment, everything seems impossible.

For this reason, OUJEA sees itself not simply as a gallery, but as a living process. A place where one can get things wrong, change one’s mind, start again, and trust that uncertainty, too, can be a creative material.

The gallery opens its programme with a duo exhibition by Irma Holm and Sonja Sutt, It Always Seems Impossible.

Everyone is welcome.

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“silent resonance” is an exhibition in which ceramics and sound meet not through direct “musicality,” but through behaviour: how ceramic form, mass, surface, and emptiness affect the space we perceive. A work may function like an acoustic organism – one piece absorbing sound through matte, porous surfaces and soft edges; another reflecting it through glossy glaze, tense arches, and hard surfaces; a third dispersing it through rhythmic reliefs and fragmented geometry.

Air is an essential quality of the works: the invisible volume held inside the ceramic is like a lung or chamber, giving the object internal tension and presence. Openings, necks, edges, lids, and mouths create the impression that an object could resonate – even if it does not actually make a sound. The focus therefore shifts from sound as content – melody, recording, performance – to sound as a quality: resonance, silence, reverberation, and dampening.

Silence becomes the exhibition’s supporting material. “Silence” as a formal decision – an omitted detail, a break in a pattern – and “listening” as a way of looking. The viewer does not need to listen with their ears; it is enough for the work to make them perceive the space differently: more slowly, more closely, and more attentively.

“silent resonance” is not a conventional ceramics exhibition where visitors are expected to keep their distance from seemingly fragile works. On the contrary, visitors can physically engage with many of the pieces: approach them, view them from different angles, and discover details that only become visible up close. Several works can even be gently touched, moved, and used to produce sound. This interactivity is not a “game,” but a way of listening to the space and the work through the body: how the direction of openings, the depth of inner voids, the roughness of surfaces, or glazed areas become perceptible only through closer engagement.

A quiet resonance emerges when looking becomes a form of attention akin to listening.

Organizer: Estonian Ceramists’ Association

Curator: Cristopher Siniväli

Supporters: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Bellus Furniture OÜ, Nudist Participating artists: Mari Ait, Ingrid Allik, Kaja Altvee, Merike Hallik, Kadi Hektor, Elize Hiiop, Eve Hint, Jarõna Ilo, Sergei Isupov, Kadri Jäätma, Tiina Kaljuste, Karin Kalman, Üllo Karro, Kersti Karu, Lauri Kilusk, Milvi Korela, Jaana Kormashov, Külli Kõiv, Kristel Kärdi, Triinu Maide-Safin, Margit Mald, Maia Noorväli, Ann Nurga, Aigi Orav, Clelia Piirsoo, Urmas Puhkan, Rave Puhm, Kadri Pärnamets, Anne Pärtna, Rita Randma, Ene Raud-Mägi, Sander Raudsepp, Aino Saan, Maarika Saarelaht, Kärt Seppel, Marget Tafel-Vahtra, Katri Taklaja, Ene Tapfer, Annika Teder, Margit Terasmees, Helena Tuudelepp, Triin Türnpuu, Mart Vaarpuu, Helle Videvik

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Sacredness usually sounds like something definite – a belief, symbol, or place set apart from the rest of the world. This exhibition, however, begins from a more fragile place: the feeling that something suddenly becomes meaningful, charged, untouchable, even when it is ordinary or impossible to describe in words.

The sense of intensity experienced in the exhibition presents sacredness not as a fixed definition, but rather as a field that circulates around objects. The protruding elements of the works evoke both protective armour and an energy field. Each form appears to hold or guard something—a memory, a body, a habit, a fantasy—yet their actual function remains open.

The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on, and remind themselves of, what feels sacred to them. Not in a grand or formal sense, but in the small ways certain objects, routines, and stories remain attached to us. Can something sacred exist only in reality, or does it exist solely in our imagination?

* Many of the ceramic works were created during an almost year-long ceramics internship in Berlin – a period that has shaped their forms and surfaces. In the exhibition, they are brought together in a new, altar-like constellation that makes room for both real and imagined sacred things.

Cristopher Siniväli (b. 1999) is a ceramic artist who received a Master’s degree in Design and Crafts from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2025. His artistic practice centres on creating non-functional ceramic compositions, drawing deeply on nature and personal emotions for inspiration. In recent years, he has also explored the relationship between the human body and ceramics, considering how form and presence affect both the viewer’s experience and the experience of wearing an object. His work creates connections between ceramics, fashion, and sculpture.

Thank you: ARS Ceramics Center, Estonian Artists’ Association, Vivarec, Bildhauerwerkstatt, Karksi, Fazer

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On August 27. at 17:00 a group exhibition of contemporary women jewellers titled You’re Nobody ‘Till Somebody Loves You, will open at the HOP gallery.

The truth is, we want only for love. We want to be cherished, needed, protected. We desperately want to be intimate and vulnerable with an other. When love has been given or taken, denied or refused, found or lost; the ache of the heart becomes profound and pieces of jewellery become unapologetic love letters of desire, remorse, joy and loss. 

Nine contemporary women jewellers have been invited to make new, single pieces of jewellery based on their interpretation of the exhibition title per their own experiences – with or without, in and out of love. This is where the exhibition begins.

Curated by Erinn M. Cox

Participating artists: Erinn M. Cox, Piret Hirv, Katarina Kotselainen, Kristiina Laurits, Eve Margus, Erle Nemvalts, Pilvi Tammoja, Ketli Tiitsar, Hanna-Maria Vanaküla

Join us for a tour with the exhibition curator, Erinn M. Cox, on Thursday, September 3, 2026 at 17.00 [in English]

Join us for a tour of the exhibition on Thursday, September 10, 2026 at 17.00 [in Estonian]

The exhibition is open until September 27, 2026.

Special thanks: Estonian Ministry of Culture, Eesti Kultuurkapital, Estonian Artists’ Association, and Liviko Ltd.

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28 August – 27 September 2026
Hobusepea Gallery, Tallinn

On 27 August at 6:30 PM, the artist Andre Joosep Arming’s debut solo exhibition Chain Reaction will open at the Hobusepea Gallery with a festive, Renaissance-themed masquerade ball, directed by Linda Mai Kari.

The exhibition is an exploration of human fragility, solitude, adaptation and perseverance, focusing on the tension field between the ending of life and new beginnings. The exhibition will remain open until 27 September.

Chain Reaction is about celebrating the joy of existence and the privilege of being alive. Arming’s works serve as a poignant reminder to inhabit the present fully, with complete intensity, despite not knowing what the future holds. The artist adds: “I would like to remind everyone and acknowledge that life is hard, but it is worth it.”

The exhibition showcases works from 2018–2025, alongside three new series created specifically for the show: Don Quixote I, Detachment Does Not Exist and Epistemic Heart. A core element of Arming’s practice is the poetic autobiographical portrait, through which he presents an uplifting, life-affirming philosophy despite a complex medical background. His works move across the border between personal and universal, intertwining memories, identity, time, love and mortality.

Arming draws inspiration from both pop culture and the visual everyday environment. In his works, maximalism manifests itself not only as an aesthetic choice, but also as a viable lifestyle and resistance to simplification. During the exhibition, the artist’s alter ego “Non Mors” also comes to life, opening up the theme of death through playfulness, absurdity and drama.

Andre Joosep Arming (b. 1995) holds a BA in Photography (2018) and an MA in Contemporary Art (2024) from the Estonian Academy of Arts. His practice primarily utilises Polaroid photography and video. Recurring themes in his work include autobiography, the cyclical nature of birth and death, and the concept of timelines. Arming is a member of the Estonian Union of Photography Artists (FOKU) and the Estonian Artists’ Association, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions across Europe (including Germany and Lithuania). He is also a member of the NGO Siirdatud süda (Transplanted Heart).

Dream team: Kleer Keret Tali, Helle Ly Tomberg, Karl-Christoph Rebane, Linda Mai Kari, Sirel Soans, Mio Kurm, Johanna Ruukholm, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Hans-Otto Ojaste, Johannes Säre, Hugo Leinola and Artproof.

Exhibitions in the Hobusepea Gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture and Liviko AS. The gallery is managed by the Estonian Artists’ Association.

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The Bootleg Service exhibition invites you to look at the familiar with a new perspective and discover how artists from different backgrounds have reinterpreted a single starting point for themselves.

The exhibition brings together different perspectives, styles and interpretations, which can be playful, unsettling, repulsive or captivating. A single starting point can become something completely new in the hands of different artists, and through their approaches, new connections, forms and meanings emerge.

The artists participating in the exhibition are Robert Kapanen, Paul Aadam Mikson, Kassandra Laur, Allan Suomalainen and Riste Sofie Käär.

Exhibition is curated by the Bluff Ateljee team, Martin Kislõi, Anna Elisabeth Remmelg and Mark Kokotov.

Graphic design is by Martin Kislõi.

Exhibition opening will take place on 27.08 at 19:00, featuring a performance by Riste Sofie Käär.

Exhibition is open from 27.08–04.09, from 13:00–19:00, at Kopli tänav 85.

Exhibition opening is sponsored by Põhjala.

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On Wednesday, September 2 at 4–6 pm, as part of the exhibition “The Island of Girls” at EKA Gallery, artist and designer Katya Lesiv (@katya.lesiv) will share her practice and work over tea. During the conversation, we will drink tea together, sit around the table, and talk.

The event is free, but places are limited (up to 20 participants). Please register in advance here.

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Katya Lesiv currently lives and works between Ukraine and Finland. Her practice explores cyclicality, physicality, emotional and sensitive experience, and motherhood. She works across photography, artist books, installation, objects, text, graphics, and moving image. Performative methods, often rooted in everyday rituals, allow her to encapsulate and share intimate experiences while safeguarding personal space. The body of the book often serves as the final form of her work.

Lesiv’s work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Ukraine, Finland, and the Netherlands, as well as in curated group exhibitions internationally. Her photobook Lullaby 1 was included among the top 100 photobooks in How We See: Photobooks by Women, selected by 10×10 Photobooks. Her book I Love You was shortlisted for the Aperture PhotoBook Awards in 2022. In 2024, she was nominated by ISSP to join the FUTURES Photography Platform. Lesiv is a member of the Association of Photographic Artists in Finland and the Finnish Darkroom Association.

Read more about the exhibition here.

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On August 22 and 24 at 6pm, a communal dinner and embroidery workshop will take place part of the exhibition “The Island of Girls”.

Food will be prepared using recipes created by Aly Sparkling Beveridge (@alysparklingbeveridge). The food is prepared and the workshop is led by Helena Atkin, Mariia Chudna and Daria Titova.

The table will become a place to share food, recipes, stories, and fairy tales about resistance, survival, home, and escape. Guests will also contribute to a shared embroidered tablecloth, stitching onto it the things they wish to leave behind. As the dinners continue, the tablecloth will grow with the stories of the people who gathered around it.

You don’t need to bring a story or know what you want to say. You can come to share, listen, eat, embroid, or simply sit at the table.

The dinners are free, but places are limited (up to 10 participants). Please register for one of the two evenings in advance here.

Read more about the exhibition here.

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“The Island of Girls”
EKA Gallery 22.08.–6.09.2026
Open Tue–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm
Opening: Friday, August 21 at 6 pm

What if there was a utopian island? A place where fragility, kindness, vulnerability, and care were not seen as weaknesses, but as forms of resistance and escape.

“The Island of Girls” is a feminist group exhibition and storytelling project that imagines a fictional island inhabited by girls alongside flowers and nature. Here, there is no war and no grief. Flowers and plants become symbols of resistance, while tenderness, imagination, and care become ways of surviving and creating another reality.

The project grows from Ukrainian artist Daria Titova’s lived experience of war and explores childhood, grief, home, and the need to create spaces where imagination can offer refuge. The “girls” of the island are not a restriction upon gender, but rather a symbol of openness, curiosity, sincerity, and the belief that the world can be different. Anyone is welcome here.

The exhibition features Titova’s visual works alongside Mariia Chudna’s ceramics and Helena Atkin’s original music. Natalia Stojkova and Kornélia Nemcová present their film “A Woman’s War”, adding another perspective on women’s experiences of war.

During the exhibition, the island will also become a space for shared meals and storytelling. Communal dinners planned by Aly Sparkling Beveridge will take place on August 22 and 24, bringing visitors together around food, conversation, and shared stories. On September 2, artist and designer Katya Lesiv will have an artist talk and lead a tea ceremony.

Programme:
The number of participants is limited, please sign up in advance!

• On Saturday, August 22 at 6–9 pm communal dinner and embroidery workshop. Register here
• On Monday, August 24 at 6–9 pm communal dinner and embroidery workshop. Register here
• Wednesday, September 2, 4–6 pm artist talk & tea ceremony with Katya Lesiv. Register here

Participating artists: Helena Atkin, Aly Sparkling Beveridge, Mariia Chudna, Natalia Stojkova & Kornélia Nemcová, Daria Titova
Project initiator: Daria Titova
Graphic design: Teele Kiisk
Technical support: Eugenio Marini
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn City and Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from mirai™ and Põhjala Brewery.

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