Exhibitions

“Moments Held” is a group exhibition by second-year students from the Department of Graphic Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The title refers to nostalgic or meaningful fragments of time that each artist preserves through their work in their own unique way. The exhibition explores human memory and its fragility, the act of holding onto memories, and the attempt to capture moments that would otherwise vanish all too quickly.

The works address the transformation of the mind under societal pressure, the shifting of memories with every recollection, and the stories carried by objects. Some artists draw on family heritage, others on the experience of adapting to a new environment, yet almost all look inward during the creative process to interpret and visually depict the moments that hold personal significance. Together, they form a cohesive whole defined by craftsmanship, experimentation, and materiality.

Participating artists: Anastasija Šteinle, Anna Weidebaum, Ronja Jõgi, Sadhbh Connolly, Selene Taur.

The artists would like to thank their supervisors Viktor Gurov and Eve Kask, and the EKA Department of Graphic Art.

Exhibition dates: 11/05.–30/05. Opening: May 11 at 17:00. Location: GÜ Gallery, Pärnu mnt 154, Tallinn. Opening hours: Mon–Fri 12–18, Sat 12–16

Opening on Thursday, 21 May at 6 pm in the Great Hall of the Kumu Art Museum
(Weizenbergi 34 / Valge 1, Tallinn).
 
Chromatic Drift creates a cohesive perceptual and spatial experience centred on colour, a defining element in the oeuvre of the Estonian painter Kristi Kongi. Works created specifically for this exhibition over the past couple of years, together with the surrounding installation-based environment, evoke both chromatic richness and a poetic mode of being in unmapped territory.
 
At the opening, the launch of the book accompanying the exhibition will also take place.
 
The opening will take place in Kumu’s courtyard, weather permitting.
 
Opening programme on Saturday, 23 May:

Exhibition tours with curator Ann Mirjam Vaikla and artist Kristi Kongi: 12 noon (in English) and 2 pm (in Estonian)
Artist talk with Kristi Kongi at 3:30 pm

The exhibition will remain open until 11 October 2026.

Curator: Ann Mirjam Vaikla
Exhibition design: Mari Hunt, Grete Daut (MARIHUNT architects)
Graphic design: Brit Pavelson
Exhibition installation manager: Tõnis Medri
Coordinator: Anastassia Langinen

Opening: May 9, 2026, from 19:00 until sunset

We are a group of EKA students, all of whom are from different major cities around the world and we invite you to a get-together with us on May 9 at 7:00 p.m. on the beach near the Logi sauna. The exhibition takes place within the course “Exhibition: Artist as Nomad”. 

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Only Temporary unfolds as a brief gathering shaped by light, time, and presence. The exhibition brings together works that shift, dissolve, or exist only for a limited duration. This concept is to resist permanence and inviting attention to what cannot be held.

Somewhere between intervention and coexistence, the artworks hover in an ambiguous space. At times they might be appearing parasitic, at others in quiet sync with their surroundings. Visitors are invited to encounter them intuitively: to stumble upon, to observe, and to question.

This is not a fixed moment, but a passing one. A shared experience shaped by change, perception, and the act of letting go. As daylight fades, so does the opening. The event follows a natural rhythm, ending with the disappearance of light. 

In a society of ultra-modernity and hyperconnectivity, what does it mean to resist acceleration?

Between infinite production and the rejection of speed, the works produced question our relationship to technology and nature, particularly in the era of valuing fast production and quick reward over process and slowness.

Acceleration promises transformation yet produces cyclical redundancy.

Slowness appears as an alternative, yet risks disappearance.

We must imagine other ways of being, and investigate how one might exist within a system saturated with the homogenization of forms and algorithmic repetition.

This exhibition does not aim to resolve this tension.

It sustains it.

It stages practices that oscillate, overflow, and evade.

It does not propose a solution but rather creates a space for transgression by observing the inherent slowness of the garden.

Allowing us to construct a world where other rhythms, forms, and futures become conceivable.

This exhibition was made possible by the generosity of Kopli 93, community and educational garden. The central theme of the exhibition was heavily influenced by our collective perception of the vast, mystical space. We would like to thank Kristin Lang and the other gardeners of Kopli 93 for warmly welcoming and educating us, and the community of Kopli for allowing us to exhibit in their neighborhood.

Exhibiting artists: Esther Borrett, Nancy Bettina Beard, Coco Corbineau, Sadhbh Connolly, Kimberly Jüschke, Karolin Mägedik, Chloe McDougall, Elise Muchowski, and Tin Trong Nguyen.

Exhibition team: Oleksandra Aleksieienko, Panna Becker, Yann Mazzalovo, Daria Zaitseva”

Moulds for the Wilderness / Vormid tühermaale
Odie Lap Chun Chow
Location: Hanger, Põhjala tehas, Marati tn 5, Tallinn
Opening 8.05 at 18:00
Visting hours: 8.05–19.05 WED-SUN 11:00-17:00
Defence date: 12.05 at 10:00

Moulds for the Wilderness is a showcase of Odie Lap Chun Chow’s journey into mould making, inspired by ceramic casting production and self-experience in identity seeking. Gypsum, clay, and photography became the materials Odie used to explore and reflect on his struggle to find self-identity, bound to the city he came from. Here, he raises the question of whether moulds give limits or freedom to one, and whether one can create their own “wilderness”, a space without borders.

Perfect Dupes / Täiuslik duplikaat
Maia Hellman
Location: Kopli tn 2a
Opening: 9.05 at 18:00
Visiting Hours 9.05–30.05 THR-SUN 14:00-19:00
Defence date: 12.05 at 15:00

The remnants of the honey shop linger here, in the elongated shelves that run the walls and the price stickers from the beekeeping and gardening equipment they once sold. The same shelves now hold objects that arrived here with their own histories. Second-hand tableware, ceramic pieces, raw materials. Things that have passed through other hands before reaching these shelves. Some of them have passed through mine.

Lyly Pudi-Padi Pood, Lyly’s IJzerwinkel, La Quincallerie de Lyly
Lyly Letzer
Location: Keskturg Kiosk 168
Opening date: 10.05 at 11:00
Visiting hours: 10.05–17.05
Defence date: 13.05 at 11:00

A “ijzerwinkel”, “quincallerie” or “pudi-padi pood” is a place where you can find glue, a flower, a plate or someone to talk to. // Pudi-padi pood on koht, kust võib leida nii liimi, lilleõie, taldriku kui ka vestluse. // Une quincaillerie est un endroit où on peut tout trouver, un clou, une assiette, un savon et une personne à qui parler. // Ik ga naar een ijzerwinkel om van alles en nog wat te vinden: een tas, een koek of een babbel.

Unfolding Gestures / Avanev käeliigutus
Mariam Mestvirishvili
Location: Angaarinstituut, Põhjala Tehas, Marati tn 5, Tallinn
Opening 8.05 at 18:00
Visiting: 8.05–24.05 WED-SUN 11:00-17:00
Defence date: 13.05 at 15:00

Unfolding Gestures brings together practices of ceramic and textile making, exploring what lies beyond their surface and unfolds through them. By focusing on the process of making, the coexistence of material and maker as beings in their own right becomes visible, resulting in a series of works that reveal the traces of the process and its inherent mundanities.

Beyond Wearability / Kantavusest kaugemal
Peixuan Lin
Location: ARS Kunstilinnak, Stuudio 53, Pärnu mnt 154
Opening 11.05 at 18:00
Visiting hours: 11.05–15.05
Defence date: 14.05 at 10:00

Beyond Wearability builds on the personal experiences and theoretical research of designer Peixuan Lin, exploring how accessories transcend from wearability to becoming fluid symbols of identity. It shows how materials, myths, and everyday use collectively transform accessories into vehicles for personal narratives.

Souvenirs from Home / Suveniirid kodust
Sylvia Burgess
Location: Pika Jala väravatorn, Pikk Jalg 3
Opening: 16.05 at 18:00
Visiting hours 16.05–14.06 THR–SUN 12:00-17:00
Defence date: 14.05 at 14:00

Souvenirs from home is an exhibition of small objects and jewellery drawing on motifs, techniques and materials gathered through the three homes Sylvia Burgess has experienced in the past two years.

KULTIVEERITUD KEHA
Joanne-Heleene Sõrmus
Location: EKA Stenograafia stuudio, B304
Opening: 14.05 at 19:00 (performance)
Defence date: 15.05 at 10:00, A403

At the culmination, the focus shifts away from the body to what remains of it: its traces, forms, and surfaces that are transferred into the garment. Performance KULTIVEERITUD KEHA explores the moment when the body ceases to be the objective and instead becomes a trace – a shell no longer defined by physical perfection, but by the aesthetic and emotional residue left by the pursuit of it.

Extensions / Pikendused
Marite Kuus-Hill

Location: Kopli 70a, II floor/korrus
Opening 12.05 at 18:00

Defence date: 15.05 at 14:00

Extensions is a collection of events surrounding a handmade 4 m x 4 m quilt. This project presents a series of proposals and brings forth open-ended questions about space and space making, while expanding the notion of a quintessential cultural object, the quilted blanket.

Collection of public events:

April 17th 18:00
Thesis Assembly
Marite Kuus-Hill & Chloé Gourvennec
Krulli maja, Kopli 70a, Tallinn

May 6th 14:00
Patchnotes: Line Arngaard
Haron Barashed & Marite Kuus-Hill
oh.eka-gd-ma.ee / EKA sea terrace, Põhja pst 7, Tallinn

May 12th 18:00
Twelve Proposals for an Unfolding Event
Lili Maud Dobell & Marite Kuus-Hill
Krulli maja, Kopli 70a, Tallinn

May 13th 18:00 (invitation only)
Quilting Bee and Talking Bird
Jordy Weaver & Marite Kuus-Hill
ETC Space, Niine 8, Tallinn

May 22nd – 23rd 11:00-17:00
Quilt Space
Fair Enough Art Book Fair
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design
Lai 17, Tallinn

June 3rd 14:00
Patchnotes: Alek Green
Haron Barashed & Marite Kuus-Hill
oh.eka-gd-ma.ee / EKA sea terrace, Põhja pst 7, Tallinn

7.05.26 – 28.05.26

Jakobi Gallery, Jakobi 52, Tartu

On Thursday, May 7th at 6:00 PM, Mirjam Varik’s photography exhibition “Familiar Stranger” will open at Jakobi Gallery.

The project deals with the meeting of generations through photographs and archival materials. It is a story about grandfathers who have passed away and grandmothers who have stayed here, and how pictures, old letters and memories help to restore broken ties and understand our roots. We come from somewhere, we are like someone or have the face of someone.

Family history is never unambiguous — each new discovery changes the understanding of the past. The wars of the last century and the Iron Curtain severed ties in many families: some stayed here, others were sent away or fled abroad, leaving behind only vague memories. Silence became a part of everyday life, not everything was talked about. Children were not supposed to know everything, and even less so grandchildren.

Photographs taken in California, where a meeting with a previously unknown relative highlights past decisions, departures and new beginnings. Choices made several generations ago now open up new layers of meaning related to culture and identity. The song features excerpts from found letters and diaries, illustrated with historical footage.

Mirjam Varik (b. 1990) studied photography at the Tartu Art College (2014) and as an exchange student at the University of Art and Design Linz. She graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a BA in graphic design (2021) and later completed an MA in contemporary art (2024). In her artistic practice, Varik articulates seemingly insignificant moments that have a lasting impact on personal formation. Through photography, video, and installation, she explores childhood experiences and identity in a narrative manner, focusing on memories, places, and phenomena.

Thanks: Filipp Varik, Marge Monko, Sandra Ernits, Tanja Muravskaja, Martin Pedanik, Eri Rääsk, Sarah Nõmm, Siim Preiman, EKA graphic art department.

The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment of Estonian.

mirjamvarik.xyz

Song: Filipp Varik (Opéra National de Lyon)

Graphic design: Mirjam Varik

Jakob Gallery opening hours: Tue-Fri 1pm-6pm

Exhibition “Flora Erotica” by Sarah Nõmm and Maris Karjatse in ARS Showroom gallery (Pärnu mnt. 154, Tallinn) at 18.00 on May 6th. 

Exhibition is open Mon-Fri 12-18 and Sat 12-16 until May 30th, 2026.

we attract
we sting
we soften
we wither
we swell
we stick
we simmer
we rot
we sparkle
we shed
we savor
we evaporate
we curl

Present exhibition-teaser brings together materials, collaborative experiments, and motifs from Maris Karjatse and Sarah Nõmm’s shared wet dream, in which someone pollinates, blooms, and becomes intoxicated by nectar.

The exposition serves as a small opening into a pink fever, where things do not remain in a unified form. The flyswatters caress and reprimand while weaving themselves into a carpet; the curtain becomes a flowing, safe shelter. The formless pink ribcage supports, squeezes and holds its breath.
The hosiery of visual decadence stretches longer than the substance allows; the image is decomposing along the final cut line of a dimming gaze, and as it falls into the abyss, material with the new agency emerges from the exploded fragments. 

The exhibition brings together objects and images shifting between the forms of a fetish object, a botanical specimen, and staged artifacts. Like a metamorphosing lover, throwing into the embrace of the beloved one, so that all surrounding matter and static identities explode and the boundaries between species blur, everything transforms its existing form, and molecular cross-pollination takes place.

Maris Karjatse is an artist and translator whose artistic practice primarily engages with photography and linguistic expression. Her work explores the philosophy of everyday objects, agency, corporeality, and processes of healing. Recently, Karjatse has turned toward analogue photographic techniques and plant philosophy, approaching the plant as a body. Karjatse has studied English philology, photography, and contemporary art.

Sarah Nõmm is an artist whose practice explores the body and its forceful, fragile, and tension-filled presence in space. Her works revolve around sculpture, installation, and material-based research, combining personal experiences and bodily themes through folklore, taboos, and rituals. Nõmm’s works are characterized by intimacy and the poetic unfolding of corporeality, where thresholds of pain and pleasure, softness and aggression, control and submission meet.

GD: Maria Izabella Lehtsaar

FB: FLORA EROTICA 
https://fb.me/e/1YTFA4mxSY

ARS
https://www.arsfactory.ee/post/ars-showroom-82-maris-karjatse-ja-sarah-n%C3%B5mm-flora-erotica

Exhibition opening 01.05 at 6:00 PM

Artists participating in the exhibition: Anna Ovtšinnikova, Elo Vahtrik, Fausta Noreikaite, Giulio Cusinato

Graphic design: Elo Vahtrik

Drawings: Giulio Cusinato

The exhibition explores the relationship between urban space and the individual, focusing on how environments are experienced, navigated, and internally recorded. The city is approached not as a fixed structure, but as something continuously shaped through perception, object, movement, memory, and different forms of inhabitation.

Framed as an open field of inquiry, the show invites reflection on co-existence within the limits of shared spaces of (be)longing. “Site” appears in fragments: streets, surfaces, transitions, overlooked details. “Self” emerges as observer, documentalist, and inhabitant, negotiating, questioning, and/or passing by these environments.

Extending from questions of home, spaces that function as shelters holding temporary bodies in relative safety, to public urban landscapes where that same body becomes increasingly exposed, this shift from interior to exterior reveals a tension between protection and visibility, and highlights the instability of boundaries between private and public space.

Situated within Uus Rada Gallery in Tallinn, a student-run space positioned slightly outside the main institutional circuits of the city, the exhibition also reflects on its own site of presentation. The gallery becomes part of the same spatial inquiry it hosts, where access, visibility, and movement are quietly negotiated. Rather than functioning as a neutral container, the exhibition space extends the conditions it examines, situating the works within a threshold between institution, everyday passage, and shared urban terrain.

The exhibition is open: 

01.05.2026-16.05.2026 
Fri-Sun 16:00-20:00; 
During the week, upon appointment

We thank the Department of Fine Arts for their support.

You are welcome to join “Gardenly Spots” at EKKM Garden on Saturday, 2nd of May from 11.00-17.00. 

I invite you to prolong the engagement with your clothing and textiles, walk and forage, share stories and food. During the event we will repair and regenerate worn out surfaces and support stains with bundle dye. No previous experience in mending or working with textiles is needed. Please bring your clothes that need care and something to share for lunch.

This is a third project of Marta Konovalov´s PhD research at Estonian Academy of Arts, titled Repair and Regenerative Textile Design – Nourishing Engagements and Supporting the Development of the Aesthetics of Affect.

Hoping to see you soon,

Marta

Please register here: https://forms.gle/RX8jyuGeYfBALQpD6

Working language: English and Estonian

information: marta.konovalov@artun.ee

Locations: EKA Gallery (Kotzebue 1) and the EKA Monumental Studio (Kotzebue 10)
28.04.–17.05.2026
Open Mon–Sat 2–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm (NB! Closed on May 1st!)

Fine Arts Assessment Marathon

The spring assessment marathon is here! For three weeks, visitors can once again visit the Assessment Marathon of the Faculty of Fine Arts and view the student projects finalized for the end of semester: almost every day, new artwork will be on display.

Visitors can see the final works of the students from the curricula of animation, photography, graphic design, installation and sculpture, contemporary art, painting and scenography.

A new exhibition is installed almost every evening of the marathon, and the previous evening’s display is replaced by a new one the following evening.

SCHEDULE

Tue, Apr 28. Drawing, Art BA II, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja (EKA Gallery)

Wed, Apr 29. Anatomical Drawing, Art BA I, supervisor Maiu Rõõmus (EKA Gallery)

Thu, Apr 30 – Sun, May 3. Photography, BA I, supervisor Tuukka Kaila (EKA Gallery)

Mon, May 4. Abstract Drawing, Art BA I and II, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja (EKA Gallery)

Tue, May 5. Studio Photography, Photography BA I, supervisor Madis Kurss (EKA Gallery)

Wed, May 6. Drawing, Art BA III, supervisor Britta Benno (EKA Gallery)

Thu, May 7 – Sun, May 10. Contemporary Art, MA I and II, supervisors: Merike Estna, Karel Koplimets, Camille Laurelli, Sten Saarits, Anna Skodenko, Kristi Kongi, Liina Siib, Viktor Gurov, Laura Põld, Tuukka Kaila, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo (EKA

Gallery and Kotzebue 10 Monumental Studio)

Mon, May 11. Graphic Art, BA I, supervisors Kadi Kurema, Charlotte Biszewski, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Mirjam Varik (EKA Gallery)

Tue, May 12. Painting, BA I, supervisors Kristi Kongi, Jaan Toomik, Eero Alev, Holger Loodus (EKA Gallery)

Wed, May 13. Graphic Art, BA II, supervisors Viktor Gurov, Eve Kask, Maria Erikson, Liina Siib (EKA Gallery)

Thu, May 14. Installation and Sculpture, BA I, supervisor Laura Põld (Kotzebue 10)

Fri, May 15. Animation, MA I, supervisors Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Bruno Quast (EKA Gallery)

Fri, May 15. Art Project, Scenography BA II, supervisor Liina Keevallik (Kotzebue 10)

Sat, May 16 – Sun, May 17. Drawing, Scenography BA II, Animation BA II, Photography BA I, supervisors Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Eleri Porrison, Mark Antonius Puhkan (EKA Gallery, the exhibition is also part of the programme of the festival Kalamaja Days).