Exhibitions

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

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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.

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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

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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).

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Scenography student Ksenia Verbeštšuk’s solo exhibition at the Roosikrantsi 8b gallery.

Ksenia Verbeštšuk’s exhibition “Keep Me Warm” offers a young artist’s reflection on humanity in the context of today’s anxious and crisis-ridden world. Using a thermal camera as her primary tool, the artist observes how body heat is reflected in space and how it is retained on surrounding surfaces.

What may initially appear to be a technical device reveals itself, through prolonged artistic practice, as unexpectedly poetic—pointing to the fragility of the human body, its sensitivity to the environment, and the need for closeness.

Curator: Ene-Liis Semper
Graphic design: Jan-Markus Maasepp

The exhibition is supported by the Faculty of Fine Arts.

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April 24 – August 15, 2026
Opening April 23 at 6pm

Announcing the opening of ‘Ersatz Strata’, a joint exhibition by Zody Burke (Tallinn, NYC, EKA MACA) and Klara Zetterholm (Stockholm) at Temnikova & Kasela gallery. 

The work is an exploration of a recently discovered imagined anthropological site of questionable provenance. Through reliefs, sculptures, printed work, kinetic elements, and industrial residue, the artists present an unreliable aesthetic archaeology in the language of natural history museums.

The exhibition includes a short story written by Jaakko Pallasvuo (a.k.a. Avocado Ibuprofen) with design by Taylor Tex Tehan (EKA GDMA).

The opening will include a live performance by musician and digital-age cosmogonist 011668 (Los Angeles), whose interdisciplinary work blends spirituality, consumption, and fossil fuel mythologies. The performance will occur just before twilight.

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

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Maria Izabella Lehtsaar’s solo exhibition In Loving Hands opens on 25 April at 13:00. Drinks for the opening will be provided by Tuletorn Brewery, and the exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

The exhibition is open 26 April – 25 May
Keskpuur Gallery at Central Market, Keldrimäe 9 (2nd floor)

Keskpuur is pleased to present In Loving Hands, a solo exhibition by Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, bringing together experiments with media, commodity fetishism, and tattooing within the nostalgic atmosphere of the 1990s Keskturg.

With In Loving Hands, Keskpuur becomes a display window. Through the bars of the cage, three photographs hang against the backdrop of a lush pink curtain. The faded glory of Keskturg and the scent of meat create a contrasting environment for the display of something purely aesthetic.

Lehtsaar has long been drawn to photography, though it has mostly remained a flirtation. When photographs have appeared in their work, they have typically been transformed – into silkscreen or acetone prints.

With this project, the artist continues a personal exploration of commodity fetishism, which began during their master’s studies while engaging deeply with the work of Marcel Duchamp. The concept of commodity fetishism opens up a broader reflection on the commercial status of artworks and the notion of value and prosperity.

…

Maria Izabella Lehtsaar (b. 1998) is a Tallinn-based artist working primarily with underrepresented queer experiences and narratives, often playing with the boundaries between reality and fantasy. Their work combines pop-cultural aesthetics with sensitive monochrome graphics, alongside textiles, drawing, and poetry. Through the use of diverse media, familiar imagery is bent into layered meanings.

Lehtsaar holds a BA in Graphic Art (2020) and an MA in Contemporary Art (2024) from the Estonian Academy of Arts. In 2023, they were awarded the Eduard Wiiralt Scholarship. Their work has been exhibited in several duo and group exhibitions; most recently, their solo exhibition Hares Caress Your Hair was presented at Hobusepea Gallery in early 2026.

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April 22 – May 23, 2026  

Gallery Pallas

On Wednesday, April 22 at 5:00 PM, Gallery Pallas will host the opening of the joint exhibition “I am Tartu and You are Tallinn,” featuring works by third-year painting students from Pallas University of Applied Sciences (Pallas UAS) and second-year painting students from the Estonian Academy of Arts (EAA). 

Tartu and Tallinn have historically been seen as rivals: Tartu as calm, bohemian, and poetic; Tallinn as the capital – fast-paced, sharp, and trendy. An invisible tension and a quiet struggle are often sensed between the two. This exhibition brings together two schools from these two cities. There was no pre-determined theme, no strict roles, and no binding agenda. Students from EAA and Pallas UAS came together out of a shared interest to see what happens at the intersection of subconscious themes, time-specific emotions, and recurring symbols. 

“I am Tartu and You are Tallinn” is not about opposition, but about overlap. It uses the language of art to show that differences do not disappear; instead, they complement each other. At the same time, it is an invitation to mix identities, allowing one city to dissolve into the other. Once the paint finally reaches the canvas, it no longer matters where you come from. All that remains significant is what is left: the thought, the feeling, the essence, and who you truly are without filters and expectations. 

Exhibition participants from Estonian Academy of Arts: Elise Muchowski, Annette Kits, Anu Jakobson, Karoline Ruusmaa, Kirke Kirt, Esther Borrett, Iris Helme, Madliin Küla, Mia Bianca Kiigemägi. 

From Pallas University of Applied Sciences: Adele Maria Arengu, Elisabet Vasur, Gerli Tafenau, Gerly Piho, Ingrid Janter, Karolin Konrad, Liisa Soolepp, Maria-Netti Purga, ÖÖ.Liibek, Nele Must, Stella Loki Leius, Hedi Kuhi, Helen Lang, Nele Luik, Delfi Oraakel, Luca Fazekas. 

Supervising tutors: Anna Škodenko, Jaan Toomik, Mart Vainre (EAA), Veiko Klemmer, Pille Johanson (Pallas UAS). 

Exhibition team: Eero Alev, Mihkel Ilus, Holger Loodus (EAA), Indrek Aavik (Pallas UAS)

Poster design: ÖÖ.Liibek. 

Press photo: Adele Maria Arengu. Sense of reality. 2026. Oil on canvas. Fragment. Photos by Maria-Netti Purga. 

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Opening of the exhibition “Reality of Dreams” at 18:00 at OKAPI Gallery in Tallinn

Participating artists: Ksenia Verbeštšuk, Nina Maria Allmoslechner

Curator: Ilja Jakovlev

Graphic design: Ksenia Kvitko

In the Victorian era, amateur photography became one of the hobbies of the “new and progressive” age that was socially acceptable for women. Initially, men believed that, much like drawing or embroidery, photography would serve as a pastime through which women could distract themselves from daily duties and engage in it playfully. However, quite quickly, women moved from depicting flowers, domestic animals, and garden views to more serious statements and visual experimentation. This has come down to us today through the work of outstanding Victorian women photographers such as Anna Atkins and Julia Margaret Cameron.

Somewhat later, women began to use photography for even bolder forms of expression, often in subtle and veiled ways, almost creating their own dreamlike worlds, sharply social self-portraits, or revealing the “double bottom” of existing reality, as seen in the works of Francesca Woodman and Diane Arbus.

Since its inception, analogue photography has undergone several periods of technological modification, and at a certain point it became an “alternative” way of capturing reality (or its altered states) against the backdrop of the growing popularity of digital photography. In the 21st century, film photography experienced a new rise, becoming extremely popular among followers of countercultural movements. Nevertheless, throughout all these periods, analogue photography has retained its power to enchant. It is practiced, studied, pursued professionally, and chosen as the primary medium in artistic work. The essence of analogue photography lies in its depth, the uniqueness of each frame, and the complex relationships between the environment, the author, and the final work.

Nina Maria Allmoslechner and Ksenia Verbeštšuk work with analogue photography, using it as a way of archiving different, sometimes liminal states of reality. For them, this manual photography is a process of creating a personal album of memory, within which their own dreamlands unfold.

Both artists, exhibiting together for the first time, enter into a dialogue about the interpretation of perceiving and understanding reality through the act of analogue photography—not so much from an aesthetic perspective as through the prism of mental states and emotions.

Nina Maria presents a series of tomograms of her brain alongside photographs of nature and self-portraits in the forest. She is interested in the relationship between human nature and the surrounding environment through the form of the brain, both visually and conceptually. Here, the brain is an ambivalent form: on the one hand an organ, on the other a portal between the “self” and the “surrounding.” The question is how one transforms into the other, where the boundary between these worlds lies, and whether it exists at all. After all, it is the brain that ultimately creates our personal reality, which is then recorded again on film. Nina Maria also reflects on the experience of derealization, raising the question of how a person perceives their place in “reality” and what happens when this perception is disrupted.

Ksenia interprets the creation of her reality through the very act of photography. The choice of composition, framing, subject matter, and the attempt to convey the play of light and shadow does not emerge from nowhere—it is a complex process that also takes place in our minds. By photographing people, animals, and landscapes, she archives her memory, creating a kind of album of places and events. In a sense, their analogue photographs are themselves tomographic self-portraits that exist inseparably from the surrounding environment they construct—sometimes almost surreal in nature.

An important theme for both artists is also their work with text. Ksenia keeps a personal diary and often accompanies her works with excerpts from it. This year, Nina Maria published the book When White Blankets. In the exhibition, they “meet” not only through photographs but also through text—large handwritten sentences on the wall.

Drinks at the opening are provided by PÕHJALA!

Exhibition dates:

30.04–06.06.2026

Wed–Fri 12:00–18:00

Sat 12:00–16:00

OKAPI Gallery

Niguliste tn 2, 10146, Tallinn

We thank the exhibition supporters:

OKAPI Gallery, PÕHJALA

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We are excited to invite you to our performance “∞Eight∞”.

The performance is created by Chia-Ling from EKA MA Animation, Mayu from Accademia Dimitri in Switzerland and Rikuo based in Berlin. We met in Prague last year and developed this piece together. Now we are very happy to share with you our performance on 09.04 in EKA!

This performance brings together a dancer, Mayu Shirai (Japan), a live painter, Chia-ling (Taiwan), and a musician, Rikuo Toyono (Japan).

Each collaborator explores IKIIKI—a Japanese term meaning a state of being fully alive in the present—through their own medium by only using a simple, universally accessible motif of the figure-8, seeking a balance between autonomy and coexistence. 

Their collaboration is rooted in improvisation and relational exchange, where each practice continuously influences the others. Beyond technical skill, the performers are chosen for their character, humor, and sensitivity to shared space.

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Performance will be on:
09.04 Thursday 
at 4p.m. 
A-100.1 (Trepid, Stairs next to Café) in EKA

Duration:
60mins+ 20mins talk!

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It’s free of charge and family child friendly!
Welcome to join with your friends, families and share your feelings with us!

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