Category: Graphic Art

“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

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).

EKA library, 6.03.–15.05.2026

Dear friend,

It has been a long time since we last heard from you. Last time we spoke, you were working on some prints in the graphic arts workshop with a roller in your hand and ink on your fingers. How is it going? We would love to see some trials or progress pictures. At the moment we are also in the process of doing some tests. I have added a sample in the envelope. Check it out and tell us what you think!

Let’s keep in touch.

The exhibition shows works from the EKA Print Exchange project initiated by the department of Graphic Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Printmaking students from different universities were invited to take part and submit an original print edition. Each print was shipped to Tallinn, sorted and sent back to participants, so everyone received a random selection of ten prints.

The vision of this project was to create new connections between printmaking departments and students through collaboration and sharing physical works. So, we wrote to our penpals and were curious what students of other universities were up to. Depictions of current ideas, projects or any experiments were warmly welcomed as a response.

Four universities participated in the exchange: Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA),
Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO), University of the West of England (UWE), The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław.

Exhibitions of the Print Exchange have taken place at the universities participating in the exchange, and the first presentation in Estonia took place in June-July 2025 at the TYPA Balcony Gallery in Tartu.

We would like to thank EKA graafika, TYPA, Anna Kodź, Aleksandra Janik and Angie Butler.

Organisers of the EKA Print Exchange: Alona Chuprina, Margarita Feofanova, Chantal Gerschuetz, Merit Himmelreich, Triin Mänd, Helena Pass, Marten Prei, Sandra Puusepp and our supervisor Charlotte Biszewski.

Exhibition design at the EKA library: Sandra Puusepp and Marten Prei. 

3rd-year Graphic Art students are showcasing the artists’ book as an independent medium of visual art and an original artwork. The authors draw from personal experiences and memories, exploring themes of physicality, history, and ethical boundaries:

• Aliisa Ahtiainen presents a grandfather’s life story in risography and a “breathing” book inspired by her grandmother’s experience in a tuberculosis sanatorium.
• Jacqueline-Desiree Rosenthal exhibits a piece made of tattooed pigskin rawhide, raising questions about morality and the parallels between animals and humans.
• Olga Dubrovskaja utilizes her background as an intensive care doctor to explore the experience of death through her own and her colleagues’ perspectives. In her second book titled “Delight”, she focuses on the moments of life.
• Adriana Jinmao Biosca Sánchez examines the volatility of memory through materiality and layers of printing.
• Robin August Vöörmann deals with gender identity, drawing parallels with changes in nature.

Supervisors: Eve Kask, Eve Kaaret (binding) and Viktor Gurov. 

Exhibition dates: 6.03.–15.05.2025

You are warmly invited to the opening of the exhibition Imprint of Vulnerability on Friday, 16 January at 6 pm at Tallinn City Gallery.
 
The joint exhibition by Mari Männa and Maria Erikson approaches material as an active participant. Fragility and delicacy operate here as working methods: form emerges through cracking, breaking, and acts of care. Drying, deformation, and the formation of imprints are not deviations or failures, but part of a process through which material remembers, transforms, and shapes its own rhythm. The exhibition is curated by Madli Ljutjuk.
 
“Imprint of Vulnerability approaches fertility beyond biological or gender-defined terms. Here, fertility is understood as an existential condition: the capacity to change, to be receptive, and to remain within uncertainty. The exhibition invites viewers to experience fragility and delicacy not as weakness, but as sources of vitality and renewal, fostering a sense of connection to a bodily, cyclical understanding of life,” explains curator Madli Ljutjuk.
Working together for the first time, the artists approach the same question from different angles. In Männa’s works, a logic of emergence unfolds: the world is born from disintegration and transitional states in which life has not yet settled into its final form. Erikson begins with the wound – the moment when a surface is opened and forced to remember. For both artists, form is not an end point but a temporary condition, something still in the process of becoming.
 
Through sculptural and printmaking processes, the exhibition reveals how form emerges where something is broken or unfinished. Cracking, drying, imprinting, and deformation do not signify rupture, but a generative dynamic. The exhibition speaks of two modes of becoming – emergence and the wound – as different manifestations of the same process.
 
The exhibition is set against a world in which fixed boundaries are dissolving. The human no longer stands at the centre, but exists as one participant among bodies and materials in an entangled network. In such a world, fertility becomes receptivity – the ability to remain open even when the outcome is uncertain. Imprint of Vulnerability invites us to slow down and notice how life emerges precisely through interruption.
 
The exhibition will remain open until 5 April 2026.

Tallinn Print Triennial’s youth exhibition “Print Muscle”
EKA Gallery 5.–27.07.2025
Open Tue–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm
Opening: Friday, July 4 at 6 pm
Curatorial tour: Thursday, July 10 at 6 pm (in Estonian)

NB! The exhibition can only be accessed through EKA Gallery’s Kotzebue Street door. On July 9 and 10, between 12 and 3.30 pm, there may be power outages due to the maintenance of electrical systems, which may interfere with experiencing the exhibition. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience!

“Print Muscle” is the 2025 youth exhibition of the Tallinn Print Triennial, highlighting the role of trace-based visual practices through the work of young artists.

The exhibition introduces viewers to “methods of leaving a trace” through works in which artists imprint their presence in the current moment through gestures borrowed from printmaking – though not necessarily confined to its traditional techniques. In an age where digital repetition has become commonplace, manual repetition still holds lasting significance. Whether the repetition functions according to object-based, bodily, ritualistic, or traditional principles, it often becomes a form of playing at being – a training of the print muscle.

While disciplinary boundaries in contemporary art have long since become arbitrary, print-based thinking often stands out through persistent, process-oriented engagement – ritualistic repetition, close observation, and the materialization of time. Through such practices, artists trace their daily rituals, reflect on autobiographical elements, or give tangible form to our time. Though printmaking techniques are sometimes considered delicate – perhaps even feminized – this exhibition emphasizes the physicality and force inherent in printmakers’ way of thinking. The exhibition brings together artists from Estonia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

An additional focus of the exhibition is the increasing popularity of artist books, zines, and self-publishing. While bookmaking has traditionally been part of both printmaking and graphic design curricula, recent years have seen a notable rise in its cultural and artistic relevance. To reflect this, we’ve invited Agnes Isabelle Veevo to curate a reading corner dedicated to artist books on the second floor of EKA Gallery. This curated space includes works by participating artists as well as other artists from fields like printmaking, graphic design, and beyond, offering visitors the opportunity to engage with these publications in a tactile and intended way, i.e. by physically holding and looking at them.

Curators: Anita Kodanik & Maria Izabella Lehtsaar
Participating artists: Mindaugas Aniūnas, Loora Kaubi, Elise Marie Olesk, Paul Rannik, Nils Joonatan Rammo, Gintaute Siniakovaitė, Aidas Stončius, Daria Titova
Book corner curator: Agnes Isabelle Veevo
Artists participating in the book corner: Rokas Bokus, Eline Cremers, Fatima-Ezzahra el Khammas, Laura Merendi, Helena Pass, Eleri Porroson, Julia Syrzistie, Ljubov Terukova, Laura Tursk, Mirjam Varik
Technical support: Erik Hõim
Graphic design: Daria Titova

Exhibition supported by: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, Sadolin Estonia and Tallinn City.
Thank you: Liis Aleksejeva, EKA graphic art department, EKKM, Johannes Luik
Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.

The exhibition Jääkolek consists of works by the second-year graphic art students at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The word jääkolek in Estonian refers to what is left behind. The exhibition looks at how memory settles into ordinary things: the spaces we move through, the tools we use, the images we make. These traces live not only in the work itself, but also in the studio we share; a space that holds the rhythms of our daily making, quiet moments, and collective conversations. Over time, it has become both a place of creation and reflection, marked by what has happened within its walls.

The works of Jääkolek explore a range of topics, from personal introspection and identity to tradition, collective memory, and the nature of artistic labour. Some pieces are shaped by family histories or past events, while others focus on internal experiences and questions of the self.

There is a shared interest in traces: the marks left by repeated gestures, the sounds that linger, the material presence of things. Together, these works form a collection of imprints, fragments of thoughts, feelings, and memory that refuse to disappear.

Participating artists:

Aliisa Ahtiainen, Alona Chuprina, Olga Dubrovskaja, Merit Himmelreich, Jacqueline-Desirée Rosenthal, Robin August Vöörmann

Thank you: Eve Kask and Viktor Gurov for supervising, EKA Graafika for support and Art Lovers of Estonia for sponsoring the opening eventJääkolek

Exhibition dates: 20.–30.05 2025

Opening: 19.05 2025 kell 17.00

Location: GÜ galerii, Pärnu mnt 154, Tallinn

Opening hours: E–R / Mon-Fri 12–18

Fine Arts Assessment Marathon 30.04.–20.05.2025

The spring assessment marathon is here! For three weeks, you can once again experience works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects are presented: every day there will be a fresh showcase of university students’ works on display.

Works in animation, contemporary art, installation and sculpture, painting, photography, graphic art and scenography curricula will be on display. On almost each evening of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the following evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

The assessments will take place in the main building of EKA (1st & 2nd floor general areas and EKA Gallery; Põhja pst 7, Tallinn) and ARS Project Space (Pärnu mnt 154, Tallinn).

On the assessment day, the exhibitions at EKA Gallery are open from 2 pm to 6 pm, on Sundays the exhibitions are open from 12 pm to 4 pm. NB! EKA Gallery is closed on May 1st.

SCHEDULE

Wed 30.04. Photography BA I, supervisor Madis Kurss (EKA Gallery)
Thu 02.05. – Sun 04.05. Drawing and anatomical drawing, Fine Arts BA I, supervisors Matti Pärk, Maiu Rõõmus (EKA Gallery)

Mon 05.05. Drawing, Fine Arts BA II, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja (EKA Gallery)
Mon 05.05. Anatomical drawing, Scenography and Animation BA II, supervisor Maiu Rõõmus (1st & 2nd floor general areas)
Mon 05.05. Drawing, Scenography BA II, supervisor Eero Alev (1st & 2nd floor general areas)
Tue 06.05. Drawing, Fine Arts BA III, supervisor Britta Benno (EKA Gallery)
Wed 07.05. Photography BA I, supervisor Marge Monko (EKA Gallery)
Thu 08.05. Scenography BA II, supervisor Liina Keevallik (EKA Gallery)
Fri 09.05. – Sat 10.05. Scenography BA I, supervisor Mark Raidpere (EKA Gallery)

Sun 11.05. – Mon 12.05. Contemporary Art MA I, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Viktor Gurov, Maris Karjatse, Camille Laurelli, Marge Monko, Laura Põld, David K. Ross, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Jaan Toomik, Anu Vahtra (EKA Gallery)
Tue 13.05. – Wed 14.05. Contemporary Art MA I, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Viktor Gurov, Maris Karjatse, Camille Laurelli, Marge Monko, Laura Põld, David K. Ross, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Jaan Toomik, Anu Vahtra (EKA Gallery)
Thu 15.05. Graphic Art BA I, supervisors Charlotte Biszewski, Caroline Pajusaar, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Mirjam Varik (EKA Gallery)
Fri 16.05. Graphic Art BA II, supervisors Viktor Gurov, Eve Kask (EKA Gallery)
Sat 17.05. – Sun 18.05. Animation BA and MA (EKA Gallery)

Mon 19.05. Painting BA I, supervisors Eero Alev, Anna Škodenko, Jaan Toomik (EKA Gallery)
Tue 20.05. Sculpture BA I, supervisor Anna Mari Liivrand (EKA Gallery)
Thu 22.05. – Sun 15.06. Painting BA II, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Alice Kask, Holger Loodus (ARS Project Space, open Wed–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm)

December brings an opportunity to experience, in an exhibition format, works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects: every day there will be a fresh crop of university students’ works on display in the gallery.

Works in animation, contemporary art, installation and sculpture, painting, photography, graphic art, scenography curricula will be on display. On each evening of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the following evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

The assessments will take place in the main building of EKA (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206, EKA Gallery; Kotzebue 1), in the new EKA building (Kotzebue 10) and at Uus Rada gallery (Raja 11A).

On the assessment day, the exhibitions at EKA gallery and the new EKA building (Kotzebue 10) are open from 3 pm to 6 pm, on Sundays the exhibitions are open from 12 pm to 6 pm.

SCHEDULE
Mon 2.12. Photography, supervisor Krista Mölder (EKA Gallery)
Mon 2.12. Drawing, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja (2nd & 3rd floor general areas)
Tue 3.12. Drawing, supervisor Eero Alev (EKA Gallery)
Wed 4.12. Drawing, supervisor Ulvi Haagensen (EKA Gallery)
Thu 5.12. Anatomical drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk (EKA Gallery)
Fri 6.12. Scenography, supervisor Ene-Liis Semper (EKA Gallery)
Sat 7.12. – Sun 8.12. Scenography, supervisor Mark Raidpere (EKA Gallery)

Mon 8.12. New Media, supervisor Sten Saarits (EKA Gallery)
Mon 8.12. Photography, supervisors Marge Monko, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo NB! Uus Rada Gallery, the exhibition will remain open until 15.12.
Tue 10.12. Studio photography, supervisor Tanja Muravskaja (EKA Gallery)
Tue 10.12. Drawing (animation and scenography), supervisor Britta Benno (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206)
Wed 11.12. Painting, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja, Mihkel Maripuu, Holger Loodus (EKA Gallery)
Thu 12.12. Animation, supervisors Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Ülo Pikkov, Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (EKA Gallery)
Thu 12.12. Anatomical drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206)
Fri 13.12. Painting, supervisors Karl-Kristjan Nagel, Tõnis Saadoja (EKA Gallery)
Sat 14.12. – Sun 15.12. Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Alice Kask, Mart Vainre (EKA Gallery)

Mon 16.12. Graphic Art, supervisors Liisi Grünberg, Viktor Gurov, Liina Siib, Britta Benno, Eve Kask, Eve Kaaret (EKA Gallery)
Mon 16.12. Photography, supervisors Triin Kerge, Annika Haas (Kotzebue 10)
Tue 17.12. Graphic Art, supervisors Lembe Ruben, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, Paul Rannik (EKA Gallery)
Wed 18.12. Sculpture, supervisors Taavi Talve, Laura Põld (EKA Gallery)
Wed 18.12. Contemporary Art, supervisors Marge Monko, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Anu Vahtra, Maris Karjatse, Laura Põld, Holger Loodus, Kristi Kongi, Sten Saarits, Camille Laurelli, Eve Kask (2nd & 3rd floor general areas of the main building of EKA and the new building, Kotzebue 10)
Thu 19.12. Contemporary Art, supervisors Maris Karjatse, Eve Kask, Kristi Kongi, Camille Laurelli, Holger Loodus, Marge Monko, Laura Põld, Sten Saarits, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Anu Vahtra, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo (EKA Gallery & Kotzebue 10)

Exhibition of small-edition books dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the EKA graphic art print studio. 

In 1924, a printing workshop  was opened at the Tallinn Industrial Art School, where Leopold Triumph took up his post as master. Two years earlier (1922), a printmaking department had been established, under the direction of Günther Reindorff until 1943.

For half a century, the face of Estonian book design was shaped by Paul Luhtein, who, after graduating from the Tallinn Industrial Art School in 1930, and after a few years of further training in Leipzig, took up teaching commercial graphics and book design in 1932, a post he held until 1982. Enno Ootsing was then head of the Department and the book studies, with breaks until 2005 (in the meantime, the Department was headed by Aarne Mesikäpp from 1983 to 1988 and Heinz Valk from 1988 to 1989). From 1938 to 1971, typography was taught by the legendary book historian and typographer Hans Treumann. From 2005 to 2023, Aarne Mesikäpp, who taught at the ERKI and the EAA for 55 years, was a master printer and typography lecturer. In the field of book illustration, Vive Tolli, who taught from 1982 to 2005, was a major influence. Urmas Viik, head of the department from 2005 to 2015, gave priority to book illustration.

During the Soviet period, students studied for six years, specializing in either book designer, book illustrator, commercial artist (tarbegraafika), poster designer or printmaker in the third year, with book designer and illustrator being particularly sought after (competitive) The department had its own printing house, but all copies were invoiced and passed through the Glavlit (Glavnaya literatura, in Russian more precisely Главное управление по охране государственного тайн в печати) or censorship. Every evening the master sealed the door of the printing house. 

The division into departments began to disappear in the department in the late 1980s. With today’s curriculum and volumes, the focus of the graphics department is on contemporary art and graphic techniques, but letterpress printing is still popular, and typography and the basics of graphic design are taught. Since 2006, an artists’ book course has been taught by Eve Kask. The binding was taught for many years by Lennart Mänd, from 2023 by Eve Kaaret. With few exceptions, the artist’s books will be produced in one-off editions and in author’s binding based on the idea of the whole. 

This selection of small-edition publications includes examples from the years 1946-2004. The books were produced in the department’s printing house, mostly as coursework or theses by students. There are also group works. There are some books designed by tutors (P. Luhtein, E. Okas, H. Treuman, A. Mesikäpp). Among the teaching works there are works by later prominent artists such as Anu Kalm, Silvi Liiva, Naima Neidre, Enno Ootsing, Urmas Ploomipuu, Andres Tali, Marje Üksine and others.

The book editions in the exhibition range from five to fifty (125 in one case and 300 in another, in most cases between 15 and 25). The student has chosen the literature work, made type-setting, designed and illustrated it himself. In most cases, the illustrations are also printed by the author. The printing techniques used for the illustrations include relief printing (linocut and woodcut), intaglio printing (ofort, aquatint) and lithography. Since the 1950s, the edition has been printed by Mihkel Enn, a master printer, and bound by Elsa Oolma, a typesetter (or a letterpress master), who also taught hand-lettering to students and helped prepare the type-setting for printing. 

The selection was made by Marju Vahter, Head Specialist of the Library, Karin Oolu, Head of the Library, and complemented by Professor Liina Siib, Head of the Graphic Arts Department, and Associate Professor Eve Kask. Exhibition graphics is done by Markus Laanisto.

Text by Eve Kask

Graduated from the Department of Graphic Arts by the degree of Book Design, ERKI, 1984. 

The last student of Paul Luhtein and the first student of Vive Tolli