“Towards Patterns of Making” Publication Launch

Towards Patterns of Making
Eik Hermann, Juss Heinsalu, Kärt Ojavee

The current publication introduces the key findings of the MUUSA: Synthesis and Modelling of Material Research project and situates them in a broader context. The opening text, an interview with anthropologist Tim Ingold, challenges prevailing ideas about the relationship between material practice and academic theory, while offering alternatives. This is followed by an introduction to the conceptware underlying the work and an overview of the project’s progression. This publication helps to better conceptualise different practices of making and research, and supports the teaching of new practitioners.

MUUSA brought together two artist-designers, Juss Heinsalu and Kärt Ojavee, philosopher Eik Hermann and several cross-disciplinary external experts. The project and its results were first shown as an exhibition (held in November 2024 at MUUSA Studio in Tallinn) and are now also presented as a publication.

Publishing of Towards Patterns of Making has been supported by the Estonian Academy of Arts, and the previous project was funded by the Estonian Ministry of Culture’s creative research grant. 

The launch will be held in English.

On 18 June at 6:30 PM, the contemporary artist Riina Varol will open her solo exhibition Overstream at the Draakon Gallery, dealing with the creative process as the formation of life.
The exhibition addresses questions of biological and non-biological self-realisation, comparing them with natural and creative processes.

The display stems from a nine-month-long pilgrimage; the space itself serving as an environment that activates perceptions, emotions and bodily experiences. The audience is presented with newly completed invisible images, small sculptures and spatial photo collages that, through their cavities and incisions, open reality as a layered experience. The exhibition space is designed as a playful and interactive sanctuary, accompanied by Helen Västrik’s atmospheric soundscape.

The rhythms of nature and creative practices that help to relate to uncertainty and existential questions play an important role in Varol’s work. In her practice, identity is seen as a fluctuating phenomenon that is formed through constant interaction with the surrounding environment. This idea is further enhanced by the materials and working methods used by the artist: plaster, layers, playing with stones, blind stamping and incision techniques.

According to Johan Huizinga, artworks belong to the sacred sphere, where play and holiness are united through rituals. In contemporary art, the esoteric dimension often reveals itself through symbols and attunement. The recurring toe motifs in Varol’s work symbolise grounding and gratitude for the Earth that carries and nourishes us. By placing them in nature and symbolically meaningful places, they might one day become archaeological finds, leading to personal mythologies. In the exhibition, the motif of the toe becomes the footprint of human experience: a sign of touch, presence and commitment.

RV: “For me, one of the main principles and qualities of creation is that I do my best to create environments which allow nature to allow ones nature to reveal in its entirety. Tactile work with materials is my way of awakening the body and the inner compass. That which seeks to eminate knows me better than i know them.”

Riina Varol is an artist and photographer based in Estonia. In her creative practice, she focuses on questions of sensorial perception and the functions of the subconscious, as well as animism and oriental philosophy. Varol’s body of work encompasses a variety of media, including site-specific multimedia installations, photography, graphics, ceramics, video, sound, tactility and smell. She studied photography at the Pallas University of Applied Sciences and the Naples Academy of Fine Arts. Varol is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association and the Tartu Artists’ Union. She has participated in exhibitions in Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Lithuania, Ukraine and Australia. Since 2017, Varol has been a guest lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts and, since 2022, also at the Pallas University of Applied Sciences.

Location: Draakon Gallery, Pikk Street 18, Tallinn
Open to visitors: 19.06.–19.07.2026, Wed, Fri–Sun 12:00–18:00, Thu 12:00–19:00

Curator: Liisi Kõuhkna
Graphic design: Helmi Arrak
Sound design: Helen Västrik
Exhibition installation: Hans-Otto Ojaste
Special thanks: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Artists’ Association, Draakon Gallery, Mari Volens, Gunnar Kalmet, Valerio Sarnataro, Helen Tago, Caroliine Pajusaar, Lauri Kilusk, Anne Eelmere, Jaan August Viirand, Hedvig and Ian, Hubert and Hilda, Christin Taul, mother, Craftrag, Punchclub, Nudist Drinks

On 18 June at 17:00, the exhibition “Tosin” opens on the ground floor of Draakon Gallery. The exhibition brings together a selection of master’s projects completed in the glass workshop of the Estonian Academy of Arts over the past twelve years. The exhibition is open from 18 June to 19 July.

The point of departure for the exhibition is the history of glass education in Estonia. The archive collection of the Tallinn School of Arts and Crafts holds a 1936 protocol of the school council, which refers to the establishment of the crystal and glass-cutting department by a decision of the Minister of Social Affairs. This may be understood as one of the first important milestones in Estonian glass education. “Tosin” looks back at this historical point of origin from a contemporary perspective, bringing together EKA master’s projects in which glass is the primary material.

The exhibition does not present a chronological overview. Instead, it focuses on a selection of master’s projects completed during the past twelve years and considers glass as a contemporary artistic medium moving between technical skill, spatial thinking, embodied experience and conceptual research.

“Tosin” brings together master’s projects whose physical realisation is connected to the technical possibilities and know-how of the EKA glass workshop. Glass connects the authors, workshop-based knowledge, historical continuity and personal creative processes.

At the centre of the exhibition is the question: what has glass enabled EKA master’s students to explore? The selected works use glass to open questions related to the body, memory, space, working process, industrial heritage, psychological self-reflection, digital identity, material agency, and the borderlands of art and design. In the exhibition, glass may appear as a technical challenge, an embodied partner, a reflective surface, a spatial installation, an image of a psychological state, a carrier of material memory, or a trigger for the creative process.

“Tosin” brings master’s projects that have since moved into artists’ studios or private collections back into public view, creating a new dialogue between them.

The participating artists are Iohan Figueroa, Andra Jõgis, Niina-Anneli Kaarnamo, Elle Lepik, Rait Lõhmus, Maris Maasikas-Korts, Alyona Movko-Mägi and Kristiina Oppi.

Acknowledgements: Estonian Glass Artists’ Union, Estonian Academy of Arts, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Draakon Gallery

Exhibition: Tosin  

Participating artists: Iohan Figueroa, Andra Jõgis, Niina-Anneli Kaarnamo, Elle Lepik, Rait Lõhmus, Maris Maasikas-Korts, Alyona Movko-Mägi, Kristiina Oppi  

Opening: 18 June at 17:00  

Exhibition dates: 18 June – 19 July  Venue: Draakon Gallery, ground floor

EKA students, staff, alumni and friends; join us for (re)building EKA aed behind K10 building under the oak tree. We will work to initiate the beginnings of a new garden site, this one-day event (with some additional preparation days if you feel like it!) will be a starting point, somewhere to lay down our roots, take up space within the institution’s expanding campus, and dream of ways the garden can unfold and grow. 

Throughout the day we’ll spend time building a garden; practically, poetically and politically.. 

Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Materials and plants will also be provided, but if there is anything specific that you want to plant we welcome you to bring seeds/plants. 

You are welcome to join whether you would like to be involved in the garden’s future, have been involved in its past, or if you just want to spend a mid-summers Sunday under the oak tree; the garden will be passed between hands year after year.

All welcome, no experience necessary. 

Please sign up for the garden day here: https://tally.so/r/PdrNYP

Day content:

• 10-10.30: Arriving, simple breakfast and introductions 
• 10.30-11.45: reading together (excerpts of texts that cover various garden-foundations: compost, seeds, the commons, poetics/politics of community gardens)
• 11.45-13.00: filling raised beds with compost, mulch
• 13:00-14.00: lunch
• 14:00-14:45: A notion to the future gardeners (yourselves or others) – manifesto, a list, a promise, an intention, a hope, 
• 14:45-15.15: planting plants/seeds
• 15:15-16:15: A holding space (rug decoration, from the previous activity)
• 16:15-1700: final reflections, tidying up, ending.

One-day workshop is led by Jake Shepherd and Yvette Bathgate and funded by Transform4Europe.

Opening on 8.06 at 2:00 PM, in Narva
Exhibition open 8.06 – 22.06.2026

“A Breath” is an exhibition created as a school project by students of the Contemporary Art and Curatorial Studies programme at the Estonian Academy of Arts. It invites visitors to slow down and notice what often remains hidden between everyday moments.

The exhibition explores quiet moments of breath that arise both in solitude and in the company of others. These small pauses, often delicate and easily overlooked, carry reflection, intimacy, and a sense of shared presence. The project invites viewers to momentarily forget the turbulence and uncertainty of daily life and instead contemplate states of being, moments of silence, and quiet observation. Through works in various media, the exhibition creates a space where visitors can slow down and experience these fleeting yet meaningful moments.

At 2:30 PM, visitors are invited to enjoy an edible artwork by Mia Maria Rohumaa and Maria Wrang-Rasmussen. As Virginia Woolf wrote, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

You can take the 9:55 AM train departing from Tallinn.

Artists: Daria Morozova, Maria Wrang-Rasmussen, Mia Maria Rohumaa, Lotta Karoliina Räsänen, Kertu-Liisa Sarap
Curator: Karen Aasa

Opening on 8.06 at 2:00 PM, in Narva, Green Gallery 

Opening of the exhibition “I hate violence and I see it everywhere” at 18:00 at OKAPI Gallery in Tallinn

Yeva Sihachova

Curator: Ilja Jakovlev
Graphic design: Ksenia Kvitko

I hate violence and I see it everywhere.
Not only in war or catastrophe, but in the ordinary choreography of living alongside others.
I see how it impales the body, leaving no space for resistance.
I see how, through force, it restructures culture, embedding itself across generations as trauma.
I see it in the attempt to make everything defined – what does not fit is forced to take form, yet even when fixed, it remains out of place.
I see how it alters the body until adaptation turns pain into routine.
I see how it quietly inhabits the spaces between people.

The exhibition explores the ontology of violence: where it lives, how it manifests itself, what language it speaks, where it is born, and what it eventually transforms into.

The works focus on moments in which violence has not yet become fully visible or fully named – on the normalization of discomfort, on adaptation as a survival mechanism, on repetition, pressure, fixation, and the unstable distance between bodies.

Again and again, the exhibition returns to the question of connection.
Perhaps violence begins much earlier – in the attempt to fix, define, or fully overcome distance.

Fear becomes one of the central mechanisms within the exhibition. The attempt to understand violence can become an attempt to rationalize it, to make it predictable, and therefore less threatening. As if analysis could create a certain form of control over what is feared. But the need for control itself easily begins to reproduce the logic of violence.

The works do not offer a stable definition of violence. Instead, they trace the moments in which it quietly enters everyday life – reorganizing proximity, settling into ordinary forms of coexistence, and changing the ways bodies learn to exist alongside one another.

Drinks at the opening are provided by PÕHJALA!

Exhibition dates:
11.06–19.07.2026
Wed–Fri 12:00–18:00
Sat 12:00–16:00

OKAPI gallery
Niguliste tn 2, 10146, Tallinn

We thank the exhibition supporters:
EKA Student Council, OKAPI Gallery, PÕHJALA

EKA Arh Conference 2026 is titled To Be Continued….From Scattered Facts to Shared Concerns, and takes place as Day 1 of the two-day Tallinn Architecture Biennial TAB Symposium.

Tickets for the EKA Architecture Conference and the entire TAB Symposium can be purchased on Fienta.

The 2026 EKA Arh Conference focuses on one of the central questions facing architecture and urban development today: how do we move forward when starting from scratch is no longer a viable option? While knowledge about climate transition, resource limits, and the built environment is abundant, translating that knowledge into collective action remains a challenge. Rather than asking only what comes next, the conference asks what can and should continue.

Across urban, building, and material scales, international speakers and researchers explore adaptation, reuse, and transformation in the built environment. The programme brings together perspectives from architecture, planning, construction, and research to discuss how existing places, buildings, and resources can support meaningful change, and how scattered knowledge can become shared concerns capable of shaping long-term action.

Programme

09:30–09:45
Opening Words

09:45–10:30
Transformation Keynote
Aleksi Neuvonen (Demos Helsinki, Finland)
Finnish futures thinker and co-founder of Demos Helsinki, whose work explores societal transformation, post-growth futures, and new models of collective action.

10:30–10:45
Coffee Break

10:45–12:15 | Parallel Sessions

Main Hall – Session I: Spatial and Architectural Transformation

This session explores processes of spatial transformation across urban and architectural scales, examining how cities, landscapes, and built environments adapt to changing social, ecological, and cultural conditions. Contributions address themes such as urban restructuring, adaptive reuse, spatial continuity, and the relationship between territorial systems, public space, and architectural intervention.

Monumental studio – Session I: Prefabrication, Retrofit, and Adaptive Reuse

This session examines prefabricated and industrialized approaches to the transformation of existing buildings and urban fabric. Contributions explore themes such as adaptive reuse, modular retrofit systems, circular renovation strategies, and the extension of building lifecycles, addressing how contemporary construction methods can support more sustainable and resource-conscious forms of spatial transformation.

12:15–13:15
Lunch

13:15–14:00
Adaptation Keynote
Hiroto Kobayashi (Keio University, Tokyo, Japan)

Japanese architect, professor at Keio University, and founder of Kobayashi Maki Design Workshop, known for his work on adaptive reuse, post-disaster reconstruction, and resource-conscious architecture.

14:00–14:15
Coffee Break

14:15–15:45 | Parallel Sessions

Main Hall – Session II: Material Systems and Circular Construction

This session focuses on material systems, construction processes, and circular approaches to the built environment. Contributions examine themes such as material reuse, prefabrication, tectonics, fabrication methods, and resource-aware design strategies, addressing how construction systems can support more adaptive and sustainable spatial practices.

Monumental studio – Parallel Session II: Participatory Planning and Urban Transformation

This session explores participatory approaches to urban transformation through digital mapping, GIS-based spatial analysis, and collaborative planning tools. Contributions address themes such as tactical urban interventions, community engagement, and urban greening strategies, examining how localized actions and participatory processes can inform broader spatial and policy frameworks and vice versa.

15:45–16:00
Coffee Break

16:00–16:45
Panel Discussion

16:45–17:00
Closing Words

At the seminar, we will introduce Met(s)aRING, a joint research and development project by EKA PAKK (Estonian Academy of Arts) and RMK (State Forest Management Centre), which aims to develop a circular and modular construction system for RMK’s visitor infrastructure, including small-scale structures and cabins.

The project explores how infrastructure can be designed to be adaptable, upgradable, and reusable over time. The focus is on recurring standardized timber components, the use of production residues, and solutions that reduce material consumption, simplify maintenance, and extend the lifespan of structures.

The aim of the seminar is to gather practical feedback from builders and manufacturers on the applicability of the system currently under development. We will discuss how standardized or flexible a construction system should be, the opportunities for using reclaimed or lower-grade timber, and how procurement models and collaboration frameworks influence the implementation of sustainable solutions.

You can register for the event HERE!

PROGRAMME

27 August 2026, 9:30–12:30
EKA White Building (Kotzebue 10, Tallinn)

9:30 Introduction to the ongoing research project, RMK’s long-term goals and ambitions (RMK)

9:45 Eight Design Principles for Visitor Infrastructure Design (EKA)

10:00 Introduction to the Construction System (EKA)

10:15 The Use of Underutilized and Lower-Value Timber in Construction (TalTech)

10:30 Coffee Break and Introduction to the Construction System Prototype

11:00–12:30 Workshop

Research at EKA PAKK is co-funded by the European Union and the Estonian Research Council through the project “PUUSTER: Development of Methods for Valorising Underutilized Timber and Wood Materials in Construction” (TEM-TA80).

This event is part of the Adapter Network Collaboration Club Series, a platform where researchers, companies, and representatives of the public and private sectors come together to engage in meaningful discussions and explore opportunities for collaboration. You can find all Adapter Collaboration Clubs here.

Tammsaare park
6 June 11:30

As part of this year’s Baltic Pride programme, we invite everyone to join us for a simple shared moment in public space.

While the fabric is held open, the choirs Vikerlased (Estonia) and Riga Queer Choir (Latvia) will perform, creating a short shared moment of togetherness in public space before the fabric is folded together again.

The fabric was originally created in 2022 by artists Karl Joonas Alamaa and Lisette Sivard for an exhibition addressing school bullying. Sewn together from many different leftover fabric pieces, the work symbolises a society where nobody is left aside – where differences can exist together, support one another, and form something whole.

This year’s Baltic Pride theme, “Vaikides vaenu vastu ei saa” (“Silence will not stop hate”), reminds us that visibility, presence, and standing together matter. Sometimes even a simple shared gesture in public space can carry meaning.

The gathering is peaceful, short, and open to everyone.

Come take part, or simply be there with us.

Sõprus cinema 06.06. at 5–7 pm

Free entry

Join us at the screening of bachelor’s and master’s theses in animation of the Estonian Academy of Arts, which will take place on June 6 at 5 pm at the Sõprus cinema. The screening is free of charge.

Afterwards there will be a Q&A with the authors at EKA campus, Põhja pst 7.
The screening will take place within the framework of the EKA thesis festival TASE ’26. TASE is the Estonian Academy of Arts’ annual graduation theses festival, where the faculties of architecture, design, art culture and liberal arts present this year’s graduation theses at both bachelor’s and master’s levels. The TASE festival is growing every year, and this year we will present nearly 280 works to visitors.

Check out the TASE ’26 program and list of graduates on the website tase.artun.ee. The written parts of the graduation theses can be viewed in the EKA Digital Archive at eka.access.preservica.com.

Participants: Christopher Galinos, Karmen Müürsoo
Kadi Rebane, Viktoria Shmidt, Chia-Hui Lei, Vilmos Péter, Valerie Sarle, Fernanda Resende
TASE Anima organisers: Lyza Karoly Jarvis, Lilli-Krõõt Repnau
Graphic design: Grittel Kastan, Martin Kislõi, Richard Vainola
Visuals: Christopher Galinos

Welcoming drinks from Punch Club.

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