Events

On Friday, 14 November at 5:00 p.m., Erika Pedak and Tambet Pedak will open their joint exhibition “A nurse is driving a fire engine…” in the monumental gallery of the Tartu Art House. “A nurse is driving a fire engine because someone has stolen something.” This is what a five-year-old child thought upon hearing a threatening siren. That was a long time ago. Since then, a lot of new emergency signals have been added. Are we capable of adequately sensing the nature of those sirens? Or are we under a spell, like those sailors in the ancient Greek myth, lured by the songs of the bird-women, the sirens?

On Friday, 14 November at 5:00 p.m., Eero Alev will open his solo exhibition “Longing” in the large gallery of the Tartu Art House. The exhibition is being curated by Aleksander Metsamärt. Longing doesn't differentiate between space and time. When it comes to longing, there are only distances, as well as those intricate items—the poses, expressions and details—that these distances separate from us. As longing moves within the soul, it opens up the doors to all sorts of beliefs: the past might not yet be past, the future may already be here, but at the core of longing only its inevitability holds true: the inevitability of never being able to bridge the distance which gave birth to longing in the first place. 

On Friday, 14 November at 5:00 p.m., Lilian Mosolainen will open her solo exhibition “Carne viva” in the small gallery of the Tartu Art House. The exhibition is motivated by existential thoughts about the living and the temporal, and the eternal and the timeless. The living and the temporal are also part of the organic system: everything that is alive turns to dust in order to be reborn.  “Carne viva” (in English: living flesh) is an intense and dramatic phrase that acknowledges the limitations of physical existence. The lack of control over the fate of one's own body can be frightening.

This Thursday, November 6, at 6:00 PM, at the Ars Art Factory (Studio 98), there will be a screening of Lesley Loksi Chan’s Lloyd Wong, Unfinished, along with a program of short films curated by the artist. Following the screening, there will be an artist talk with Lesley Loksi Chan, moderated by Taavi Talve. PROGRAMME: Screening I 18:00 CATALOGS WITHOUT ORDER (55 min)

Exhibition 04.11—14.11, 24/7 Opening 03.11.25 18:00  EKKM Vitriingalerii FB event This season, when the house is installing, EKKM vitrine is activated in the framework of ambiguity. Questioning a showcase as a space for clear-cut, well defined messages, this series of exhibitions host material from artists' studios that is in a state of doubt. It welcomes open-endedness, questioning, and hesitation as a crucial voice in public space. November sheds light on the practice of Raili Keiv, considering handheld tableware. 

On Thursday, November 6 at 6 pm, painters Brenda Purtsak and Marleen Suvi will open their duo exhibition “Shared” at ArtDepoo Gallery. The curator of the exhibition is Kaisa Maasik. ArtDepoo gallery will be the first to present the new large format paintings jointly created by Purtsak and Suvi. While choosing the reference materials for the paintings the artists noticed the recurring themes in photographs of different families: “We took the photo archives of all three of our families as a basis and focused primarily on figures. We quickly noticed how we all have photos of similar situations and although the characters are unique, the material repeats itself,” adds curator Kaisa Maasik.

Art in a Burning House: A Good Neighbour – A Found Treasure will take place 29–30 October 2025 at Cabaret Volta (Volta 7, Tallinn). This international exhibition brings together Estonian and Estonia-based artists in a collective reflection on creation amidst collapse — exploring what it means to be a good neighbour when the house is burning. The opening evening will be held on 29 October at 18:00, featuring performances by: • Manna — DJ set • EMBA — Vocal improvisation • Katrin Tani — Dance performance Participating artists: Anna-Liisa Sääsk, Auli Uiboupin, Azniv Tadevosyan, Caroliina Ladva, Delfi Oraakel, Ines-Issa Villido, Johanna Mudist, Kadri Joala, Kail Timusk, Katariin Mudist, Katariina Kesküla, Larisa Shalyapina, Maria Elise Remme, Mia Melanie Saar, Sille Riin Rand Presented by the Burning House Art Collective, the exhibition will be hosted at Cabaret Volta, Volta 7, Tallinn, from 29–30 October 2025.

ARS Project Space 24.10.–15.11.2025 Mon–Fri 12:00–18:00, Sat 12:00–16:00 Exhibition opening: Friday, 24 October at 18:00 Sten Saarits’ solo exhibition ‘Absentia’ presents a trilogy of video works: The Wait (2020), The Stream (2022), and The Browse (2023), all connected by a sense of tension. A person no longer recognizes their world – they observe it, not with the curiosity of the first inhabitant of a new planet, but as a shadow of former glory who has given up on existence. In Saarits’ works, we find ourselves in the spaces of contemporary life. The cold, alienating places where one can feel lonely even in the company of others. A fleeting friendly glance has been replaced by an awkward search of avoiding direct eye contact. Instead of a spontaneous and likely refreshing conversation, the hand instinctively reaches for the phone.

On Wednesday, 29th of October at 6 PM, artist Kristel Saan will walk visitors through her exhibition “Scent of Humans”. She will talk about the process of making the artworks, the materials and techniques she used, and will gladly answer the visitors' questions. The exhibition will remain open until 15th of November. The exhibition “Scent of Humans” speaks of how our nose is always the primary introducer to our feelings. It gives us the initial information about whether we stay or move on whether we like something or are we reluctant to it, and ultimately determines our memories.

You are invited to the opening of jeweelery exhibition “Radical Softness” on All Souls' Day 2 November at 12:00. The Estonian contemporary jewellery exhibition "Radical Softness" debuted in 2024 in Lisbon, at the greja da Madalena church. It now arrives at Niguliste Museum, as the first exhibition to be held on the highest floor of the tower. Sixteen jewellery artists contemplate being through material, inviting us to pause and seek answers-and the resilience to remain ourselves-from within rather than from the external world. “Radical Softness” is scheduled to run in parallel with the exhibition “The Dark Sky of Imagination: Jewellery Art of Kadri Mälk” at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, open from 7 November 2025 to 5 April 2026. All artists participating in "Radical Softness" have found their voice with the help of Professor Kadri Mälk (1958-2023), the long-time head of the jewellery and blacksmithing department at the Estonian Academy of Arts.