Group exhibition "A chair, a door, a rose, a spoon"

The group exhibition "A chair, a door, a rose, a spoon" curated by Kati Saarits and Hannah Segerkrantz will be on view from Tuesday, October 27 at EKA Gallery. 

Curatorial tours will take place on Friday, October 30 at 6.30 pm (in Estonian) and at 7.15 pm (in English). That evening, the exhibition will remain open until 10 pm part of the 112th anniversary celebrations of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The exhibition will remain open until November 22.

The group exhibition "A chair, a door, a rose, a spoon", curated by Kati Saarits and Hannah Segerkrantz, stems from their shared interest in practices that move between craft, applied arts and design. Gathering works from artists, designers and makers based in the Baltics and Finland, the exhibition places contemporary pieces in relationships with selected objects from local museum collections.

Functional objects tend to need bodies around them. A chair expects weight, a door ought to be opened, a rose longs for a vase, a spoon needs a hand. These things have been made to be used, looked at, lived with, inherited, displayed, collected, owned. Their functions accumulate and recede. And sometimes use remains only as a memory of use, or as a possibility.

Decorative objects have historically existed to attract, to impress, to seduce, be adorned, touched and possessed. Their beauty has never been supplementary to function, sometimes beauty was the function. Such objects were made by hands that also thought of them as pictures. Objects that served a purpose and, at the same time, refused to be reduced to it.

The exhibition "A chair, a door, a rose, a spoon" begins somewhere inside these distinctions focusing on applied arts, as if application were a compromise rather than a form of thought. These are not contradictions to be resolved, they are how the objects argue their existence. Rather than approaching craft through heritage or technique alone, this exhibition brings together designers, artists and makers whose works exist in the overlap of these practices, carrying both use-value and decorative autonomy, and asking to be read on both terms simultaneously.

A chair is hung on the peg rail, a door is opened, roses are brought inside, a spoon is placed on the table.

Participating artists and designers: Anna Larionova, Aleš Rezler, Brit Pavelson, Bruno Tomberg Studio, Carlo Raymann, Carmen Kremm, Claudia Lepik, Darja Popolitova, Garbage Kids, Hannah Segerkrantz, Helena Keskküla, Heli Juuti, Helle Gans, Hertta Kiiski & Janne Punkari, Jake Shepherd, Johanna Adojaan, Juss Heinsalu, Katahana, Kati Saarits, Katrin Kask, Kay Shek, Kirsikka Tuuli, Kärt Ojavee, Maarja Mäemets, Maile Grünberg, Mariam Mestvirishvili, Marite Kuus-Hill, Mona Sofia Tahk, Muusa Stuudio, Paul Flanders, Rait Lõhmus, Rita Vaali, Santeri Mortti, Tatu Laakso, Tea Tammelaan, Teresa RA, Veera Gontsugova, Viieline, Vilius Dringelis, Ville Aakula and Yrjö Kukkapuro (Artek 2nd Cycle)
Curators: Kati Saarits, Hannah Segerkrantz
Exhibition design: Kadri Villand
Technical support: Ats Kruusing, Asmus Soodla
Graphic design: Simon Janson
Exhibition team: Kaisa Maasik-Koplimets, Aleksander Metsamärt, Valve Saarma, Marily Simenson-Plasko, Andreas Vrettos, Hanna Õunapuu

The exhibition is supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Embassy of Finland, Tallinn City and Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from mirai™ and Põhjala Brewery.