And beauty is born. In the midst of brown mud, slush and mire: a hum, a tremor, germination, multiplication, flourishing. This is the force of nature, lower than the grass, taking root in dark depths, reaching toward the tender warmth of light to bloom. And it cannot be held back, and spring awakens, and summer bends in abundance… once, and always, and forever.
The NATURE’S UPRISING exhibition can be visited from March 20 in the A-Gallery showroom and will remain open until June 30, 2026.
Participating artists:
Anneli Tammik, Ene Valter, Erle Nemvalts, Ester Faiman, Guntis Lauders, Harry Tensing, Henry Mardisalu, Hyrv, Katrin Kosenkranius, Keesi Kapsta, Keiu Koppel, Kertu Tuberg, Krista Laos, Krista Lehari, Liisbeth Kirss, Lisa Kröber, Margit Paulin, Mari Pärtelpoeg, Merike Balod, Michael Schoorl, Robert Idvani, Riin Somelar, Tanel Veenre, Urve Küttner, Viktorija Lillemets, Ülle Voosalu
Chomp-chomp, crk and BOOP! Well what do we have here? A SURPRISE!
As a continuation of last year’s “Surprise Egg Exhibition”, A-Gallery is once again hosting an Easter-themed pop-up exhibition: BUNNIES, EGGS, AND OTHER CUTIES. For this occasion, we invite you to wake up from winter’s slumber – it’s time to rise and hop on over to us! At the exhibition, you can acquire your very own “MARCH HARE”, “EASTER BUNNY,” or “BRAVE RABBIT.” Each cutie that finds a new owner will help bring spring faster!
Participating artists: Anne Reinberg, Caius Kull, Edgar Volkov, Ene Valter, Erle Nemvalts, Henry Mardisalu, Kadi Kübarsepp, Katariina Kriipsalu, Katrin Kosenkranius, Keesi Kapsta, Kertu Vellerind, Krista Lehari, Liina Lelov, Liisu Saar, Mari Pärtelpoeg, Merike Balod, Viktorija Lillemets, Ülle Mesikäpp, Pilvi Tammoja, Ülle Voosalu
Poster design by Rasmus Lukas Curated by Sille Luiga
The bunny exhibition can be visited from March 17th in the A-Galerii showroom and will remain open until April 30th, 2025. We are grateful for your help in spreading the word!
The bunnies and other new jewellery are easiest to find in our e-shop under the NEW JEWELLERY category.
This year, the largest annual group exhibition of Estonian jewellery art turns its focus to values. At a time when value is so often reduced to numbers, the artists highlight other forms of worth – those shaped by collaboration, community, and the relationships that emerge in shared space. The exhibition brings together works by A-Galerii’s community alongside artists who have recently engaged with jewellery from new angles, creating a meeting point across generations and backgrounds.
The exhibition design by artist Karl Joonas Alamaa features soft figurative objects made from leftover garment textiles, combined with organic wooden and metal structures. It intertwines jewellery with sculptural forms and invites reflection on the role of jewellery amid the complexities of being human and living through sharply contrasting crises.
The title “One to Many” points to the tension between valuing uniqueness and universality, carrying an ironic undertone: whatever, just one among many. Each artwork becomes a small world of its own, a question and a possible answer. In a large group exhibition, seemingly similar parts multiply and individuality may blur, yet something distinctly original still emerges, offering new perspectives and unexpected shifts.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Curator: Sille Luiga
Exhibition design: Karl Joonas Alamaa
Graphic design: Villem Sarapuu
64 artists: Mirjam Aun, Andrei Balašov, Merike Balod, Jens Andreas Clausen, Margus Elizarov, Rita-Livia Erikson, Kati Erme, Elize Hiiop, Tatiana Iakovleva, Hedi Jaansoo, Ivar Kaasik, Keesi Kapsta, Mari Käbin, Liisi Kõuhkna, Keiu Koppel, Ülle Kõuts, Kalle Kotselainen, Olga Tea Krek, Kadi Kübarsepp, Triin Kukk, Valdek Laur, Kristiina Laurits, Krista Lehari, Claudia Lepik, Viktorija Lillemets, Elis Liivo, Urmas Lüüs, Keiu Maasik, Tõnis Malkov, Henry Mardisalu, Ülle Mesikäpp, Juulia Aleksandra Mikson, Paul Aadam Mikson, Maarja Niinemägi, Erle Nemvalts, Ulrika Paemurru, Õnne Paulus, Margit Paulin, Mari Pärtelpoeg, Darja Popolitova, Ane Raunam, Anne Reinberg, Mari Relo-Šaulys, Liisa-Chrislin Saleh, Tamara Sergijenko, Kairi Sirendi, Birgit Skolimowski, Riin Somelar, Kärt Summatavet, Hansel Tai, Sven Tali, Harry Tensing, Margus Tänav, Bianca Triinu Toots, Kertu Tuberg, Maria Valdma-Härm, Ene Valter, Katrin Veegen, Kadi Veesaar, Kertu Vellerind, Tea Vellerind, Raili Vinn, Ülle Voosalu
A flash SURPRISE EGG EXHIBITION is taking place at A-Galerii. We kindly ask you not to lay around at home but to come immediately here to see the spherical creations of our artists. From the exhibition, you can purchase both an IRON EGG, a SILVER EGG, and a GOLDEN EGG. Some of the artworks guarantee a first-place finish in an home egg-knocking competition, while others serve as talismans, bestowing the tranquility of inner peace upon life.
Participating artists:
Adolfas Šaulys, Ane Raunam, Caius Kull, Edgar Volkov, Ene Valter, Henry Mardisalu, Ivar Kaasik, Ive Maria Köögard, Kadi Kübarsepp, Kalle Kotselainen, Katrin Kosenkranius, Katrin Veegen, Keesi Kapsta, Krista Laos, Liina Lelov, Mari Pärtelpoeg, Merike Balod, Raili Vinn, Sille Luiga, Sven Tali, Ülle Mesikäpp, Ülle Voosalu, Vello Lillemets ja Viktorija Lillemets.
Curated by Sille Luiga
The SURPRISE EGG EXHIBITION can be visited from March 11 in the showroom of A-Galerii and the exhibition will remain open until April 30, 2024. We are grateful for spreading the word!
Eggs can also be found in our e-shop under the EGG category.
Ene Valter graduated from the Estonian State Art College in 1977 with a degree in metal art and jewellery design. She was one of the founders and for a period Manager of A-Galerii. Presently she is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of the company Ars Vasetööd. The artist is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Union. She has had personal exhibitions in Estonia, Hungary, Finland, and Germany as well as participated in group exhibitions in Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Sweden, and Great Britain. An important work for the artist was the metal coin issued on occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Bank of Estonia. From the end of 1980’s she and her company have made several collars and brooches for rectors and honorary doctors of universities in Estonia and Finland, and mayors of Estonian towns.
In works of this exhibition the artist is using familiar for her techniques of enamel and embossing, and silver as the material. At the same time the name of the exhibition refers to the somewhat new, maybe even romantic approach – an attempt to find a balance between the more hidden side of one’s soul and being in the “here and now”. Ene has said that we are all looking for “our own beach” in life and the desire to find it grows with years. This beach would let us enjoy silence, find peace and freedom to be alone with ourselves, and forget duties and worries. The artist has found her beach in the sense of a physical place but perhaps the arrival at the soul’s “blue and calm” beach is still ahead for her.
Ene Valter’s jewellery is inspired by pared-down ideal forms of nature. Iridescent stones at the beach, as though worked on by a human hand, seem to be meeting the artist’s silver brooches in the tranquil seawater and for a moment the two beaches become one …
The exhibition is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
On Friday, 6th of May Ene Valter’s jubilee exhibition IN THE WIND OF WHAT’S BEEN DONE will be opened in the VAULT of A-Gallery. This exhibition marks the artist’s fourth solo show at A-Gallery. It’s become a tradition that Ene Valter’s exhibitions take place every five years, thus providing the artist with a great opportunity to celebrate her notable birthdays more festively.
In recent years, Valter has been working with high-temperature enamel, which is also predominant in the jewellery of this exhibition. The nature of this rather capricious and technologically demanding technique makes it possible to quench the “hunger for color” that often prevails in the field of jewellery. Shades of blue, which the artist juxtaposes with turquoise, green chrysoprase and jade, have become especially characteristic in Ene Valter’s enamel creations. Valter is also fond of nacre also known as mother of pearl – its shade of calm white glow together with enameled silver forms a charming combination. In her earlier work, Valter has mostly cultivated a stricter and more geometric form, however, in the works of this exhibition the artist has taken a more romantic and soft approach. The shapes have become more free and fluid.
In creating her pieces, Ene Valter has always focused on timelessness – her jewellery is wearable over time meant to be passed down from generation to generation.
Ene Valter is an Estonian jewellery artist whose everyday work at the Ars Vasetööd company is mostly dedicated to the design and production of medals, orders and honorary decorations. She has designed and prepared these notable pieces for university rectors and mayors. Ene Valter graduated from the Estonian National Institute of Art in 1977 and she has been a member of the Estonian Artists’ Union since 1986.
SOMABirgit SkolimowskiBirgit SkolimowskiHarry TensingEne Valter
NEW WORLD Sofia Hallik / SOMA Jewellery
Estonian jewellery brand SOMA presents a new collection New World. The concept is based on a utopia about a symbiosis of Man and the Planet without the threat of environmental and man-made disasters. In the course of self-improvement cycles, each new generation of artificial intelligence emerged faster and faster, generating a kind of “intellectual explosion”. Ultimately, a planet endowed with super-intelligence, superior to that of all mankind, appeared.
The amorphous form of the New World, flowing from one to another shape, is reflected in the jewellery from the new collection. The author allows the software to determine the shape of the jewellery by setting certain parameters in the software. The process of creating goes on in a new way, where the machine takes upon itself the role of a creator.
Gender fluid jewellery from New World collection is 3D printed from recycled sterling silver.
Sofia Hallik (1991), the founder and CEO of SOMA Jewellery brand, is a jeweller, designer and PhD researcher at the Estonian Academy of Arts. In her doctoral thesis, Sofia examines the impact of digital technology on jewellery making.
WHAT IF… Birgit Skolimowski
In 1891, goldsmith Joseph Kopf opened here, at Hobusepea Street 2 one of the most notable and fine jewellery shops in Tallinn. For example, a decorative plate for Swedish crown prince Gustav Adolf as well as the chain of office of the first president of Estonia, Konstantin Päts, were made here. By today, almost 130 years have passed since the jewellery shop opened. If only we could go back in time and work in the environment and atmosphere of that time…
What if… ….we as jewellery artists of today could go back and create jewellery for people of the past?
What was the significance of jewellery at the time? What was considered jewellery – was it only diamonds and gold? Would jewellery of today have spoken to people of the past? How much has the meaning of jewellery changed since then? Does jewellery protect or decorate us? Can ugly be beautiful and does form determine content? Can aesthetics and beauty be trivial? Do you always need a reason to adorn yourself?
Form must be discussed, the content is evaluated by the viewer. The maker of jewellery always has a story but when a piece of jewellery is commissioned by someone, their story is revealed through the maker’s interpretation.
I imagined myself meeting and talking to the people commissioning jewellery in those years, with joys and sorrows long gone by now. I listened to their stories and made those ideas into jewellery.
Birgit Skolimowski (1977) graduated the jewellery department at the Estonian Academy of Art 2006 (BA) and a year later she enrolled in the MA programme. Soon her daughters were born and for a couple of years she focused on being a mother. This, however, never stopped her from creating jewellery. By now she has worked in her studio, here at Hobusepea Street 2 for almost 13 years. Her daily work is divided between creating small series and commissioned works. Skolimowski has worked with numerous Estonian fashion designers and created jewellery for their shows as well as for their clients for special events. She describes herself: “I love to create feminine and romantic jewellery with simple and minimal form. I’m inspired by life – people, architecture and, of course, nature. I will probably stay here, at the studio at Hobusepea Street and create jewellery for the rest of my life – I have still not grown tired of it.“
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF TURNING BACK Harry Tensing
The artist is intrigued by the question whether there are ways for turning back to something that is gone. During his artistic research, the artist engraved arbitrary motifs onto silver plates; the play with random thoughts created a fictitious meaning. After having sawed the plates into small pieces, the artist recombined them and constructed new stories in the form of jewellery. Imprints taken of the plates beforehand serve as the only proof of their existence.
By adding semi-precious stones to the silver details a collection of jewellery was born, confirming the impossibility of turning back.
Harry Tensing (1972) graduated from the department of sculpture at Tartu Art School (1992) and the department of jewellery and blacksmithing at the Estonian Academy of Arts (1998. He is currently working as a goldsmith in a historical enterprise Roman Tavast and as a freelance jewellery artist.
EUREKA Ene Valter
In preparation for each artwork, intense creative thinking is required. I love taking a particular material, precious stone, metaphor or symbol as the starting point when creating jewellery and then thinking around it, trying out forms, techniques and visuals. Often this testing period can be quite long and completion of the works needs to be put on hold. The antique corals in this exhibition waited for their time before becoming a piece of jewellery for several years. But finally, the long-awaited clarity arrived, I came to a solution and was able to exclaim with great satisfaction: EUREKA!
Ene Valter (1952) graduated from the Department of Jewellery and Blacksmithing at the State Art Institute of Estonian SSR in 1977. After graduating she worked as a freelance artist and in 1986 she became a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association. Ene Valter is one of the founders of A-gallery and is currently working as a CEO at ARS-Vasetööd OÜ. A large part of Valter’s work is designing and making coats of arms for boroughs, medallions, awards and badges of honour, which she has always seen as a subset of jewellery art. In jewellery Valter values clarity, simple form and timelessness. Alongside silver, she uses high heat enamels when creating jewellery and badges, as that allows to satisfy her “colour hunger” in the rather monochrome choice of materials.
Above all, she enjoys designing and making chains of office for mayors, rectors of establishments of higher education and presidents of organisations. Valter significantly contributed in creating the gold chain of office for the President of Estonia for the republic’s 90th anniversary. She also authored the 5 kroon metal coin with the image of Jaan Koort’s deer. Ene Valter has presented solo exhibitions in Finland, Hungary and Estonia and has been nominated for the Jewellery of the Year Award in 2018.
The event is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.
“This year’s exhibition ON BLACK AND WHITE is my third solo exhibition in A-Gallery. At the exhibition I exhibit silver necklaces and processes. The shades given with dark oxide give the jewellery even more airiness and they are exposed on black. Alongside them are jewellery with amber and high-temperature enamels, which with their discreet color range are suitable for display in both black and white. Repeating individual finished details, breaking them down, putting them together in a new way, creating new shapes and forms again, this is the game of creating the jewellery of this exhibition. ” Ene Valter.
Ene Valter graduated from the Estonian National Institute of Art in 1977. She has been exhibiting since 1978. She is a member of the Estonian Artists ‘Union and the Metal Artists’ Union. She is also one of the founders of the ON Group and A-Gallery. Ene Valter has twice chaired the board of A-Gallery. From 1997 until today, she is a member of the board and CEO of OÜ ARS Vasetööd.
As a daily employee at ARS Vasetööd, Ene Valter mainly designs and produces decorations and medals. She has designed and prepared dozens of offices for university rectors, association presidents and mayors.
A-Gallery is a gallery offering professional Estonian jewellery art that has been operating in the Old Town of Tallinn for 23 years. Various exhibitions by both Estonian and foreign artists will take place in the historical Vault, located in the gallery’s premises, in the place of valued jewellery exhibitions.
