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.
Keesi Kapsta: The jewellery at this exhibition has mostly been influenced by the magical Indonesia and specifically by the island of Java. The great beauty of its luscious nature, the play of colors and haunting patterns stay in one’s mind. The memories from there fill the soul and excite the senses… We can only guess at the deeper meaning of the mystical, magical signs and symbols. Like Estonians the people there have their nourishing secret patterns that their forefathers used to wear on the belts and jewellery for both decoration and protection. The flower of life is represented in one of the necklaces, its petals being formed by circles. The symbol for the creation of patterns and the secret of life’s energy is in there. That’s how the most sacred pattern is formed – the fountain of the all-powerful… I have used semiprescious stones and magnificent large pearls from Indonesia in my works, as well as silver and the technique of melting. Working on those pieces I wished to bring at least a little bit of Indonesian warmth, flowing forms and its different esthetics to our northern coolness… With this exhibition I’m also honoring, in a modest way, the goddess of beauty, knowledge, and arts…
A-Gallery celebrates the beginning of a new programme season by opening three exhibitions on January the 14th! As the principal local exhibition space for jewellery, during the year 2022 A-Gallery will host 32 exhibitions, which will be shown in the gallery’s historical VAULT and on the WINDOWS that enrich the local public space.
The start of the abundant exhibition programme will be celebrated in the evening of the 14th of January with the opening of the first exhibitions of the year. In the VAULT the legendary jewellery artist Vaida Suits’ anniversary exhibition VAIDA SUITS 90 will be held, where Suits’ magnificent works from 1960’s to the year 1982 will be shown. The exhibition is open 14.01–08.02.2022. WINDOWS will show Aino and Keesi Kapsta’s and Henry Mardisalu’s exhibition THREE STORIES, where three generations from one family will show their take on jewellery. Also on WINDOWS, Therese Mørch from Denmark and Helen Clara Hemsley from South Africa will show their exhibition TRACES IN TIME, where they research and give meaning to the everyday. The WINDOWS exhibitions are open 14.01–26.02.2022. The opening event of the exhibition season will take place in A-Gallery on Friday, January the 14th, at 18:00 o’clock. Entrance free, COVID-passport mandatory.
On Friday, January 14 at 18:00 exhibitions THREE STORIES and TRACES IN TIME will open on A-Gallery WINDOWS.
THREE STORIES Aino Kapsta, Keesi Kapsta, Henry Mardisalu
THREE STORIES is about three generations of a family and their take on jewellery. The three artists’ three different stories are tightly interwoven and influential to each other.
The main asset and inspiration of the Kapsta family is the esteemed Estonian jewellery artist Aino Kapsta, who’s work experience starts way back in the Soviet times. In the past couple of years Kapsta has mostly been working in filigree. Kapsta’s delicate and detailed filigree jewelry has won the hearts of many jewelry admirers. During her 60 years in art jewellery, Aino Kapsta’s work has travelled to London, Italy, Berlin, Moscow and Japan. This exhibition is the 12th time for Aino Kapsta to be showing in A-Gallery.
Aino Kapsta’s daughter Keesi Kapsta initially studied graphic design, but was also drawn to jewellery. Although having learned a lot from her mother, Keesi has developed her own independent form of free expression through the smelting technique.
The link between them is the third generation artist Henry Mardisalu, who works in the preparation of materials. According to him, the path of metal art was paved for him by the environment he was born into. His main favorite is the production of gold and silver chains. All the chains used in the jewellery of the Kapsta family are handmade by Henry. In recent years, he has also been fascinated by the sophistication of filigree techniques, which he has learned largely from his grandmother Aino Kapsta.
TRACES IN TIME Helen Clara Hemsley, Therese Mørch
Therese and Helen’s collaborative project is called TRACES IN TIME. There is a display of exploration and the concept of the everyday in both of their works.
In essence, the title refers to both their artistic practices, and a shared fascination with documenting events in their lives – the things that matter to them, the seemingly mundane, and the big and small challenges they face as creators and in their private lives – through the medium of contemporary jewellery. The individual pieces work together and tell a united story – works that allow the viewer to investigate and form their own opinions, and contemplate their own lives and situations.
The title TRACES IN TIME thus refers to a visual documentation of our lives and practices. Whether it’s about building up pieces with materials and objects collected over a period of over 30 years, constructing a kind of timeline of a life well lived. Or pieces depicting a growing family, representing tactile and metaphorical encounters, and gently allowing sensory perception in a materialised sense of belonging.
With Helen’s work there is an odd sense of familiarity, but at the same time a perplexing feeling of not being completely sure why the objects or materials are so important, what they symbolise or where they come from. And then there is a feeling of sadness, and an almost desperate need to make things better again. All this happens over a long period of time, bearing witness to the joys and pain of teenage struggles, parents and parenthood, marriage, divorce and a constant desire to make, build and share.
With Therese’s work there is also a feeling of familiarity and the passing of time, and a beautiful fragility that draws the viewer in. Common to her series TRACES & TOUCHED is the sense of touch and tactility used as generators for creating contact. This may lead senses onto paths of proximity, intimacy, physicality, sentiment, totems, object relations and attachment. All are fragments of Therese’s on-going research in jewellery, which is often embodied in repetitive sculpt work, corporeal representation with reference to ritual and spiritual prayer jewellery.
“We both work with themes that appeal to human nature and experience, and are endlessly fascinated by the material intimacy and tactility of the works, which arouse curiosity and attention”.
Helen Clara Hemsley is originally from South Africa, but currently lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Helen studied at Oxford Brookes University and the Institute for Precious Metals in Copenhagen and she holds a BA in Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art. Her work has been exhibited, among other countries, in Denmark, China, Portugal, Australia, Germany and the US. https://www.helenclarahemsley.dk.
Therese Mørch is from Denmark and studied in London. She now lives and works in Copenhagen. Therese graduated from Cass School of art & Design and in Royal College of Art, both in London. Her work has been exhibited in Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, France, Germany and in the UK. https://theresemorch.com/blogs/news
The exhibition is funded by the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
This exhibition is a brief look back into my box of stones, where a fair amount has accumulated over time. People have often asked how one stone or another has made its way into my collection. I love to travel and go on adventures, which is no doubt one of my greatest sources of inspiration. To see and sense the symbolism, colours and incredible nature of different countries in all of their diversity. As a medium I like silver, with its multitude of soft half-tones. I often use various different symbols carrying protective powers in my work. Our own octagram, sun cross and certain runic symbols have become my favourites.
The necklaces on display contain stones and pearls that are very special and dear to me. I have taken them out of their boxes before, admired them, and when putting them back have thought that it’s not their time just yet. Now they’re here before you, each of them with their very own story.
