Tag Archives: Maarja Niinemägi

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ONE TO MANY: A-Galerii Annual Jewellery Exhibition 2025

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

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THE BOUNDS OF BOUNDARIES

At the solo exhibition THE BOUNDS OF BOUNDARIES, Maarja Niinemägi presents sculptural rings that extensively combine materials and technologies, such as titanium, buffalo horn, ebony, engraving, riveting, and anodizing. The creation of large-scale abstract jewellery is a creative practice that plays with the boundaries of design and jewellery art – a journey the artist started already in 2005. Maarja Niinemägi writes:

“I seek a shape that does not directly allude to the ring, a form distinct from the conventional. A ring could be a piece of art even when not worn on a finger.

 Unaware of the dimensions of the jewellery piece while looking at a photo of it, a person may be surprised by its actual size in real life. I aim to design these rings playfully keeping in mind the function of a ring but evading the limits of its traditional form. 

My desire is to develop and discover nuances inside the shapes forming the rings. The rings can be worn and viewed as independent objects, connecting small details and designs – creating philosophical landscapes. On each ring a small story sets a scene.”

The exhibition is funded with the help of Estonian Cultural Endowment.


Maarja Niinemägi is a jewellery artist and designer based in Tartu. She has participated in exhibitions since 1997, leading her to various parts of the world, including Europe, China, America, and Australia. Niinemägi obtained her education in jewellery art from the Estonian Academy of Arts, where she earned her master’s degree in arts with honours in 2008. As an exchange student and intern in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, she also acquired skills in gemstone engraving. Her works are part of the collection of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, the Alice and Louis Koch Ring Collection in Switzerland, and other private collections in Estonia and abroad. Maarja Niinemägi has been a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association since 2011 and the Estonian Association of Designers since 2014.

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ARNOLD x LEPIK x NIINEMÄGI x KOSENKRANIUS on the windows of A-Gallery

Georg Arnold
Georg Arnold
Claudia Lepik
Claudia Lepik
Maarja Niinemägi
Maarja Niinemägi
Katrin Kosenkranius
Katrin Kosenkranius
Katrin Kosenkranius
Katrin Kosenkranius

EXTENDED PLAY
Georg Arnold

On the show is an EP (Extended Play). Each disc has one track, which are interpretations of ornament based on the Archimedean spiral. The motive comes from the vinyl records. Tools used were a plasma cutter and a lathe, the material is steel. Made in the autumn of 2019 in the workshop of Estonian Academy of Arts while being an artist in residence.

Georg Arnold (1994) received his BA of Blacksmithing from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2019 and continued there as an artist in residence. Took part in a “Metal Art Program” in Sweden at HDK-Valand Steneby in the spring of 2020. From experimenting with technologies he is now choosing to work more with gas and plasma cutting. Some of his works are in the collection of Estonian Academy of Arts. This is his first exhibition after graduation. Out of the context the artist is inspired by the wine, music and collecting.

ABOUT FACE
Claudia Lepik

I spent a month in 2019 in residence in New York city. Bright lights, fascinating locales and long walks offered respite and inspiration. Invigorated by my surroundings I found new passion for work and in particular for material. So came together a new body of work of face and nose jewelry composed around layered structures and colours. The three pieces on display are a fragment from my show “About Face” which took place the same year at the New York Jewelry Week.

Claudia Lepik is a jewellery artist. She obtained her jewellery BA degree at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2018 and was the recipient of the EAA Young Applied Artist Prize the same year. After graduating, Claudia has participated in multiple group exhibitions in Estonia and Greece. Her first solo exhibition took place last Autumn during NYC Jewelry Week.

HALFTONE
Maarja Niinemägi

Each piece of jewellery brings together meanings, and as wearers of jewellery, we belong to the world of various unique ideas, where color also plays a special role. By using color in the material, saturated or accented, the jewellery becomes an abstract combination of color and form. Titanium as a material provides many possibilities for this. The jewellery is very light and the reflection of colors from the metal surface is clear and transparent. Laser cut forms are completed by handmade finish, so each piece of jewellery can be a little different. The exhibition features airy, three-dimensional earrings. The technologies used are laser cutting, spot welding, anodizing.

Maarja Niinemägi has participated in exhibitions in Estonia, Europe, China, America and Australia. Maarja Niinemägi graduated Estonian Academy of Arts, specializing on jewellery art (BA 2004, MA 2008). She has been an exchange student at the Trier University of Applied Sciences in Idar-Oberstein in Germany, developing skills in gemstone engraving and design. Her works have been purchased for the collection of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, the Alice and Louis Koch Collection in the Swiss National Museum, private collections (Kadri Mälk EST, Susan Cummins USA, Lars Phalmann FIN). She belongs to the Estonian Artists ‘Union and to the Estonian Designers’ Union. Maarja Niinemägi currently lives in Tartu and works in the jewelry art studio Cirrus.

… AND THE NINE-HEADED WYVERN
Katrin Kosenkranius

A fairy tale says… to find it, you need to wear out three pairs of iron shoes and eat three loaves of stone bread, and then there is only the nine-headed Wyvern left, whose masks fall when you surrender to it… only after that the answer arrives…

Katrin Kosenkranius has studied art at the Academia Non Grata and jewellery art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has also spiced up her taste in jewellery with internships in Italy and Sweden. Katrin has participated in exhibitions to greater and lesser extent both here and there. In 2012 she was honoured with Roman Tavast Scholarship.

ARTIST TALK: GEORG ARNOLD (est)
ARTIST TALK: MAARJA NIINEMÄGI (est)