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
Estonian jewellery artists have selected the best A-Galerii safe exhibition of 2024.
At the A-Galerii SAFE (SEIF), the most important exhibition space for local jewellery art, nine exhibitions took place last year. The best of these was selected as MOURNING CLOAK BUTTERFLY. by Ülle Voosalu. Congratulations!
Ülle Voosalu graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts in metalwork in 1980 and began her exhibition activities in 1981. She has worked as an artist at Tartu ARS and as a lecturer at the Tartu Higher Art School Pallas. Since 2001, she has been working as a freelance jewellery artist. Voosalu is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association
The artist creates jewellery using a distinctive personal technique, combining silver wire and gemstones. Her pieces embody joy of life and a love of nature. She crafts her jewellery with the best wishes for the wearer.
The best safe exhibition has been selected at A-Galerii since 2007, with the aim of recognising artists’ mastery in their creative work. A-Galerii is a jewellery gallery representing the work of professional metal artists and organising exhibitions. The SAFE (SEIF) is a historical link between the building constructed in 1891 as the goldsmith workshop of jeweller Joseph Kopf and the exhibition space. Exhibition activities in the SAFE have been taking place since 2005.
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.
Mourning Cloak Butterfly wakes up early from its winter slumber, sleeps deep through midsummer, and remains awake for a long time in autumn.
Already in early childhood Ülle encountered the miraculous Mourning Cloak Butterfly.
The elderly paid attention to the butterfly as well.
The child could not yet grasp the meaning of its name, as only a delicate shadow was cast by it on the winged beauty.
Emotions and knowledge attached with time passing.
Gratitude to the dear departed ones remains.
The dark side of earthly beings, their envy and greed, are grief-worthy, not the dread before the unknown light. In this world, the Mourning Cloak Butterfly crosses forests and seas, luxuriates in the sun on a blooming meadow, and sucks up the juice and time given to it. With the Universe’s kind permission, journeys through the warmth of summer and the cold winter. Circling in a never ending pursuit of happiness.
The sun caresses people because they are so beautiful and kind.
Dear companions choose between light and shadow.
With the arrival of winter, the Milky Way in the sky, one can travel along it.
And people are so beautiful and kind… Hope remains.
ÜLLE VOOSALU
Ülle Voosalu’s exhibition MOURNING CLOAK BUTTERFLY celebrates the 70th anniversary of the jewelry artist from Tartu, Estonia. Voosalu graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts from the metalworking department in 1980 and soon after began exhibiting in 1981. She has worked as an artist at Tartu ARS and as a lecturer at Pallas University of Applied Sciences. Since 2001, she has been working as a freelance jewelry artist. Voosalu is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association. The artist creates jewelry in an outstanding author’s technique, combining silver wire and gemstones into variously structured clusters. Her jewelry embodies wild joy of life and love for the beauty of nature. She crafts her pieces with the best wishes for the wearer.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Since 2007, the A-Gallery has been selecting the best Vault exhibition every year. The aim of the competition is to appreciate the masterful achievements of jewellery artists in their work. The winner will be determined by the shareholders of A-Gallery.
For some time it was a challenge for me, now it has become my profession. I simply wanted to make these objects. It is the thing I do best, it still has not become boring, it still challenges me. These knives have been made in the past year.
Tõnu Arrak (1964) is a knifemaker and a metal artist. Between 1985–1990 Arrak studied metal arts at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Before settling into his current practice of professional knifemaking, Arrak was a jewellery artist, blacksmith and a bladesmith. Knives made by Arrak – bearing the name Tuuts – are highly valued by many distinguished chefs in Estonia and abroad.
The knives of Tõnu Arrak have received multiple awards in France, Belgium, Germany and Finland. His solo exhibition “Striped Iron” was a collaboration with Estonian History Museum (2004). His latest exhibition “40 knives. Tõnu Arrak and Friends” took place at the National Library of Estonia (2014).
WHEN TIME STOPS / the world rushes on Mari Pärtelpoeg
When the flow of my time stops: I see grass growing high, seeds ripening, a river finding the way between stones, clouds slowly changing shape.
Knitting silver wire is an old and slow technique of Indian and Tibetan origin, demanding patience – though thoroughly enjoyable. The details added to chain are either casted or pressed.
Mari Pärtelpoeg (1956) studied at the Estonian State Art Institute specializing in metal art (1974–1979). She has exhibited since 1978. In addition to participating at applied art exhibitions and quadriennials in Germany, Denmark and Sweden, her works have been shown at the Contemporary Swedish Silver Gallery in Stockholm (1992) and at the Scandinavian and Baltics applied arts exhibition “FROM DREAMS TO REALITY” in Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Copenhagen, Göteborg and Helsinki (1993/94). She has participated at the Tallinn Applied Art Triennial multiple times. She is one of the founders of ON-grupp but also works as an independent artist. Pärtelpoeg’s works are in the collections of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. Mari Pärtelpoeg has shown her works at a duo exhibition at Tallinn Art Salon together with Anu Paal (1986) and at solo exhibitions at A-gallery. Her latest exhibition “Garten”, collaboration with Katrin Veegen, was exhibited at Trofejas, Berlin (2017).
LONGINGS Anu Paal
On display are brooches inspired by the motives of traditional sõlg and prees chest adornments. The brooches are made of wood and bark, conveying the idea of deep interconnectedness of indigenous heritage and the natural environment.
Anu Paal (1951) graduated from the department of jewellery and metalwork at ERKI (State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR) in 1979. She has participated in exhibitions in Estonia and abroad since 1978. In addition to applied art exhibitions in Estonia and the Baltics, Paal has participated at numerous exhibitions in Scandinavia, Germany, UK and Moscow since the end of the 1980s. Among others, she has had solo and collaborative exhibitions at Tallinn Art Salon (1986), the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (1990, 1995, 2002), Kristjan Raud Museum (1995), Tallinn Art Hall (1996, 2011, 2016), Adamson-Eric Museum (2001) and at A-gallery (2016). Her works are in the collections of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. Paal was the recipient of the Kristjan Raud Art Award in 1991.
SOMEWHERE ELSE Ülle Voosalu
That which is here is somewhere else. A thought occurs, rushing past at great speed, and is realized somewhere else. You only need to begin with an action and it will start reiterating itself, going its own way. The end result is unpredictable or too simple to predict. It is decided somewhere else. A game that cannot be captured here and now. A game that is played somewhere else.
Ülle Voosalu (1954) graduated from ERKI as a jewellery artist. Since 1980, she has been had solo and joint exhibitions in Estonia,former Czechoslovakia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia and Gemany. Voosalu is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association. She worked as an artist in Tartu Ars and as a lecturer in Pallas University of Applied Sciences. Currently she is working as a freelance jewellery artist.
The dream remains encounter while swimming in the woods meet a golden horned deer. The dream remains.
I come from a family living in the middle of the woods. My father Evald was a third-generation forester. Happy person – heart at work – free as a bird. Even while working on the railway in Riga during the war, Dad was a daily visitor to the local zoo. Evaldi’s only and great holiday was Christmas. Then there was no hunting, but the forest did go. All the children were packed, the laan people had to be taken care of. The forage nurseries were filled with Christmas food. At the former ancestral farm, where only a few stubborn apple trees and piles of stones were left, jewelry and candles were lit on a spruce tree, food packages under the branches. So it’s still a real Laanerahva Christmas party. I don’t know about the animals, but the children were always happy. As a resident of Tallinn, I went with my son to bring food to the zoo’s forest nursery on Christmas Day. Oh luckily, we saw how the wild goat came to look at what was waiting for us. As an old man, my father went “gilding gold” whenever possible. Nowadays, meditating in the woods. The animals also ate nicely – they were not ashamed of anything. Old times and old paths and old people and happy memories. For 20 years now, my father has been staring at the starry forest.
And me finding a horn in the home forest I can think of it as golden for a golden timeless life or fortunately. The dream remains.
Trees to hide as a deep secret, which time will never disappoint. And in the secret force it remains faith, who spends his youth in the woods. (A verse from the poem “Old Tracks” by Juhan Sütiste.)
