What remains of a design exhibition – or any exhibition, for that matter? A memory, perhaps. But to share that experience with others, we often rely on photographs. Perhaps there was a review or interview in a newspaper, archived in an institution alongside a leaflet, a plan of the room, a poster or a full exhibition catalogue. Design exhibitions take many forms and unfold across diverse spaces.
This draft is a subjective attempt guided by access to certain archives to begin cataloguing the curatorial work in design that has shaped the scene in Tallinn, Estonia – tracing its origins, shifts in direction, and recent developments.
It is certainly a rather museum-exhibition-centred anthology, where work is often more carefully catalogued, and it is not a comprehensive list; however, it captures exhibitions at institutions such as Tallinn Art Hall, the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Adamson-Eric Museum, Kumu Art Museum, the Estonian Museum of Architecture, EKA Gallery and HOP Gallery.
It aims to highlight past developments in the field and invites us to reflect on design curation, contribute, and continue the research on design exhibitions and curatorial practice.
You are also encouraged to propose additions to the list of past design exhibitions held in Tallinn across various settings. We welcome contributions from exhibition makers, researchers, designers, design students and interested members of the public. Please include the exhibition title, dates, media coverage, and at least one photo.
Space and Form I in Tallinn Art Hall (1969). Photo: Boris Mäemets / ETDM
“Guided from one display to another, the viewer finds themselves moving through a carefully considered scenario passing from one spatial experience to another.” – Vello Asi (link)
Space and Form I
Tallinn Art Hall
1969
Tallinn Art Hall
1969
Space and Form II in Tallinn Art Hall (1972). Photo: K. Liiv / Estonian National Archive
“Whereas the first Space and Form exhibition was simpler in form and more utilitarian, then this one is structurally more complicated, more abstract and addresses the relationship between form and space in greater depth.” (link)
“Mobility and the ability to transform are the main features of contemporary concepts of space, but the exhibition’s static quality, the enclosed booths and the picture-like spatial experience distance the viewer from the form-space spectacle. An exhibition of design ideas needs to be innovative and not rely on tried and tested solutions that have been seen before.”– Leo Gens (link)
“Mobility and the ability to transform are the main features of contemporary concepts of space, but the exhibition’s static quality, the enclosed booths and the picture-like spatial experience distance the viewer from the form-space spectacle. An exhibition of design ideas needs to be innovative and not rely on tried and tested solutions that have been seen before.”– Leo Gens (link)
Space and Form II
Tallinn Art Hall
1972
Tallinn Art Hall
1972
Space and Form III in Tallinn Art Hall (1977). Photo: Estonian Museum of Architecture Collection
“It must be said that this time, form has been understood very narrowly. There are one or two works where one can enjoy a genuine play with form without concern for utility (Maile Grünberg, Helle Gans and Loomet Raudsepp’s booths). However, most of them are room fillers for satisfying people’s everyday needs.” – Maria Liive (link)
Space and Form III
Tallinn Art Hall, 1977
Tallinn Art Hall, 1977
Space and Form IV in Tallinn Art Hall (1984). Photo: Kalju Suur / Estonian Museum of Architecture Collection
“It is impossible to find common ground by which to assess the objects. Few of them conform to the familiar norms of functionalism – practicality, constructive rationalism, economy, and so forth.” – Kaia Lehari (link)
Space and Form IV, Tallinn Art Hall
Form, Architecture and Applied Art (1986). Photo: ETDM
“This exhibition is to a great extent also a performance; one in which an attractively designed room and the people who move around interacting with it are participants.” – Marika Valk (link)
“I was captivated by this exhibition as a whole, like a kind of conspiracy. I viewed it as if it were a single work and not from above somewhere or behind glass, but freely and from within as I walked around.” – Karin Hallas (link)
“I was captivated by this exhibition as a whole, like a kind of conspiracy. I viewed it as if it were a single work and not from above somewhere or behind glass, but freely and from within as I walked around.” – Karin Hallas (link)
Form, Architecture and Applied Art (Vorm, ehituskunst ja tarbekunst),
2.04 – 25.05.1986, Soviet Estonian Museum of Applied Art
2.04 – 25.05.1986, Soviet Estonian Museum of Applied Art
ACTA ’87 (1987). Photo: Toivo Raidmets
“From time-to-time our designers have been accused, if not publicly then behind closed doors, of copying Scandinavian or Italian design. And this is not altogether untrue. Influences from one and the other can be clearly seen in the Acta ’87 exhibition. The question is whether this is imitation or simply the following of general stylistic trends.” – Ebe Nõmberg (link)
ACTA 87, Tallinn Art Hall
A Chair is a Chair (1989). Photo: ETDM
“Is a chair merely an object for being comfortable on? A chair is a spatial object that may be valued more for the artist’s concept than its function. A chair can be played with in many ways. For a month now over twenty interior architects have been showing their chairs in the exhibition A Chair is a Chair at the Museum of Applied Art.” – Ebe Nõmberg (link)
A Chair is a Chair (Tool on tool), 3.02 – 2.04.1989, Estonian Museum of Applied Art
Prototypes. The Author Then and Now. Interior Art (1997). Photo: ETDM
Prototypes. The Author Then and Now. Interior Art. (Prototüübid. Autor enne ja nüüd. Sisustuskunst)
12.09.1997 – 4.01.1998, Estonian Museum of Applied Art
12.09.1997 – 4.01.1998, Estonian Museum of Applied Art
Estonian Design (2000). Photo: ETDM
Estonian Design
14.06 – 15.05.2000, Estonian Museum of Applied Art
14.06 – 15.05.2000, Estonian Museum of Applied Art
Things in My Life. Soviet-era Product Design (2000). Photo: ETDM
“The fact that the highest standard of Soviet industrial art is not represented in the exhibition creates the impression that this is intentional – only random objects of somewhat dubious quality and direct copies of Finnish design are on show.” – Helene Kuma (link)
Things in My Life. Soviet-era Product Design (Asjad minu elus. Nõukogudeaegne tootedisain)
12.12.2000 – 4.02.2001, Estonian National Museum in Tartu
03.04 – 10.06.2001 Estonian Museum of Applied Art (link)
12.12.2000 – 4.02.2001, Estonian National Museum in Tartu
03.04 – 10.06.2001 Estonian Museum of Applied Art (link)
Plastic into Bags! (2005). Photo: ETDM
Plastic into Bags!
08.10 – 13.11.2005, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
08.10 – 13.11.2005, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Tamm & Asi (2007). Photo: Estonian Museum of Architecture
Tamm & Asi
27.06 – 02.09.2007, Estonian Museum of Architecture
27.06 – 02.09.2007, Estonian Museum of Architecture
Laboratori di carattere. Ivar Sakk (2011). Photo: Ivar Veermäe / ETDM
Laboratori di carattere. Ivar Sakk
30.04 – 07.08.2011, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
30.04 – 07.08.2011, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Novelty. Examples of innovation from the XX and XXI century Estonian design (2011). Photo: Jarmo Nagel / ETDM
Novelty. Examples of innovation from XX and XXI century Estonian design
17.09 – 06.11.2011, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
17.09 – 06.11.2011, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Content and Form I. Contemporary Estonian Graphic Design 2001–2011 (2012). Photo: Ivar Veermäe / ETDM
“The exhibition served as impetus to discuss the state of graphic design today. The overall impression is playful and inviting – the drunk tables are laden with delicacies from the previous decade that communicate independence and urban energy.” – Tanel Veenre (link)
Content and Form I. Contemporary Estonian Graphic Design 2001–2011
20.04 – 17.06.2012, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
20.04 – 17.06.2012, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
UUO. Undefined Useful Objects. Kärt Ojavee (2012). Photo: Ivar Veermäe / ETDM
UUO. Undefined Useful Objects. Kärt Ojavee,
21.04 – 17.06.2012, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
21.04 – 17.06.2012, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Yrjö Kukkapuro. Furniture (2013). Photo: Kristo Kooskora / Estonian Museum of Architecture
“It was important to have exhibits from as many periods as possible and indeed, there are examples from several decades, something from each.” – Yrjö Kukkapuro (link)
Yrjö Kukkapuro. Furniture
10.01 – 10.02.2013, Estonian Museum of Architecture
10.01 – 10.02.2013, Estonian Museum of Architecture
Classics. Mait Summatavet (2013). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
Classics. Mait Summatavet, 07.12.2013 – 23.02.2014
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Design as Experiment. Tõnis Käo (2014). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
“The ETDM exhibition also includes a kind of Käo private museum, filled with delightful knickknacks from Käo’s worktable and home. ‘My first camera, over a hundred years old; Joseph Beuys postcards’.” – Karin Paulus (link)
Design as Experiment. Tõnis Käo
30.05 – 24.08.2014 (link)
30.05 – 24.08.2014 (link)
Kitchen. Changing Space, Design and Applied Art in Estonia (2016). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
“As ethnologists we missed the stories about the objects that were on display and the people who used them. The drawings reveal an aspect of how modernisation affected private life, but to the viewer the narrative of the kitchen-related objects is less clear.” – Anu Kannike, Ester Bardone (link)
Kitchen. Changing Space, Design and Applied Art in Estonia
20.02 – 15.05.2016, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
20.02 – 15.05.2016, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Local Beauty. Glass Factory Tarbeklaas (2016). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
"The biggest surprise in the exhibition, even for someone familiar with Soviet design or just someone who remembers the everyday reality, is from the 1940s and 1950s since very little glassware from that period has survived.” – Karin Paulus (link)
Local Beauty. Glass Factory Tarbeklaas
04.06 – 25.09.2016, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
04.06 – 25.09.2016, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Signals from the Periphery (2017). Photo: Karel Koplimets / Tallinn Art Hall
“The exhibition presents an overview of the new generation of designers and is divided into separate islands in different rooms – publishing, objects and products, typography, music and spaces-events-projects.” – Ivar Sakk (link)
Signals from the Periphery
1.07 – 13.08.2017, Tallinn Art Hall (link)
1.07 – 13.08.2017, Tallinn Art Hall (link)
Classics. Helle and Taevo Gans (2017). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
Classics. Helle and Taevo Gans
18.11.2017 – 11.02.2018, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
18.11.2017 – 11.02.2018, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Let’s Add Some Colour. Estonian Exhibition Posters from the 1980s (2018). Photo: Stanislav Stepaško / Art Museum of Estonia
Let’s Add Some Colour. Estonian Exhibition Posters from the 1980s
17.01 – 06.05.2018, Kumu Art Museum (link)
17.01 – 06.05.2018, Kumu Art Museum (link)
New Pain. Young Estonian design in the 1980s (2018). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
“The exhibition does not feature Soviet industrial design, of which there wasn’t enough to supply the shops. Young people in the 1980s had little connection to this. The story is told through visuals, projects and posters that describe the environment, with hints of important side narratives.” – Jüri Kermik (link)
New Pain. Young Estonian design in the 1980s
23.02 – 27.05.2018, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
23.02 – 27.05.2018, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Luther & Isokon. A Story of Pioneering Architecture and Plywood Furniture (2018). Photo: Estonian Museum of Architecture
“Even many Estonian designers were unfamiliar with this aspect of the Luther factory, and they knew even less of its connection with Isokon.” – Ene Läkk (link)
Luther & Isokon. A Story of Pioneering Architecture and Plywood Furniture
30.08 – 30.09.2018, Estonian Museum of Architecture
30.08 – 30.09.2018, Estonian Museum of Architecture
Sots Art and Fashion: Conceptual Clothes from Eastern Europe (2019). Photo: Stanislav Stepaško / Art Museum of Estonia
“On the contrary, this unapologetically celebrates Eastern Europe as a utopian creative space, which was so isolated from the West that it designed its own endemic type of fashion.” – Stefan Žarič (link)
Sots Art and Fashion: Conceptual Clothes from Eastern Europe
15.03 – 04.08.2019, Kumu Art Museum (link)
15.03 – 04.08.2019, Kumu Art Museum (link)
Published by Lugemik. Printed Matter from 2010–2019 (2019). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
“One could say that all the printed works have been presented to the visitor on a platter – the massive green plywood table built around a sturdy pillar certainly looks like one. Despite this giant platter the exhibition follows the relatively conventional format of a book exhibition – the printed material is arranged on the table in chronological order.” – Rene Mäe (link)
Published by Lugemik. Printed Matter from 2010–2019
18.05 – 01.09.2019, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
18.05 – 01.09.2019, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Shifted. Raili Keiv (2019). Photo: Katrin Press / HOP Gallery
Shifted. Raili Keiv
29.11 – 17.12.2019, HOP Gallery (link)
29.11 – 17.12.2019, HOP Gallery (link)
Interior Architect Aulo Padar. Significant Interiors (2020). Photo: Tõnu Tunnel / Estonian Museum of Architecture
“From Padar’s exhibition it was clear that although more design projects from after 1991 had been realised it was only the reconstruction projects for the Estonia Theatre and Kannel Cultural Centre that were addressed. Let’s be honest, we are not yet ready to historicise the 1990s and 2000s.” – Gregor Taul (link)
Interior Architect Aulo Padar. Significant Interiors,
20.11.2020 – 4.04.2021, Estonian Museum of Architecture
20.11.2020 – 4.04.2021, Estonian Museum of Architecture
Introduction to Estonian Design (2020). Photo: Hedi Jaansoo / ETDM
“The exhibition, which spans just over a century, approaches the field from a range of perspectives – design is presented via industry and producers, and also one-off pieces by artists, experimental projects, series, exhibitions, and also design education and the activities of the design associations.” – Keiu Krikmann (link)
“Introduction to Estonian Design clearly highlights the unruly nature of design.” – Urmas Lüüs (link)
“Introduction to Estonian Design clearly highlights the unruly nature of design.” – Urmas Lüüs (link)
Introduction to Estonian Design,
10.12.2020 – present, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
10.12.2020 – present, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Art Is Design Is Art (2021). Photo: Stanislav Stepaško / Art Museum of Estonia
“And [...] we could ask whether the exhibition merely offers a reflection of everyday Soviet life through art? Yes, no doubt for many Tõnis Vint’s milk posters and Andres Tolts’ textiles will be like a reunion with Soviet reality, but the exhibition also offers the joy of discovery and the appreciation of beauty. This art morsel could especially be inspirational for younger generations, who may have the impression from their art history lessons that Soviet Estonian art was limited to social realism.” – Maria Helen Känd (link)
Art Is Design Is Art,
07.05 – 03.10.2021, Kumu Art Museum (link)
07.05 – 03.10.2021, Kumu Art Museum (link)
Judith Seng. Acting Things VIII – Silent Negotiations (2021). Photo: Paul Kuimet / Tallinn Art Hall
Judith Seng. Acting Things VIII – Silent Negotiations,
05.06–1.08.2021, Tallinn Art Hall Gallery (link)
05.06–1.08.2021, Tallinn Art Hall Gallery (link)
Naught Mood. Estonian Fashion Avant-garde 2000–2010 (2021). Photo: Mari Volens / ETDM
“The exhibition shows the work of 19 designers who continue to influence our fashion landscape today. The selection criteria focused on pieces that were avant-garde, displayed artistry and innovation and expressed the artist’s desire to break free from traditional notions about beauty and clothing, to create or introduce a new kind of aesthetic to Estonia and the courage to play according to their own unconventional rules.” – Keilit Aedma, Silvia Pärmann (link)
Naught Mood. Estonian Fashion Avant-garde 2000–2010,
23.10.2021 – 23.01.2022, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
23.10.2021 – 23.01.2022, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Material Change: Design and New Technologies (2022). Photo: Stanislav Stepaško / Art Museum of Estonia
Material Change: Design and New Technologies
08.04 – 25.09.2022, Adamson-Eric Museum (link)
08.04 – 25.09.2022, Adamson-Eric Museum (link)
Dear Friend (2022). Photo: Katrin-M. Terras / EKA Gallery
Dear Friend,
15 – 29.09.2022, EKA Gallery (link)
15 – 29.09.2022, EKA Gallery (link)
A Book Designer’s Studio. Jüri Kaarma and Late Soviet Graphic Design (2022). Photo: Aadam Kaarma / ETDM
“This is not the story of an artist’s development or a journey of self-discovery – what we see is the workroom of a book designer with a fully formed style, one for whom discovery and invention was a natural part of the work process, and not someone still working out their voice or signature style.” – Anni-Katrin Kelder (link)
A Book Designer’s Studio. Jüri Kaarma and Late Soviet Graphic Design.
17.09.2022 – 08.01.2023, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
17.09.2022 – 08.01.2023, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Local Beauty: Tallinn Jewellery Factory (2023). Photo: Mari Volens / ETDM
“This exhibition no doubt sparks recognition in every Estonian. The jewellery factory’s hits were produced in huge editions; thousands of Estonian children ate their morning porridge with spoons decorated with dogs and rabbits.” – Tanel Veenre (link)
“At the end of the second room there is a small selection of pieces by artists who, in addition to their factory work, were actively working on one-off pieces and were possibly showing them in art and applied art exhibitions. Participating in exhibitions helped them get their foot in the door at the Estonian Artists Association.” – Birgit Tohter (link)
“At the end of the second room there is a small selection of pieces by artists who, in addition to their factory work, were actively working on one-off pieces and were possibly showing them in art and applied art exhibitions. Participating in exhibitions helped them get their foot in the door at the Estonian Artists Association.” – Birgit Tohter (link)
Local Beauty: Tallinn Jewellery Factory, 05.05–1.10.2023,
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Uneversum: Rhythms and Spaces (2023). Photo: Anu Vahtra / ETDM
“The works in the exhibition are more or less avant-garde, even those that were mass-produced. No distinctions have been drawn between practical solutions, speculative experiments or designs on paper; the exhibition is instead a testament to the ambitions of design as a field.” – Triin Jerlei (link)
“For example, we find here experimental design, which attempts to do what capitalism has always been ready for – a personal approach, solutions for a better night’s sleep just for you.” – Tõnis Kahu (link)
“For example, we find here experimental design, which attempts to do what capitalism has always been ready for – a personal approach, solutions for a better night’s sleep just for you.” – Tõnis Kahu (link)
Uneversum: Rhythms and Spaces
27.10.2023 – 07.04.2024, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
27.10.2023 – 07.04.2024, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
The Story of Nanomaterial no 399 (2023). Photo: Sergei Trofimov / EKA Gallery
Kärt Ojavee, The Story of Nanomaterial no 399.
08.11 – 30.11.2023, EKA Gallery (link)
08.11 – 30.11.2023, EKA Gallery (link)
Lieven Lahaye and Ott Metusala, Catalog issue 24: Coverage (2024). Photo: Anu Vahtra / Tallinn Art Hall
“Thematically the exhibition could resonate with every second person because it is about creating order in your life and distinguishing between necessary and unnecessary.” – Marika Agu (link)
Lieven Lahaye and Ott Metusala, Catalog issue 24: Coverage
06.04 – 09.06.2024, Tallinn Art Hall, City Gallery (link)
06.04 – 09.06.2024, Tallinn Art Hall, City Gallery (link)
Jüri Kermik. Joint Double (2024). Photo: Päär-Joonap Keedus / ETDM
“So, for the exhibition Joint Double Kermik has created a very personal world in which his new works – still chairs – are interwoven with motifs from Saaremaa and Suffolk in England.” – Triin Ojari (link)
Jüri Kermik. Joint Double
13.09 – 1.12.2024, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
13.09 – 1.12.2024, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Bruno Tomberg. Inventing Design (2024). Photo: Paul Kuimet / ETDM
“The task of setting up the department – agreeing to the adventure – haunted him for the rest of his life. You learned what was necessary, you did what you could, you invented. Hence, the title of the exhibition – it was invention.” – Kai Lobjakas (link)
Bruno Tomberg. Inventing Design,
8.11.2024 – 30.03.2025, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
8.11.2024 – 30.03.2025, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (link)
Paula Buškevica is a graphic designer working across visual identities, publications, web and exhibition design. She holds a master’s degree in graphic design from the Estonian Academy of Arts and is currently based in Berlin. Her independent work extends to practices of writing, recording and material meandering often led by coincidences as a residue of doing something. She is currently thinking about these words: rip-offs, tension stretch, sculpture garden, lay-over, falling and verbs in general.
Sandra Nuut is a curator working at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. Her focus is contemporary design and design history. Nuut teaches, writes and has worked on curatorial projects such as FOKUS: Ageing (2025) at Vienna Design Week, Garbage Kids. Shadow Objects (2025), Martin Pedanik. Man Behind the Scenes (2025) and Uneversum: Rhythms and Spaces (2023) at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. Previously she worked at the Estonian Academy of Arts (2017–2022) and at Chamber Gallery, New York (2014–2017).