EXHIBITIONS

23.03. - 29.05.2022

The exhibition "Happy gardener" by Tiina Puhkan

The garden has been an important topic in my creative work throughout the years. In art history and the history of religion, the garden is associated with various symbolic meanings. For me, the garden is a meeting place, where man invites nature and tries to make different kinds of agreements with it. Old orchards or parks with ancient fruit-trees and the blurred outlines of abandoned patios or flower beds are particularly heart-warming and exciting. As a teacher of the history of textile design, I’d compare them to historical, weathered fabrics, which only show the non-faded shades of colour in which the most meaningful shapes and the aesthetically most valuable patterns had been woven. There are vague contours, so that in some places you may see a flash of bare warps as the weft has worn away. In inherited gardens, the branches of huge trees are stretched out like the durable warps, and between them the most ethereal weft – the song of the birds – is woven. In places like that, you feel the care and the kindness of past generations and perceive their aesthetic sense, you try to preserve what is left, and plant your own bed of herbs and flowers, and make them fit into the flowing tapestry of time and garden that keeps you in balance and gives you hope...

If all goes well, if the moment is right, you will feel the presence of the Great Gardener. And you think that man is powerful, but nature is even more powerful: if you leave the garden unweeded and untended for just half a year, you will see who will walk and grow there.

A happy gardener works from the heart.

Tiina Puhkan

27.04. - 5.06.2022

Ceramics exhibition “28 hours of fire”

The process of making ceramics is long and slow, but the lifespan of the items is long – longer than that of their creators. Wood firing is particularly time-consuming, and it requires skills and teamwork. That’s why ceramic artists get together at kilns, firing ceramics, telling stories, and planning when to meet again. We got together at the wood kiln at Uhti. The longest firing took 28 hours, and that’s how the exhibition got its title. It takes several days for the kiln to cool down and when the door is opened, everyone is eagerly waiting. Small figurines are placed on the kiln to keep good relationships with the ceramics god, as the flame, ashes and heat play their part, and that’s the extraordinary and unexpected that ceramic artists hunt for.

Who we are:

Karin Kalman is a ceramic artist, leader of the firings at Uhti, lecturer in ceramics at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Meiu Münt is a renowned, award-winning painter, who took up clay modelling during the corona pandemic.

Maarit Mälgi graduated as a sculptor from the Pallas University of Applied Sciences in Tartu in 2020.

Maanus Mikkel is a long-established artist, whose painted ceramic artworks flirt with graphic art.

Priit Allas is a ceramic artist, an instructor of majolica and art teacher.

Tõnis Kriisa is a ceramic artist, who is considered a sculptor by ceramic artists and a ceramic artist by sculptors.

Eva Krivonogova is a ceramic artist, who spends most of her time teaching ceramics.

Kai Paks is a leather designer, keeper of the Uhti Inn and hostess of the Open Studios at Uhti, the organiser and manager of Uhti Kedrafest.

Külli Kõiv is a ceramic artist.

Aili Palm is a ceramic artist, a craftsman and designer, the organiser of Uhti Kedrafest and the wheel-throwing competition.