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28/6 -- 31/10/2026
The exhibition Long Pictures, Fine Threads. Fine Pictures, Long Threads places centre stage extraordinary embroidered worlds born of memory, everyday life and imagination.
At its heart is the work of Saaremaa-born Maria Peet (1913–2002), whose rare sensitivity and distinctive visual language provide the focal point around which works by other makers connected to her through place or subject matter are gathered.
The exhibition brings together more than two hundred works by Maria Peet, including embroidered pictures, textile wall hangings, paintings, knitted pieces and traditional Muhu cloth shoes known as pätid. In the second half of her life, she developed a distinctive technique of ‘painting with a needle’, embroidering scenes of childhood memories, Saaremaa landscapes, farm life, village events, people and animals onto pieces of fabric sewn together. The result is a richly detailed, diary-like sequence of images of twentieth-century Saaremaa, in which close observation, creative freedom and craftsmanship are interwoven into a singular visual world carrying layers of memory, place and a sense of self.
Alongside Maria Peet’s work, the exhibition presents the art of Harri Aer (1920–2005), who lived only a few kilometres away. Aer created both large and smaller narrative cross-stitched wall hangings in which the life and landscapes of Saaremaa are interwoven with folk tales, biblical stories, memories, history and fantasy. He embraced embroidery, traditionally regarded as a women’s domain, with confidence and ambition, thereby also challenging conventional gender roles. In works that took a considerable time to complete, the slow, stitch-by-stitch process became a powerful form of personal expression.
A small selection of works by Hilda Vilde (1921–2013) is also included. Her art is characterised by vivid colour, decorative richness and the free combination of different materials. She too did not follow prescribed patterns, but allowed each work to develop according to the inner logic of imagination, colour and material.
A further layer is added by several works whose makers are unknown or only partly identified, although the works themselves have survived. These too do not simply repeat inherited patterns, but transform them into something of their own. Thus long pictures emerge from fine threads, and fine pictures from long threads. One work leads into another, one visual language responds to the next, and around Maria Peet’s art there emerges a shared yet varied visual world shaped by many makers. Understanding embroidery and other craft techniques as vehicles of memory, identity and self-expression also brings into a new light those creators whose work has long remained at the margins of art history.
Kondase Centre extends its special thanks to all of Maria Peet’s relatives.
Curator and exhibition design: Mari Vallikivi
Graphic design: Riina Uisk
Installation: Kaarel Narro, Meelis Tammemägi, Jüri Pillisner
The works come from private collections, the Estonian Open Air Museum, and the Estonian National Museum
Acknowledgements: Malle Rajapu, Kertu Viikmaa, Kaarin Peet, Irena Tammik, Tuuli Tubin McGinley, Indrek Grigor, Mare Hunt, Merle Puusild, Kristel Kärner
The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment
