The group exhibition Muhu Materials at Gallery Pallas

Gallery Pallas
29 November 2025 – 3 January 2026

The group exhibition Muhu Materials opens at Gallery Pallas on 28 November. The works were created as part of the elective course Muhu Materials: A Material-Driven Design Project.

The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on how we might design in the future in ways that are at once responsible, poetic, and deeply rooted in a specific place. What happens if we take seriously the idea that what we already have – people, knowledge, skills, and materials – is our greatest wealth? And how could new generations of creative practitioners enter into collaboration with local communities so that both sides genuinely benefit?

The exhibition presents works by eleven students who were inspired by the inhabitants of Muhu Island, their stories, and the materials they collected on the island. At the heart of the project lies a modest and caring attitude towards the environment and its inhabitants – an attempt to recognise, respect and value what already exists rather than introducing anything superfluous.

The students started from a neo-utopian premise: they imagined a world in which life outside Muhu Island no longer exists. In such a world, creative practitioners and designers must quickly acclimatise, familiarise themselves with the local inhabitants and their needs, and find ways to support the community with their skills and knowledge. The exhibited works are conceived as a dialogue with the island, taking the form of imagined or real tools, objects and rituals that could ease, enrich or illuminate the everyday lives of the local people.

On the island, the students moved around as attentive observers and gatherers. They collected materials from the shoreline, forests, and farmyards — stones, wood, seaweed, textile remnants, forgotten objects, and production offcuts — trying to interfere with the existing environment as little as possible. The origin and meaning of the materials were essential: each fragment carries a piece of Muhu’s landscape, weather, and history.

Each piece is dedicated to a particular islander, whether someone currently living on Muhu, a former resident, or an entirely fictional character. The works reveal intimate and personal relationships with the island: how materials speak of life there, how small everyday habits can be sources of creativity, and how design can bridge the gap between generations and between newcomers and long-time residents.

Course instructor and exhibition curator: Liisi Tamm
Elective course instructors: Liisi Tamm, Mari-Triin Kirs, Kristjan Sisa
Participants: Kris Bulgarin, Stefani Freitok, Helis Mosona, Reti Natalie Nael, Trine Ots, Leena Isabel Pizzolante, Mari Saffre, Grete Sallo, Katariina Torm, Johanna Tuisk, Darja Zaboronok.
Exhibition design: Trine Ots, Grete Sallo.
With thanks to: Pallas University of Applied Sciences, MTÜ Seltsielu, Muhu Kudula, MTÜ Muhu Maalammas, Liiva Pastoraat, Liiva Kohvik.

More information:
Liisi Tamm
liisi.tamm@pallasart.ee
505 8322

Gallery Pallas
galerii@pallasart.ee
734 9954
Tue-Sat 11-18
Riia 11, Tartu
www.facebook.com/GaleriiPallas

Coverphoto: Photos from the Muhu exhibition, left: Leena Isabel Pizzolante’s lamp and, on the right, Trine Otsa’ s chair. Photo by Liisi Tamm.