The inspiration for this exhibition came from the Craft Studies program at EKA, which wanted to introduce young designers to the works of their predecessors. The students, however, then took it a step further and provided specific feedback on the pieces, each following their own style and interests.

"These interventions are diverse indeed," acknowledged ETDM curator Sandra Nuut. "Some students are engaging directly with specific works, having found a suitable piece. Some connect to their family heritage, intervening directly into display cases to reinterpret what the museum does and how these objects were once used."

One particularly personal case is that of master's student Hanna Segerkrantz, who chose to engage with a set of blown glass vases from 1973, produced by ARS but designed by her own grandmother, Maie-Hele Segerkrantz.

"I chose one detail – the addition of glass threads to the rim of the vase – and turned it on its head," Segerkrantz explained. "I produced a series of glasses that indirectly reflect her design style, but are much more experimental."

Nuut noted that some of the students' approaches were more radical yet.

"For example, Rait Lõhmus has examined the legacy of Tarbeklaas and its products in the 1970s, and remade several pitchers and glasses from the famous Valli series," she explained. "A sort of rethinking – but on the other hand generating a completely contemporary new layer. We're seeing the thoughts of our new generation of artists and designers."

"Since I've already worked in my master's thesis with reshaping existing forms, I see my current work as a collaboration between the previous author and myself," Lõhmus said, commenting on his work in the exhibition. "I interpret and see it as highlighting and valuing the existing and the created."

The exhibition "Selected Interventions" features the works of Sofiya Babiy, Iohan Figueroa Rojas, Rait Lõhmus, Juulia Aleksandra Mikson, Alyona Movko-Mägi, Katariin Mudist, Maarja Mäemets, Kati Saarits, Hannah Segerkrantz and Elias Sormanen.

"Selected Interventions" will remain dispersed throughout the permanent exhibition at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (ETDM) through Sunday, January 26.

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