From February 17 to March 3 visitors of Viru Keskus will have the opportunity to enjoy cosmic sculptures created by the fashion students of the Estonian Art Academy at the Estonian Art Academy exhibition “Elav hõbe” (Living Silver) of experimental fashion shapes by fashion, textile and accessories students. The show allows its visitors to escape their daily life by taking them on a space journey showcasing the beauty of a protective silver world.

The experimental fashion sculptures and artefacts completed under the guidance of Liisi Eesmaa and Flo Kasearu have been blended into a cohesive exhibition that was created by using kilometres of leftover ice cream paper, marine rescue blankets and other written off marine supplies. They reused 2500 metres of packaging, 50 rescue blankets and 35 metres of string in total along with some lifejackets for creating the fashion sculptures and artefacts. “We dived headfirst into a lab of daredevil ideas and used an insane amount of work hours for experimenting with the materials that in the end gave birth to magnificent fashion shapes. This proved that it is possible to conjure a million new ideas from a single stiff material,” added Liisi Eesmaa.

“Imagine that you have come to study at the Art Academy with the idea of sitting down peacefully and making small accessories, and then as a cherry on the cake of the first year of your studies, when summer at the seaside is almost within reach, you are assigned the task of thinking out of the box to create a conceptual shape of an unprecedented size. This kind of a course shows who can swim to the shore and who escapes out of the box”, said tutor Flo Kasearu.“

The fashion, textile and accessories students of the Estonian Art Academy based their experimental shape creations on the theme of protection that is such an all purpose keyword in these difficult times. The aim of the project was to offer creative inspiration to the students and guide them to create art with the most unexpected materials. Thus the kilometres of metal Premia ice cream packaging destined for destruction and marine life saving equipment written off by Viking Life-Saving Equipment Estonia AS started to seek a meaningful shape and create new life. The equipment from ships included outdated thermal bags that added ruddy orange touches to the lead grey world. 

“Our class is characterised by great willpower. The subject was completed in a difficult period due to the pandemic and everybody did an incredibly great job by completing it. This class is also characterised by diversity and therefore everybody understood the theme of protection very differently and found a way to carry out their ideas by processing the material,” added accessories student Mai Riin Salumaa. Fashion student Toomas Samuel Silmbaum noted: “Nowadays one of the most useful skills is to see the potential in anything already present, not to produce more senselessly. But to see the potential in an ice cream paper? That was quite a challenge. The capricious material required a mindful approach or else it simply disintegrated and you had to start all over. In the end I discovered that by melting together four layers of the material it became strong enough for me to carry out my idea. That is how it took as much as 1 400 metres of ice cream paper, 300 metres of wire and 17 metres of hot-water pipe to make my “Always behind you”. 

They reused 2500 metres of packaging, 50 rescue blankets and 35 metres of string in total along with some lifejackets for creating the fashion sculptures and artefacts. For the first time the photos of the show have been printed on leftover pieces of bunting cloth from Lipuvabrik, adding an even more sustainable dimension to the show. Printing on textile allows the exhibition to survive its show of two weeks in Viru Keskus as it is possible to create something new and wearable from the patterned textile. This year the show is special for its green footprint that is truly minimal, because even the exhibition stands are made of secondary materials.

The show allows its visitors to escape their daily lives by taking them on a space journey on a starship with floating sun sails to enjoy the beauty of a protective silver world.

“The message of the show by the fashion designers of the Estonian Art Academy matches the sustainability principles of Viru Keskus and therefore it is a pleasure to offer the young students an opportunity to share their creations with the wider public. Common aims are the reason why for the third year we have organised an exhibition of experimental shapes by the Estonian Art Academy in Viru Keskus,” explained the Marketing and Communication Manager of Viru Keskus Kristel Sooaru.

Estonian Art Academy, fashion, textile and accessory design 
Artists: Alice Pärtelpoeg, Anna Abrosimova, Carl-Rasmus Õunaste, Joanne-Heleene Sõrmus, Julia Korovina, Kaileen Palmsaar, Karin Nahkur, Katariina Seepter, Kristjan Lindsalu, Liis Laanisto, Liisbet Karjel, Mai Riin Salumaa, Toomas Samuel Silbaum.

Artistic Manager: Liisi Eesmaa

Photographer: Riina Varol

Tutors: Liisi Eesmaa, Flo Kasearu

Production: Piret Puppart, Sirli Pohlak

MUAH: Eliise Brigita Mõisamaa
Models: Carina Leps, Joo Ho Lee (MJ Models)

Graphic design: Kertu Kibal, Polina Zahharenkova