SMS. WIFI. OK. Baltic New Painting + La Viscosa. Textile Factory.

OVER 100 ARTISTS FROM ESTONIA, LATVIA AND LITHUANIA

SMS. WIFI. OK. The linguistic commonality of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian signifies the younger generation’s experience of a world with intermittent, intense and constantly recoded information exchange. “Baltic New Painting” asks how a slow, bodily and materially present medium – painting – functions in such an environment.

“SMS. WIFI. OK.” – abbreviations that are understood equally in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian, refer to a shared communication space where meaning moves quickly, scarcely and across borders. The title of the exhibition connects this linguistic commonality with the experience of the younger generation: a world where information exchange is intermittent, intense and constantly recoded. “Baltic New Painting” asks how painting – a slow, corporeal and materially present medium – functions in such an environment.

The exhibition brings together over a hundred artists from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, offering a cross-section of how the younger generation uses and understands the medium of painting today. The focus is on painting as a way of thinking and perceiving in an era characterized by visual abundance, digital speed and screen-basedness. Color, surface and material are not merely formal tools here, but ways of relating to space, identity, emotions and history.

“Baltic New Painting” creates a dialogue between artists from three countries, highlighting both regional commonalities and specific cultural shifts. Generational experience – growing up in a globalized, information-dense environment – ​​unites the artists more than national differences divide them. The works intertwine personal narratives and broader social strata, often simultaneously intimate and distanced, as if they were abbreviated messages that point to something larger.

Although painting has a long and institutionally strong tradition in the Baltic States, the younger generation does not treat it as a closed authority, but as a flexible starting point. Painting is a dynamic practice – a medium that can slow down the gaze, create dense and quickly conveyed messages.  

The aim of the exhibition is not to define a new “Baltic painting”, but to open up a multi-layered view of how painting works today. It is a space where tradition and experimentation do not oppose each other, but exist in parallel. Like the abbreviations of the title, the meaning here is condensed, mobile and shared – but never completely fixed.

Exhibition curators: Reigo Kuivjõgi and Bianka Soe
Assistant: Adele Kuivjõgi
Catalog designer: Anastassia Musakko
Production: Viscosa Culture Factory

La Viscosa. Textile Factory

The exhibition “La Viscosa. Textile Factory” organized by the Estonian Textile Artists’ Union is dedicated to the rebirth of the imposing artificial silk factory founded in 1912 as the Viscosa Culture Factory and to Hiiumaa as an incredibly exciting island of textile industry. The artists also address the broader meaning of the Estonian textile industry and textiles as a material through architecture, logistics and women’s employment. The exhibition features 27 artists, the curators are Aet Ollisaar and Lylian Lainoja (Meister), the exhibition designer is Madis Liplap, and the graphic designer is Kadi Pajupuu. The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. The exhibition runs from 20.06–31.10.2026.

The exhibition will take place in the Cathedral of the Viscosa Culture Factory and is paid, the exhibition ticket is shared with the exhibition of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian painters “SMS. OK. WIFI. Baltic New Painting” taking place in the Viscosa Gallery.