In 2015 I exhibited digital paintings as part of the FutuMuhu Festival in Estonia, alongside artists from Estonia, Bulgaria, Russia and Germany. It was a joint exhibition of digital painting, music and installation, done together with the Russian philosopher and artist Andrei Azsacra. As part of it, I was listed in Estonia’s official state catalogue of artists.
What Futu Muhu is
Futu Muhu is an annual art festival that has run since 2015 at the Muhu Art Residency (Muhu Kunstitalu), an artist-in-residence house under the Estonian Painters’ Association on Muhu Island. Tiiu Rebane has curated it from the start. Each edition works around a theme — Future-Horizon in 2015, Art and Energy in 2016, Painting the Forest in 2018, Flora & Fauna in 2022, among others — and the resulting exhibitions have travelled well beyond the island itself, to Tallinn, Paris, and Krems an der Donau.
Still active
The residency’s international programme hasn’t stopped. A painting camp on Muhu is scheduled for June 2026, again curated by Tiiu Rebane, tied to a wider Baltic-Nordic collaboration. The island residency is a living project, not an archive.
Seven years later
Preparing to apply for an exhibition in Germany, I asked Tiiu Rebane — who had invited Andrei and me to Estonia in 2015 — for a letter of recommendation. Tiiu is an established painter and curator, and since 2018 Chairwoman of the Estonian Painters’ Association. She agreed, and what she sent back went well beyond a formality: a substantial, considered assessment of the work itself.
Reading it again, what stays with me isn’t the praise — it’s the recognition. Someone with real standing in that field looked closely and took the work seriously. That’s worth more than encouragement. It’s a data point.
I hope at some point there’s a chance to return the support in kind.
What’s next
Reconnecting with Tiiu and exploring another exhibition in Estonia is on the list. Nothing scheduled yet — but the door, as it was in 2015, is still open.
Originally published May 2022, updated 2026.
Links: Estonian Painters’ Association · Tiiu Rebane · Futu Muhu