Parliament opens woven rug exhibition marking Estonia’s restored independence

The Estonian parliament will open a woven rug exhibition dedicated to the restoration of Estonia’s independence on Wednesday, ERR reports.

“Woven from Heritage” features works by Anu Raud, Christi Kütt and textile students from the heritage technology programme at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy.

Woven rugs have their roots in Estonian farm culture, where they served both practical purposes and conveyed meaning. The exhibition brings together rugs carrying different messages, with their colours, shapes and symbols telling stories about home, nature, people and time.

Raud’s work combines Estonian folk-art heritage, personal memories and deep respect for rural life. Her rugs are characterised by a strong symbolic language and compositions that bring everyday objects and national motifs together into artistic wholes. A generation of textile artists and craftspeople inspired by folk heritage has emerged under her guidance and example.

Kütt, a lecturer and graduate of the first class of the national textile programme, creates woven rugs that approach the heritage of traditional Estonian rugs in a contemporary way, combining stories, symbols and personal interpretations.

The artists represented in the exhibition are connected by the Viljandi Culture Academy, where a national textile programme was established in 1994 under Raud’s leadership. The programme later developed into the heritage technology programme.

The academy’s material cultural heritage research and development centre aims to preserve, study and creatively develop Estonia’s traditional craft culture while connecting heritage with the needs of modern life. Students can learn local craft techniques, skills and materials in textile, construction, metalwork and circular technology programmes. Designing and weaving woven rugs has been an important part of textile studies from the beginning.

Parliamentary Speaker Lauri Hussar will open the exhibition on August 19. It will remain on display in the art hall of Toompea Castle and on the walls in front of the session hall until October 15, 2026.

Visitors can see the exhibition from Monday to Thursday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. They must present an identity document when entering Toompea Castle.