“Constellations in Metal: Charting Typographic Identities of the Interwar Baltics“
28.08.2026-31.03.2027
Opening: 28.08.2026, at 18.00
Location: TYPA galerii, Kastani 48f
Entrance free.
On August 28th we are opening a new exhibition titled “Constellations in Metal”, which explores the production and use of typefaces across Estonia and the Baltic countries. The written word has been central to Baltic identity from the emergence of the first printing houses in Riga, Tartu and Tallinn in the 16th–17th centuries to the present day.
This exhibition draws attention to the typographic culture which influences contemporary textual identity: the years of the first Republics of Estonia and Latvia, from 1918 to the Soviet occupation of 1940, when newly independent states shaped their printed language on its own terms for the first time. The exhibition sheds light on this little-known period of typographic heritage.
The exhibition will be based on typographic collections preserved in Estonia today. These include collections of metal type at the TYPA Printing and Paper Art Centre and at the Estonian Academy of Arts, as well as a collection of type specimen books from Estonian printing houses held at TYPA.
The exhibition presents the initial findings of the Ministry of Culture Creative Research Grant (KUM-LU) “Constellations in Type: Estonian Print Identity, 1918-1940”. The exhibition is sponsored and supported by the Association of the Advancement of Baltic Studies and the Estonian Cultural Ministry.
Exhibition opening is a part of the PRESSFEST programme. The opening is on the 28th of August at 18.00 at TYPA gallery, Kastani 48f. The exhibition is open for visitors since 17.30!
The exhibition is open from 28.08.2026 to 31.03.2027. TYPA Gallery is open Wed-Sun, from 12.00-18.00.