Programme
Wednesday 16.09
Collectors’ Special: invitation only
Thursday 17.09
Collectors’ Special: invitation only
Friday 18.09
Collectors’ Special: invitation only
Artist Talk with the recipient of Artproof Production Grant 2026 (in English)
Moderator
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Hedi Jaansoo (ee)
Artist, Photographer,
Manager at the Estonian Union of Photography Artists (FOKU) and FOKU GalleryHedi Jaansoo is an artist and photographer based in Tallinn. She graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with an MA in Contemporary Art (2018) and a BA in Photography (2014), and also studied at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (2012–2013). Her work attends to fragilities, weaknesses, tensions, and beauties, among other—mainly small—things. Her practice combines photography, flowers, non-functional jewellery, unfinished thoughts and uncertain decisions, (be)longing and acceptance. A recurring thread throughout her work is a sustained attention to women, grandmothers, gentle acts of resistance, and near-invisibility. In 2023, she was an artist-in-residence at WIELS in Brussels.
She currently manages the Estonian Union of Photography Artists (FOKU) and FOKU Gallery and is the Project Manager of Foto Tallinn 2026.
Artist
Guided Tour (in Estonian) & Flash Talk with an Artist (in Estonian)
Tour guide
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Sabina Ummelas (ee)
Art Historian and Critic
Sabina Ummelas is a young art historian and critic based in Tallinn. She studied at the Department of Art History and Visual Culture at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She currently works as an assistant at Punctum Gallery and promotes Estonian contemporary art through social media.
Artist
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Tanja Muravskaja
presented by FOKU Gallery
FOKU Talks with Artists: Porcelain Plates, Frozen Clocks and a Shared Space (in English)
Moderator
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Hedi Jaansoo (ee)
Artist, Photographer,
Manager at the Estonian Union of Photography Artists (FOKU) and FOKU GalleryHedi Jaansoo is an artist and photographer based in Tallinn. She graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with an MA in Contemporary Art (2018) and a BA in Photography (2014), and also studied at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (2012–2013). Her work attends to fragilities, weaknesses, tensions, and beauties, among other—mainly small—things. Her practice combines photography, flowers, non-functional jewellery, unfinished thoughts and uncertain decisions, (be)longing and acceptance. A recurring thread throughout her work is a sustained attention to women, grandmothers, gentle acts of resistance, and near-invisibility. In 2023, she was an artist-in-residence at WIELS in Brussels.
She currently manages the Estonian Union of Photography Artists (FOKU) and FOKU Gallery and is the Project Manager of Foto Tallinn 2026.
Artists
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Erkki Huilla (fi)
presented by The Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki
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Johanna Adojaan (ee)
presented by FOKU Gallery
Curator’s Tour (in Estonian) & Flash Talk with an Artist (in English)
Curator
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Lilian Hiob-Küttis (ee)
Artistic Director of Foto Tallinn 2026,
Curator, Co-Founder of ELLELLLilian Hiob-Küttis is a curator and gallerist. Her international expertise stems from her long-standing work at Temnikova & Kasela Gallery and at ELLELL, Estonia’s first art advisory firm.
She holds a Master’s degree in Art History and Visual Culture from the Estonian Academy of Arts, where she is also a guest lecturer in curatorial studies. She teaches the course The ABC of Art Collecting at the Estonian Academy of Arts Open Academy.
She has curated exhibitions at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Punctum Gallery, Kogo Gallery, Rüki Gallery, Margot Samel Gallery in New York, Asni Gallery in Riga, Vaal Gallery, Dr. Eva Kahan Foundation in Budapest, and elsewhere.
Artist
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Emma Sarpaniemi (fi)
presented by Helsinki Contemporary
New Directions, Old Questions: Perspectives on Contemporary Art in the Baltics & Nordic Region (in English)
Moderator
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Sakari Tervo (fi)
Pitted Dates
Curator, Educator, Founder of Pitted Dates
Sakari Tervo is a curator and educator whose curatorial practice is informed by his background in fine art. He founded the Helsinki-based exhibition platform Pitted Dates in 2023 and works as a university teacher at Aalto University. Prior to founding Pitted Dates, he curated a series of online exhibitions (2018–2021) and co-directed the artist-run spaces Titanik in Turku (2012–2014) and Sorbus in Helsinki (2014–2019).
Speakers & Artists
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Elīna Drāke (lv)
ASNI
Curator, Art Dealer, Director at ASNI gallery
Elīna Drāke is a curator and gallerist based in Riga, Latvia. She holds a Master’s degree in Curating from the Art Academy of Latvia and has curated and produced more than 30 exhibitions, ranging from ambitious international projects to experimental showcases of emerging talent. She is the co-founder of the independent gallery ASNI in Riga, dedicated to presenting solo and group exhibitions that highlight the urgency, diversity, and experimental spirit of today’s Baltic art scene.
Elīna also serves as Programme Director of Riga Art Week and is a member of the Board of the Gallery Association of Latvia. Her professional practice encompasses collaborations with both emerging and established artists and curators worldwide, representing Latvian artists at major art fairs across Europe and the United States, and fostering meaningful connections between artists, collectors, and institutions.
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Saturday 19.09
Special Tour: Collecting for Your Home, A Personal View (in Estonian)
Tour Guides
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Stella Runnel & Tõnu Runnel (ee)
Stella Runnel is the founder and designer behind the Stella Soomlais brand, as well as a workshop facilitator.
Tõnu Runnel is a designer, photographer and entrepreneur.
Together, this exceptional and dynamic duo will take the audience of Foto Tallinn on a special tour, offering their personal perspectives and insights. A tour not to be missed!
Curator’s Tour (in English) & Flash Talk with an Artist (in English)
Curator
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Lilian Hiob-Küttis (ee)
Artistic Director of Foto Tallinn 2026,
Curator, Co-Founder of ELLELLLilian Hiob-Küttis is a curator and gallerist. Her international expertise stems from her long-standing work at Temnikova & Kasela Gallery and at ELLELL, Estonia’s first art advisory firm.
She holds a Master’s degree in Art History and Visual Culture from the Estonian Academy of Arts, where she is also a guest lecturer in curatorial studies. She teaches the course The ABC of Art Collecting at the Estonian Academy of Arts Open Academy.
She has curated exhibitions at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Punctum Gallery, Kogo Gallery, Rüki Gallery, Margot Samel Gallery in New York, Asni Gallery in Riga, Vaal Gallery, Dr. Eva Kahan Foundation in Budapest, and elsewhere.
Artist
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Kincső Bede (hu/ro)
presented by TOBE Gallery
Private and Corporate Collectors: Art as an Investment, a Reflection of Identity, or a Legacy for the Future? (in Estonian)
Moderator
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Taivi Koitla (ee)
Taivi Koitla is a growth strategist, consultant, and award-winning brand and communications executive. Her work has received more than 40 industry awards. She is a long-standing supporter and initiator of cultural and arts projects, and a member of the Foto Tallinn organising team.
Speakers
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Monika Kallas-Anton (ee)
SEB
Management Board member, and the Head of Retail Banking of SEB
Monika Kallas-Anton is a Member of the Management Board of SEB Bank and Head of Retail Banking. Much of Kallas-Anton’s career has unfolded in the world of numbers, complemented by a strong commitment to contributing to the wider community through culture and the art, both through the international organisations she has worked for and through her personal passion for art and collecting.
In the panel discussion, Monika Kallas-Anton will share her perspectives, strategies and principles, with a particular focus on corporate art collecting.
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Priit Lepasepp (ee)
Sunly
CEO and Founder of Sunly
Priit Lepasepp is the co-founder and CEO of renewable energy company Sunly. Alongside its business activities and engagement with local communities, Sunly is a major supporter of contemporary art, regularly acquiring works, primarily by Estonian artists, for its curated collection and supporting important art events. Sunly is a long-standing supporter of Foto Tallinn.
The ABCs of Art Collecting and a Special Tour with ELLELL (in Estonian)
Speakers
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Kadi-Ell Tähiste (ee)
Executive Director of Foto Tallinn, Director at Association of Estonian Art Institutions,
Co-Founder of ELLELLKadi-Ell Tähiste has worked across a range of roles in the arts for nearly 15 years. She is the Director of the Association of Estonian Art Institutions (KAEL), which coordinates cooperation and advocacy among more than thirty Estonian art museums, galleries, and support organisations. She also serves as the Executive Director of Foto Tallinn, Estonia’s only art fair dedicated to photography; is the co-founder, together with Lilian Hiob-Küttis, of ELLELL, a consultancy specialising in art advisory; and is a guest lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts and the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy.
Tähiste has extensive and multifaceted experience in the field of contemporary art. She has worked at the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center, where her focus was on developing the gallery sector and promoting the international export of Estonian art; contributed to the establishment of Kai Art Center and its early years of operation; and worked at Vaal Gallery, Estonia’s oldest private gallery, as well as at the Ministry of Culture. She has also conceived and delivered numerous art projects.
Tähiste holds a Master’s degree in Law, cum laude, from the University of Tartu. She is an active contributor to discussions on cultural policy and a consistent advocate for greater visibility and sustainability in the arts, as well as for improved working conditions for artists and other creative professionals.
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Lilian Hiob-Küttis (ee)
Artistic Director of Foto Tallinn 2026,
Curator, Co-Founder of ELLELLLilian Hiob-Küttis is a curator and gallerist. Her international expertise stems from her long-standing work at Temnikova & Kasela Gallery and at ELLELL, Estonia’s first art advisory firm.
She holds a Master’s degree in Art History and Visual Culture from the Estonian Academy of Arts, where she is also a guest lecturer in curatorial studies. She teaches the course The ABC of Art Collecting at the Estonian Academy of Arts Open Academy.
She has curated exhibitions at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Punctum Gallery, Kogo Gallery, Rüki Gallery, Margot Samel Gallery in New York, Asni Gallery in Riga, Vaal Gallery, Dr. Eva Kahan Foundation in Budapest, and elsewhere.
What Does a Museum Do to a Photograph? (in English)
Moderator
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Indrek Grigor (ee)
Tartu Art Museum
Head of the Exhibitions Department at Tartu Art Museum
Indrek Grigor is Head of the Exhibitions Department at Tartu Art Museum. Prior to that, he served for eight years as Gallery Manager for the three galleries of the Tartu Artists’ Union. Grigor has curated numerous exhibitions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden and has participated in the production of more than 500 exhibitions. He has been active as an art critic since 2007, writing for the Estonian cultural weekly Sirp, the magazine Kunst.ee, the portal Echo Gone Wrong, and various other publications across the Baltics. From 2010 to 2020, he co-edited the art criticism programme Ministry of Art for Estonian Public Broadcasting.
Grigor’s academic background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Semiotics and a Master’s degree in Art History, both from the University of Tartu.
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Anna Tellgren (se)
Moderna Museet
Art Historian, Curator of Photography and Head of Research at Moderna Museet
Anna Tellgren is Curator of Photography and Head of Research at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. She possesses extensive knowledge of the history of photography up to the present day, with particular focus on the Nordic and Baltic art scenes.
She has curated numerous exhibitions including Annika Elisabeth von Hausswolff Alternative Secrecy (2021). The exhibition Francesca Woodman. On Being an Angel (2015) has been touring internationally for several years. In 2023 she was in the curatorial team of the exhibition Søsterskap Contemporary Nordic Photography at Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles.
Among her most recent publications are contributions in A World History of Women Photographers (2022) and Fotografihistorier. Fotografi och bildbruk i Sverige (2022), a new history of Swedish photography.
Guided tour (in Estonian) & Flash Talk with an Artist (in English)
Tour guide
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Sabina Ummelas (ee)
Art Historian and Critic
Sabina Ummelas is a young art historian and critic based in Tallinn. She studied at the Department of Art History and Visual Culture at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She currently works as an assistant at Punctum Gallery and promotes Estonian contemporary art through social media.
Artist
Sunday 20.09
Curator’s Tour (in Estonian) & Flash Talk with an Artist (in English)
Curator
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Lilian Hiob-Küttis (ee)
Artistic Director of Foto Tallinn 2026,
Curator, Co-Founder of ELLELLLilian Hiob-Küttis is a curator and gallerist. Her international expertise stems from her long-standing work at Temnikova & Kasela Gallery and at ELLELL, Estonia’s first art advisory firm.
She holds a Master’s degree in Art History and Visual Culture from the Estonian Academy of Arts, where she is also a guest lecturer in curatorial studies. She teaches the course The ABC of Art Collecting at the Estonian Academy of Arts Open Academy.
She has curated exhibitions at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Punctum Gallery, Kogo Gallery, Rüki Gallery, Margot Samel Gallery in New York, Asni Gallery in Riga, Vaal Gallery, Dr. Eva Kahan Foundation in Budapest, and elsewhere.
Artist
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Janina Sabaliauskaitė (lt/uk)
presented by Drifts Gallery
Special Tour: Photo Books Extra. Introducing selected new titles featuring Foto Tallinn Exhibitors (in English)
Tour Guide & Speaker
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Sara Giuliattini (it/fr)
Polycopies
Curator, Co-Director of the photography publishing house Polycopies
Sara Giuliattini Co-Director of the photography publishing house Polycopies, contributes in-depth knowledge of the history of photography and the latest developments in contemporary photographic practice.
After studying art history in Florence and political science in Paris, Sara Giuliattini took part in the creation of Le BAL, an exhibition space dedicated to documentary photography in Paris in 2010.
Today she co-directs, together with Laurent Chardon and Sebastian Hau, Polycopies, a non-profit organization for the dissemination and promotion of independent and experimental publishing practices in photography.
In 2024, she joined the team at La Chambre, an exhibition and training space dedicated to photography in Strasbourg, as a curator.
Her professional career combines knowledge of the contemporary and international photography scene with extensive experience in the development of artistic and cultural projects. For nearly 15 years, she has been committed to working with photographers in art centres, publishing houses and other exhibition spaces.
The Perks of Being Elastic: Mapping the Nordics and Baltics in the International Art Market (in English)
Moderator
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Šelda Puķīte (lv/ee)
Kogo Gallery
Curator, Writer, Researcher
Šelda Puķīte is a Latvian curator, writer, and researcher based in Estonia. She holds a BA (2010) and MA (2012) in Art History and Theory from the Art Academy of Latvia. Her research-driven curatorial practice focuses on immersive exhibition narratives that explore sociopolitical issues, women’s histories and spaces, high and popular culture, and ecological thought.
Since 2020, Puķīte has been part of the curatorial team at Kogo Gallery in Tartu, where she works as International Project Manager and curator of the exhibition programme. Her recent curatorial projects include Thrifters and Transformers (2026) at Kogo Gallery, Tartu; Silver Girls. Retouched History of Baltic Photography (2025), co-curated with Agnė Narušytė and Indrek Grigor at the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius; and White Dwarfs and All Those Beautiful Nebulas (2024) at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga.
In 2026, Silver Girls received the Latvian Annual Art Award for Event of the Year, recognising both the exhibition and its accompanying publication.
Speakers
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Iveta Gabaliņa (lv)
ISSP
Curator, Photographer, Director at ISSP Gallery
Iveta Gabaliņa is a curator, photographer, and co-founder and director of ISSP Gallery in Riga. She holds a Master’s degree in Photography from Aalto University in Finland and a Master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from the Art Academy of Latvia, where she is currently pursuing a professional doctorate in art. Iveta has received several international photography awards, including the C/O Berlin Talents Award (2013), the Burn Magazine Award, and the CDS Documentary Photography Award. Her work is held in major art collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, and is regularly exhibited both in Latvia and internationally. Alongside her artistic and curatorial practice, Iveta mentors emerging photographers on behalf of ISSP through Futures, a European photography platform. She is also one of the organisers of the Latvian Art Annual Award.
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Katja Räisänen (fi)
Helsinki Contemporary
Sales Director at Helsinki Contemporary
Katja Räisänen (MA) works as a Sales Director at one of the leading Finnish contemporary galleries, Helsinki Contemporary.
She has extensive professional experience in the field of contemporary art in Finland and internationally, including management positions, contemporary art sales, artist and corporate collaboration, curatorial work and communications. Her career has been guided by a curiosity to develop gallery business and a passion for finding ways to bring art into people’s lives. -
Mailis Timmi (ee)
Tütar Gallery
Director at Tütar Gallery
Mailis Timmi is the founder and director of Tütar Gallery, established in 2023. Her work is dedicated to strengthening the position of contemporary Estonian art on the international art market and creating long-term international opportunities for artists. In addition to Estonia, Tütar has presented the work of Estonian artists in Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and Mexico, while actively building connections across the international network of galleries, art fairs, collectors and art institutions.
Guided Tour (in Estonian) & Flash Talk with an Artist (in Estonian)
Tour guide
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Sabina Ummelas (ee)
Art Historian and Critic
Sabina Ummelas is a young art historian and critic based in Tallinn. She studied at the Department of Art History and Visual Culture at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She currently works as an assistant at Punctum Gallery and promotes Estonian contemporary art through social media.
Artist
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Sigrid Viir
presented by Temnikova & Kasela Gallery
Foto Tallinn reserves the right to make changes to the programme
