Tactile Baltics is excited to present a curated selection of contemporary Baltic design at MoscaPartners Variations during Milano Design Week 2025 (7–13 April). This exhibition celebrates innovation, craftsmanship, and cultural storytelling from the Baltic region, offering a rare opportunity to experience its artistic spirit at Milan's iconic Palazzo Litta.

Featuring work by 21 designers, the exhibition will present furniture, lighting, textiles, tableware, craft, and collectible design, all driven by a commitment to material experimentation, sustainability, and circular design principles. Focusing on the tactile nature of design, visitors will engage with how traditional craftsmanship intersects with cutting-edge technology, exploring the dynamic interplay of form, function, and heritage.

With a blend of established and emerging designers, Tactile Baltics will unveil a compelling mix of designs from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, illustrating the diverse, innovative spirit of the Baltics.

Tactile Baltics Studio Sarmīte — Studio Sarmīte

New product launches: Material Experiments and Sustainable Innovations

Heiter X is a Tallinn- and London-based experimental artist-designer exploring the connections between food, people, and the environment. Specialising in sustainable design, she creates sculptural forms that reveal the unseen energies of materials, considering objects as vessels of presence and transformation. Her new work for Milan Design Week, AXIOM-1 and AXIOM-2, consists of sculptural objects made from cork and raw clay, exploring spatial consciousness and material transformation. Inspired by altars and standing stones, they act as vessels for plants, objects, or offerings, shaping the atmosphere of a space. Designed to transcend time, they connect ancient rituals with speculative futures.

The Estonian Academy of Arts project SLOW DESIGN explored sustainable design, with students creating joyful, stylish objects for modern homes. They visited the Estonian ceramic factory EEPO to learn about production before developing their own pieces. Among them, ceramic student Teresa RA, created the Tilt Collection—a porcelain drinking set inspired by bamboo water pipes. This two-carafe, multi-cup set balances simplicity and elegance. With a background in Philosophy and Art, Teresa explores ceramics through design and sustainability, collaborating with Clay Kitchen Portugal and experimenting with glazes.

The functional Māra shelf is part of Gateris Works' latest collection, inspired by the Latvian visual code and its transformation into everyday objects. Rooted in vernacular carpentry, it celebrates naivety and clumsiness in a contemporary form, its robust form takes inspiration from the Māra cross, a Latvian folk symbol. Crafted from solid wood, it pays tribute to Latvian identity and is built to last for generations. Gateris Works, a Riga-based studio founded in 2023 by architect Reinis Leo Miķelsons and designer Eva Abduliņa, focuses on spatial, environmental, and furniture design, with their work shortlisted for the 2024 National Design Award of Latvia.

Studio Sarmīte, led by Latvian designer and material researcher Sarmīte Poļakova, focuses on transforming industry waste into circular concepts, exploring material lifecycles through hands-on experimentation. Her PineSkins material repurposes bark, a byproduct of the tree-cutting industry, into a novel material for interior design. Reminiscent is a luxury three-piece furniture collection clad in PineSkins that transforms pine bark into a rich sensory experience, with its delicate, leathery surface blending warm tones and a subtle forest fragrance, reflecting the studio’s philosophy of uncovering hidden beauty in overlooked resources.

Exhibitors at Tactile Baltics

Alongside new launches, Tactile Baltics presents a diverse showcase of Baltic designers, where craft meets contemporary innovation.

Estonia:
Textile designer Annike Laigo’s elegant Archipelago rug collection, crafted from renewable wool, is inspired by the contours of Nordic landscapes and organic forms. The textural P Wise pendant lamp and Lo Blox furniture by Myceen will be showcased at Tactile Baltics in new colours. Created from mycelium-based materials, these pieces offer sustainable, multifunctional designs by award-winning Estonian designer Siim Karro. Kertu Liisa Lepik’s playful Ade series reimagines the rigid Plymax material by combining bent birch plywood and polished stainless steel to create functional mirrors that double as abstract artwork.

Legendary Estonian workplace furniture manufacturer Standard celebrates 80 years of design at Tactile Baltics with the re-edition of the iconic 1973 armchair, designed by Maile Grünberg and Juta Lember. Featuring bent tube construction and upholstered bent plywood, it embodies the bold colors and design of the 1970s. ‘THIRST’, is a series of mold-blown, hand-sculpted glass watering cans by experimental Stockholm based glass artist Maarja Mäemets, celebrates the versatility of glass, transforming the act of pouring into a sacred ritual. ‘SAND CASTLES’, also by Mäemets, explores mindfulness through glass domes, both collections merging artistry with conceptual exploration.

Latvia:
Award-winning Latvian architectural and design practice ĒTER will showcase its ASMR-themed collection, featuring a mattress, daybed, and table that transform ASMR’s sensory qualities into calming, functional pieces for wellbeing and healthcare spaces. These designs integrate natural forms with ergonomic comfort, redefining relaxation. Riga-based Dace Sūna will present a new version of her ethereal Vertical Fractal Helium Candles. Handcrafted from translucent tubing filled with helium, the candles emit soft yellow-pink glows. Inspired by the self-replicating pattern of fractals, these sculptural lighting pieces seamlessly blend science and design

Renowned Latvian glass artist Artis Nīmanis' striking minimalist sculpture NEW LINE, has been crafted using advanced techniques with titanium coatings, to create a symphony of light and form. Contemporary textile and visual artist Emma Sofia's Desire Wall Hanging, made from cotton, wool, linen, and silk, explores mental health, addiction, and self-denial. Through tufted textiles, she contrasts soft materials with powerful messages, inviting reflection on personal obstacles and the tools we possess to create a better future.

The Sweet Water collection by ceramic design studio Boterra, created by Irita Tilane Pakalniņa, draws inspiration from northern lakes, blending natural textures and various clays. Each handcrafted ceramic piece captures the raw beauty of nature, reflecting the uniqueness of its surroundings and transforming the essence of the Latvian environment into artful design.

Lithuania:
Mantas Lesauskas’ unique T SW Small Book Shelf, part of his Slipcover collection, features a functionalist design for small books, combining aluminium mesh curtains and exposed bearings. Its avant-garde aluminium-cast feet, digitally manipulated from a Trumpeter Swan specimen, reflect Lesauskas' exploration of historical narratives, power structures, and material culture. Experimental designer Vilius Dringelis’ Dinner in Brussels candle holder, crafted from pewtered aluminium, transforms urban found objects into exclusive design elements. Inspired by a discarded kebab wrapper foil, it reflects Dringelis' unique approach of blending digital technology with everyday urban impressions to create original interior accents with compelling stories.

Devoted Surfaces No. 2 by Vilnius-based Marija Puipaitė explores the human body’s essence, inspired by 16th-17th century anatomy. Crafted from birchwood and leather, this furniture piece blends sensuality with scientific inquiry, forging an intimate connection with the user, echoing Puipaitė’s research on desire’s agency. Liepa Gradauskaitė’s Pod, crafted from Lithuanian willow, is a sculptural, functional furniture inspired by childhood drawings. Handmade using traditional techniques, it combines aesthetic beauty with practical storage, celebrating cultural heritage and inner freedom, while appealing to modern sensibilities with its sustainable and biodegradable design.

Swamp for Laumės Table by Paulina Vasiliauskaitė draws inspiration from Lithuanian mythology, blending ash wood, glass, and stainless steel. Fusing traditional folklore with industrial techniques, the table explores themes of destiny, the unconscious, and the passage of time through metaphorical design and contemporary craftsmanship. Liucija Kostiva’s Secret Garden tapestry, made from 100% cotton, invites interaction by revealing hidden secrets beneath its top layer. Drawing from topiary aesthetics, it examines our impulse to sculpt nature, reflecting both the pursuit of perfection and the wild, untamed aspects of existence through woven art. Copenhagen-based duo, lighting designer Ruta Palionyte and architect Ieva Baranauskaite, present Daydreaming Objects' Stem Light, part of the Soft Solids series. Using natural wax, steel, and light, the modular design explores growth and regeneration in nature, reflecting on the potential of “soft solids” in contemporary design while blending function with storytelling.

About Tactile Baltics

Following a successful debut at London Design Festival 2021, where it received an enthusiastic response, Tactile Baltics continues to serve as a platform for contemporary Baltic design, fostering appreciation and international recognition. The 2021 showcase, part of the Shoreditch Design Triangle, allowed visitors to connect with the tactile beauty of Baltic nature and materiality. In collaboration with Adorno, a curated digital gallery for collectible design, Tactile Baltics also presented an online collection under the theme “Designing Futures,” extending its impact beyond the physical exhibition.

Tactile Baltics at Milan Design Week 2025 is funded by the Baltic Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Estonia and supported by the Embassies of the Republic of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in Italy.

Tactile Baltics

Baltic Design Exhibition
Dates: 7–13 April 2025

Press Preview : 6th April 12pm till 7pm
Venue: Room 16 at MoscaPartners Variations, Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24, 20121 Milano
Website: https://tactilebaltics.com