On June 13, the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design will open the exhibition “Garbage Kids. Shadow Objects” by the Estonian-Georgian creative collective Garbage Kids, which includes Luka Abashidze, Ulla Alla, and Nika Gabiskiria.

The main driving force behind Garbage Kids’ practice is frustration with a society that, instead of focusing on sustainability, is oriented toward growth and encourages overconsumption in a world of limited resources. In response, they use traditional craft techniques and folk wisdom to create objects from found materials – such as broken branches, scrap metal, and stones from abandoned quarries. The materials for the exhibition “Shadow Objects” were found and collected during walks in Georgia and Estonia. They include walnut wood, leftover oak planks from a winery, larch wood, and more.

“Our working method is not conventional; we value great freedom in choosing our themes. We are like children on a playground, who find joy in everything around them. Before the final result is achieved, an object undergoes many changes, depending on the wood, the mood, and all other human factors,” says Luka Abashidze, describing their work process.

Garbage Kids creates each piece like a fairy tale. These are objects meant more for experience than for function. Shadows are the medium they chose to play with this time. They twist unpredictable paths of shadows and nature, giving the objects an extra dimension and character.

Garbage Kids is an Estonian-Georgian collective composed of Luka Abashidze (b. 1993), Ulla Alla (b. 1994), and Nika Gabiskiria (b. 1992). Their background is in architecture. Ulla Alla graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts, and Luka Abashidze and Nika Gabiskiria from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. Garbage Kids was formed in 2020 alongside their architectural work as they sought an alternative that depended on no one and allowed for a free creative process. Before Garbage Kids, they worked together on the Kibe-Project, during which they restored a 19th-century wooden spiral staircase in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2022.

Garbage Kids designs and creates unique or small-batch collectible furniture and objects. Their work has previously been presented on the Obscura platform in Tbilisi (2022), at The Why Not Gallery (2024), Milan Design Week (2023, 2024), Roma Diffusa Festival (2023), and the NADA House exhibition in New York (2023). They also designed the space and furniture for the “Dear Friend” exhibition at the EKA Gallery (2022).

Objects and exhibition design: Garbage Kids
Graphic design: Rita Davis
Curator: Sandra Nuut
Exhibition team: Katharina Kala, Kristi Paap, Toomas Übner
Estonian language editor: Hille Saluäär
English language editor: Michael Haagensen

The exhibition “Garbage Kids. Shadow Objects” will be open until October 12, 2025.