The exhibition features just a selection of the many mittens preserved in the Estonian National Museum's (ERM) collections. All items on display are replicas, knitted by national handicrafts students and alumni of the University of Tartu's Viljandi Culture Academy (VKA).

"Knitting a pair of mittens requires approximately 10,000 stitches," said ERM director Laura Kipper, who traveled with the presidential delegation. "In the same way, continuous collaboration helps us weave a cultural fabric of support."

Thanking the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan for its cooperation in making the exhibition in Astana happen, Kipper noted that creating together builds deep connections and bolsters support.

"We hope the ideas born in our conversations will find their time and place and soon add a new layer of patterns to our shared cultural fabric," she said.

Kazakh Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva echoed similar sentiments.

"Just as a hand and a mitten complement each other, so our cultures, while maintaining their uniqueness, find harmony in the common desire to preserve traditions and develop them in a modern context," she said.

During the same state visit, Karis also opened an exhibition at the National Academic Library dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the earliest known publishing of an Estonian-language book.

Curated by Reet Piiri, designed by Merike Tamm and with installation by Ragnar Kekkonen and Arvi Tragel, "Hand in Glove" has toured several European countries, including Hungary, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Bulgaria and Greece.

The exhibition will remain on view at the National Museum in Astana through December 28.

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