Category: Museum

June 1st – Children’s Day
June 2nd – Jubilee: singer Kare Kauks 70
June 4th – National Flag Day. Jubilee: poet Karl-Martin Sinijärv 50
June 8th – jubilee: theatre director Ingo Normet 75
June 14th – Day of Mourning and Commemoration. Commemorating the victims of Soviet deportations in 1941 and 1949.
June 15th – Saint Vitus Day. A saying goes that it was not worth planting cabbage after this day, but sowing buckwheat was recommended. Jubilee: actor, playwright and poet Taavi Eelmaa 50
June 18th – birth anniversaries: composer Roman Toi 105, director and scenographer Tõnu Virve 75. Jubilee: humorist and journalist Gaute Kivistik 50
June 19th – birth anniversary: writer and composer Enn Vetemaa 85
21 June – summer solstice
23 June – Saint John’s Eve. Saint John’s Day is a day of beauty and happiness for all and the day set for remembering Saint John the wise. All animals and people alike had to be blessed with light. And a huge bonfire had to be made. All over Estonia, private and public bonfires are made and parties held
June 26th – birth anniversary: singer Jaak Joala 70. Jubilee: journalist Rain Kooli 50.
27 June – Saint Sampson’s Day. Not much is known about Saint Sampson’s Day. Old people say that its Estonian name ‘Seven Sleepers’ Day’ refers to the occasion when seven brothers fell asleep in church or on the way to church.
June 28th – birth anniversary: singer Vello Orumets 80. Jubilee: singer Anne Velli 75

Folk calendar via Estonian Open Air Museum

Until June 17th

CCPM Manifestal. Festival on Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

On May 13th, the new contemporary performance festival CPPM Manifestal will be launched, celebrating the development of our two-year MA in Contemporary Physical Performance Making (CPPM) students at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Looking back at their 99-hour production “Where Do We Go From Here”, which received widespread international attention last September, there is certainly reason to expect exciting experiences, a surprising creative approach and bubbling innovation from them. All these 13 new productions presented at the festival result from their artistic research projects undertaken to complete their master studies.

 The CPPM Manifestal is born in cooperation with our incredible partners: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava, Uue Loomingu Maja, Elektron, Estonian Dance Agency and Estonian Academy of Arts. The festival is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

When: Through May and June until June 17th

Where: several locations

Programme

Tickets

Whole month

Jazz Idealism 1967

The idea for the exhibition “Jazz Idealism 1967” comes from the Tallinn ’67 jazz festival. Through the recollections of the festival participants, the visitor is invited on an audio-visual journey, where against the historical background to the event, we are called to consider timeless topics such as idealism and reality and the relationship between power and the human spirit, and to reflect on what it means to be human.

The idea of the exhibition is based on the materials collected by the curator of the exhibition, music historian Heli Reimann, in the course of her research on the Tallinn ‘67 festival and a soon to be published monograph about the event. The programmes and activities accompanying the exhibition are managed by Risto Lehiste, head of the Chamber of Celebrities in Estonian Music.

When: May 11th – October 3rd

Where: Maarjamäe stables, Pirita tee 56

Ticket: 8-20 €

Whole month

Applied art exhibition  “Translucency”

Applied art in its many forms is taking over Kai Art Center this summer!

The extensive applied art exhibition “Translucency” includes 21 artists from the Nordic countries, the UK, the Netherlands, the US, Lithuania and Estonia.

The show, curated by the Danish art historian and glass artist Stine Bidstrup, focuses on the phenomenon of translucency – the mysterious and multifaceted area between transparency and opacity. Artworks exhibited at Kai are conceptual, playful and experimental. The artists look at themes like presence and absence, the private and the public, individuality and collectivity, time and temporality, politics and language, material decay and structural defects.

The exhibition features a variety of fields, techniques and materials: glass, textile, ceramics, garments, photography, sculpture, installation, jewellery, video, furniture, 3D printing, digital design etc. Alongside the international main exhibition, the 8th Tallinn Applied Art Triennial also has an exciting satellite programme, including over 20 satellite exhibitions, installations and other events taking place in various locations all over Tallinn.

When: May 29th – August 15th

Where: Kai Art Center, Peetri 12

June 1st – Sune 9th

Joanna Kalm’s performance “UITKEHA” / “BIG YAWN”

Joanna Kalm’s performance “UITKEHA”  / “BIG YAWN” is of fluidity, openness and volatility of being a human organism. Softly choreographed through a body – in this case my own, Joanna’s – so to observe the subtleties of sensing and perceiving which organize one’s being.

I allow time for the body to be expressed in space.

If it is recognized that all possibilities of language – spoken and written – are already given in the world, then what kind of expression is already given in the body?

I find myself in a mist of quickly disappearing dance, which cannot be grasped by hand nor fixed into the form of it. The sensations slip through my fingers and it is not possible to step into the same river twice. A body-self is a process consisting of personal material, the environment and you in it. I am left to follow the (dis)order of my body.

BIG YAWN is part of Joanna Kalm’s anthropology master’s degree (Tallinn University) research focused on embodied holistic self-regulation based on somatic movement. Coming from contemporary dance, she chose to deepen her awareness by delving into Body-Mind Centering® (BMC) practice founded by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.

When: June 1st, 7th, 8th and 9th at 7 p.m.

Where: Sakala 3 rehearsal studio, 5th floor

Tickets: 10-14 €

June 5

The Market of Junk and Art

This is the first market in Põhjala factory this year. If you want to sell art, crafts or just make space in your closets, you’re welcome to join. Additional information and registration for selleks – events@pohjalatehas.ee.

You’re also just welcome to find new fascinating things to buy or just browse through!

When: June 5th 10a.m – 3 p.m.

Where: Põhjala factory, Marati 5

Ticket: Free

June 10th

Jazz Idealism ‘67 Concert Programme: Tõnu Naissoo Acoustic Trio

As a satellite to the Estonian History Museum’s exhibition “Jazz Idealism ‘67”, this jazz concert celebrates the ongoing work of Tõnu Naissoo, a legitimate grand old man of Estonian jazz. Having turned 70 this year, he recorded his first jazz album as a teenager. Back then, he was the first in Estonia to used synthesizer in jazz music. He is a legendary jazz pianist, masters synthesizers, Hammond organ and is a composer who has written scores for movies and theatre, a lot of music to jazz ensembles and orchestras as well as choir and chamber music.

When: June 10th, 7 p.m.

Where: Maarjamäe stables, Pirita tee 56

Ticket: 25 €

June 5th – July 18th

EKKM exhibition Letters From a Foreign Mind

“Letters from a foreign mind” focuses on values in social context and explores themes like scarcity, neglect and care, highlighting in the process the many changes in EKKM’s recent past and near future. The building of EKKM has seen countless repairs and spatial renovations during its lifetime but is nevertheless tired and slowly crumbling. The physical and symbolic cracks are the subject matter and the habitat for artistic ideas, for visitors’ memories, its employees’ proposals, an abundance of dust and artworks that have been left behind. As a prologue to the exhibition, EKKM established a community garden in its backyard last spring, allowing to explore the openness and the wider use of space within the institution.

Where: Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM), Põhja pst 35, Rumbi 3.

When: June 5th – July 18th

Ticket: Free admission

From June 19th to September 5th

Exhibition “Modern Love (or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies)

The exhibition Modern Love looks at love and human relations in the current age of the internet, social media and high capitalism – the first age of “cold intimacy”. The exhibition looks at how the digital world, technology giants and neoliberalism have changed love and social relations, while at the same time diluting the separation between the public and the private. The exhibition also looks at how the current issues of time and space have influenced the way we communicate with one another and how the virtual has become entwined with reality. These are still two quite distinct things, although the opposite is announced. Modern Love deals with human pathologies connected to the commodification of feelings and the negative expressions of love (e.g. love for money), and for comparison it also delves into meaningful and transformative forms of love, from the personal to the political. 

Where: Tallinn Art Hall, Vabaduse väljak 8

When: June 19th – September 5th

Tickets: 0 – 12 €

The creation of this calendar is supported by the city of Tallinn and Kodurahu programme

May 1st – Spring Day, International Workers’ Day

May 6th – 90th birth anniversary of Estonian literary scholar Ülo Tonts

May 9th – Mother’s Day, Saint Nicholas’ day, Europe day. Jubilee: actor and director Toomas Suuman 70.

May 15th – Tallinn’s Day. 100th birth anniversary of director Vello Rummo

May 18th – International Museum Day

May 21st – Jubilee: writer Ira Lember 95

May 24th – Saint Urban’s Day

All month

Tallink Maijooks 

The largest spring-time movement event, Tallink Maijooks, which was supposed to take place on 22 May at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds unfortunately cannot happen this year in a normal format.

Everyone who has already signed up and want to keep the spring-time tradition alive can support the organisers by participating in the Tallink Maijooks virtual race that takes place 1-31 May.

Where: online/ participant’s choice

When: whenever

Ticket: 10 – 20 €

May 3rd until May 30th

Estonian Artists’ Association’s Spring Exhibition 2021

The long-awaited Spring Exhibition 2021 of the Estonian Artists’ Association is returning to its roots: approached from different angles, artworks completed in 2020/2021 will be exhibited at three exhibition venues of Tallinn Art Hall. The main exhibition of works selected by the jury will be displayed at Tallinn Art Hall, while two curated satellite exhibitions will be on view nearby at Tallinn City Gallery and the Art Hall Gallery. 

Where: Vabaduse väljak 8 and Harju 13

When: Until May 23rd and May 30th

Ticket: Free admission or 4-12 €

From May 3rd

An exhibition of Bruno Linneberg, an Estonian navy and intelligence officer in Seaplane Harbour

Bruno Aleksander Linneberg joined the Navy during the Estonian War of Independence. Being only 19 years old but growing into one of the most gifted and bright officers in Estonian naval forces granted with both the gift and a curse to live in a historically complicated era.

The personal exhibition “UMUK UDŽD OTB. An exhibition of Bruno Linneberg, an Estonian navy and intelligence Officer” in the Seaplane Harbour, based on research by the Estonian Maritime Museum. The exhibition explores the life and choices of an extraordinary Estonian man during the most hectic decades of the 20th century that shaped Estonia’s destiny and the entire world. Through the career of Bruno Linneberg, we get to know the story of the Estonian Navy between the two world wars and witness the destruction of an extraordinary life’s work.

Where: Vesilennuki 6

When: From May 3rd onward

Tickets: Ticket information

May 4th until May 16th

A rescripted visit to EKKM’s collections 

The opening project of the 2021 season, A rescripted visit to EKKM’s collections turns the exhibition space into a series of art storage spaces and invites visitors to take part in guided tours, conducted by the production platform RESKRIPT (Maarin Mürk and Henri Hütt). Invited by EKKM, Reskript has taken stock of EKKM’s collections, retrieved from garages and storage and gathered folklore related to the artworks and what has been left behind. This research has resulted in restructuring of EKKM’s collections, establishing of several new collections and developing suggestions for new future-oriented collecting principles.

Tours are held in Estonian, the video work and publication will be translated into English.

Tour schedule and booking: https://fienta.com/et/s/reskript-ekkm

Where: Põhja pst. 35 / Rumbi 3, Tallinn, 10415

When: May 4th until May 16th

May 13th

Opening of the exhibition Janis Rozentāls: The Dance of Life

From folk life scenes to Symbolistic visions, in an exhibition of the most popular and versatile Latvian artist of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Janis Rozentāls (1866–1916), the spirit of the era merges with his own “dance of life”. The first ever Janis Rozentāls’ exhibition in Estonia has been organised in cooperation with the Latvian National Museum of Art and marks the 155th anniversary of the birth of the artist.

Kumu Art Museum has the honour to open the exhibition Janis Rozentāls: The Dance of Life, organised in cooperation with Latvian National Museum of Art. For this summer, the exhibition brings to Tallinn the greatest masterpieces of the beloved Latvian artist and one of the symbols of Latvian culture – Janis Rozentāls (1866-1916).

The exhibition is opened by Sirje Helme, CEO of the Art Museum of Estonia, Sirje Helme; H.E. Mr Raimonds Jansons, the Ambassador of Latvia to Estonia; Māra Lāce, the Director of Latvian National Museum of Art; Kadi Polli, the Director of Kumu Art Museum, and the curator of the exhibition, Aija Brasliņa. Music is played by the ensemble Una Corda.

Where: online on Facebook live

When: May 13th at 6 p.m.

From May 13th

The Contemporary Performance Festival CPPM Manifestal

On May 13th, the new contemporary performance festival CPPM Manifestal will be launched, celebrating the development of our two-year MA in Contemporary Physical Performance Making (CPPM) students at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Looking back at their 99-hour production “Where Do We Go From Here”, which received widespread international attention last September, there is certainly reason to expect exciting experiences, a surprising creative approach and bubbling innovation from them. All these 13 new productions presented at the festival result from their artistic research projects undertaken to complete their master studies.

Where: Different locations

When: From My 13th until June 17th

Tickets: Ticket information

May 15th 

Tallinn Day

Traditionally, Tallinn Day is celebrated on May 15, this year the events take place on May 10-16.

The tradition of celebrating Tallinn Day was founded in 2002. This marks the granting of the Lübeck Law to Tallinn in 1248, which associated Tallinn with the Hanseatic League, a confederation of trading cities around the Baltic Sea.

The purpose of celebrating Tallinn Day is to value the history of the hometown and being a Tallinner, and also to introduce the history and present of the city.

Where: many places in Tallinn

When: May 15th all day

Exhibition Isolation dialogues

PHOTOGRAPHER’S HOLD ISOLATION DIALOGUES IN PICTURES

More than 120 Estonian photographers are participating in Isolation Dialogues – a large-scale project of the Tallinn Museum of Photography.

In order to provide creative output during the quarantine period and record the sense of the weird situation we are in at the moment, the Museum of Photography invited photographers and photo artists to hold photographic dialogues between themselves. The project that will run until the end of the emergency situation (17 May) is a constantly updated wordless dialogic reflection of isolation available at dialoogid.fotomuuseum.ee/. Time and again, the viewers can come back to the Isolation Dialogues and see how the emotions in seclusion have developed.

Where: Online, from 21st of May in Jaani Seegi Gallery at Rävala 2/Väike-Pääsukese 5, Tallinn

There have been several exhibitions on Gordon Matta-Clark and one of the most comprehensive ones is exhibited at KUMU until the 8th of June, 2019. Matta-Clark, an architect who uses photography for documentation of his works is revisited by a space-oriented photographer Anu Vahtra through the exhibition Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect. Anu Vahtra: Completion through removal.

Underneath the Visible

Gordon Matta-Clark, best known for his “anarchitecture” (a combination of the words “anarchy” and “architecture”) in which he gets into soon to be destroyed buildings and cuts them, uses architecture to show what is deep inside. As he cuts through floors, ceilings, and walls, he creates a new open space that was not there before. Through his usage of photography and videos for documentation, he puts the viewer in such a disoriented position that one has to fully focus to determine his standing point in that newly existing space. His works are interpreted as an effort to show how connected we are through removing connections. He cuts and digs. Through time, he cuts and digs wider and deeper. He searches for what is underneath the visible. And this time, the viewer also has the chance to go deep in Gordon Matta-Clark’s thoughts, underneath the visible, by the broad range of works exhibited at KUMU.

Problematic Family Relationships

There have been said and written a lot about his artistic medium and philosophy behind the building cuts within the terms of architectural and art historical languages. Re-exploring his works through different disciplines may help to understand and know him better. From a comparative standpoint, Matta-Clark’s relations with buildings and divided spaces within them can be interpreted as a representation of his relations with his father, Roberto Matta.

Matta-Clark’s father Roberto Matta was a well-known surreal artist who started his career as an architect. He worked at Le Corbusier’s studio for about two years in the late ‘30s and during this period it was obvious that those two men, Corbusier and Matta, were not on the same page. Almost 30 years later, the architecture education Matta-Clark had at Cornell University was dominantly founded on Le Corbusian principles which Matta-Clark was totally against. Matta-Clark’s relationship with his father was actually a problematic one. Matta had never praised his son until the day Matta-Clark died at the age of 35. In 1970, Gordon would change his surname to Matta-Clark by incorporating his mother’s maiden name. Matta-Clark had a twin brother, Sebastian (Batan), who was also an artist, a brighter one with some problems. Since they were very close and getting along quite well, Sebastian’s suicide (or fall) in 1975 would devastate Matta-Clark.

Opposition to the Father of Modern Architecture

In the ‘70s, New York’s city plan was designed through Corbusian principles. Even though the city was hosting the world’s tallest building (the Empire State Building), it was also welcoming its successors, the Twin Towers – World Trade Center. Like palaces and cathedrals of previous centuries, architecture was again used for the sake of power symbolization in the name of corporate buildings. “For Gordon, architecture had failed the common man” would say Bessa from Bronx Museum. Anarchitecture, was born due to this urge; the urge to oppose to the “father of modern architecture”.

The will to destroy the tallest buildings which symbolize the dominant power, the father, can also be interpreted as a reflection of his relationship with his father. In her book, Object to be Destroyed: The Work of Gordon Matta-Clark, Lee would explain this situation as “Matta-Clark wrestled for the rest of his short life with a simultaneous denial of his father’s influence and a desire for his recognition. Every testimony devoted to the younger artist’s rejection of the father is complemented by a discussion of Matta-Clark’s need for acceptance”.

An Artist, an Influencer, and a Son

Whilst trying to be like his father, that Oedipal anger and the need for changing the paternal figure were there. He was creating new spaces by removing connections via cutting, slicing, and dividing. Those connection free spaces were also attachment free spaces that always had an opening so that no one could be trapped. “Although he never spoke about his father, I realized that he had spent his whole life competing with him” would say his former partner Carolina Goodden in Lee’s book. Since the outer world represents the father figure, every cut, split, remake he did to reshape the outer world can be seen as an attempt to overcome his ambivalent feelings about his father whom he might want to supersede, resemble, and differ. Countless efforts to deal with the father who was and was not there…

In the end, considering Matta-Clark works as a pure expression of father-son relationship can be too much simplification, even a reduction. On the other hand, ignoring the signs may prevent the viewer from seeing the topic from all possible sides. Therefore, through your journey in KUMU corridors redesigned by Anu Vahtra, be ready to meet an artist, an influencer, and a son.

Photo by Harry Gruyaert. Gordon Matta-Clark and Gerry Hovagimyan working on Conical Intersect. Paris, 1975. Courtesy of the Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark and David Zwirner, New York / London

It is very appropriate that the first personal exhibition of the new building of the Estonian National Museum is dedicated to Anu Raud, whose role as a bearer of Estonian folk art is difficult to overemphasize, especially since her 75th birthday falls on the same year with the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. The exhibition consists of two parts. Ene-Liis Semper has designed the main part in a separate gallery. The second part of the exhibition which is located next to the entrance to the museum is immediately visible to those who enter the museum. This part consists of rugs that were chosen in collaboration with the artist and the curator. On the one hand, it allows for a larger number of Anu Raud’s works to be exhibited, including the works that for one reason or another did not fit into the gallery; and on the other hand, it brings the exhibition out of the primary room and lets the works interact with the building in a different way.

Although it is an overview exhibition, the curator has avoided the chronological approach and for this exhibition, it works – it’s good to see how the rugs of different decades have the same motifs in a new context. It is possible to see the first rug of Anu Raud, Muhu Couple, completed as the graduate work of the art institute in 1968, as well as her newest work Landscapes of My Fatherland by which the exhibition is named after. When the colour range has become more restrained and the composition more minimalistic during the career of the artist, many strong symbols and themes in her work have survived over time.

Anu Raud’s rugs have a certain pictorial character. Rug as a predominantly two-dimensional medium favours this tendency, but the important part in this is also played by the fact that young Anu Raud wanted to become a painter. Thus, the viewer feels that they are at a painting exhibition where the oil painting or watercolor technique has been replaced with textiles. As the tradition of knitting rugs is much older than painting in Estonia, the medium also refers to folk culture. While studying works closely, the use of colour reminds a little bit of painting and the change-overs of the colour tones of yarn recall brush strokes. The colours of the same rug may seem completely different to the eye depending on the viewer’s location in the room.

The artist’s style combines various mythologies, traditions, and cultural layers through the ages. Christian and local indigenous mythology are presented side by side, blended with witty clues to the present. There is a pink car on one rug and EstCube on the other. Contrary to many other examples of contemporary interpretations of folk art that focus only on rural and farm culture, several rugs by Raud are dedicated to the urban environment. Pikk jalg (Long Leg, a street in Tallinn) depicts the street in Old Town as a striped stocking, Tower depicts Pikk Hermann (Tall Hermann). In its minimalism and clarity, Night in the City is particularly noticeable, both the city lights and the stars shining above them are depicted as the eight-heeled stars. In addition to the cross, eight-heeled stars are one of the most common elements in Anu Raud’s rugs, combining different mythologies.

As noted by the exhibition’s curator Reet Mark, Anu Raud’s works cross culture and generations. The purpose and locations of the rugs are also often associated with the life cycles of a human. Many of her rugs are located at schools, indicating the artist’s interest in combining different generations and past and present-day folk culture. Similarly, there is a clever humour on many of her rugs that crosses the borders of generations. Walk-about makes socks look like animals. Mitten Trees delivers the artist’s desire to help the bare and freezing trees in winter by covering them with mittens – on the one hand, the work reminds of old children’s stories, on the other hand, the ancient sacred grove traditions of Estonians and the old beliefs of animatism of many natural cultures. Rugs made for Civil Registry Offices also form a separate theme. Among them, beautifully composed Wedding Day from the Võru Town Government stands out. At the center of the work are the newlyweds above the wedding bed, around them are the wedding guests and a selection of items that make up something which is like the encyclopedia of everyday life. The pair of rugs, Suitor and Together is borrowed from the Viljandi Town Government. Thus, the motives are mythological and contemporary at the same time, focusing on various symbolic events and periods in life.

As a separate topic, some private stories can be found on the rugs. Dawn is a reference to the artist’s bedroom window and the entering sunlight that signals the arrival of the morning. Field Worshippers tells the story of how Anu Raud worked in the field decades ago with her fellow students, and kind local women lent the woolen skirts for girls to prevent their „modern“ jeans from getting dirty. Play discusses the nature of work and traditions in a changing world through the complex life of the artist’s father Mart Raud, referring to the novel Axe and Moon. For Anu Raud, folk art is something that connects different people but is deeply individual at the same time.

All in all, Landscapes of My Fatherland is a good example of the fact that folk art is not a static phenomenon, but a mythology in constant change, in which different periods and generations do not need to contradict each other. The exhibition works equally well for both Estonian and foreign visitors. The motives of Raud are sufficiently clear and cross-cultural, not requiring explanations or prior knowledge, but at the same time, they are sufficiently detailed to provide an opportunity for going deeper.

I would like to sincerely thank the curator Reet Mark for a pleasant conversation and the exhibition experience.

Photo: Anu Raud’s rug Joyful News

This Saturday, May 19th, we will celebrate the long-awaited Night of  Museums. This year’s theme – unsurprisingly so – is all kinds of parties and celebrations. We have chosen from our cultural calendar some of the most unique events of the night. That was a hard choice, because there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on!

You can…

…spend some time at Juhan Liiv Museum where you can take part in workshops, tea party, and a musical poetry show.

…try to make photographic enlargements and photograms at the darkroom party at Särev Theatre-Room.

…see the interactive audio, light and video installation of multimedia students at Viljandi Old Water Tower.

…listen to the Äksi mixed choir and take a guided tour “Party animals” at the Ice Age Centre. The guide will talks about and shows the animals living at the Ice Age Centre who are partying in their natural environment.

…enjoy magicians, acrobats, gypsies dancing, and a fire show at Estonian National Museum.

…visit Kuressaare castle where the big museum program opens with a huge bang of the cannon Kotkas.

…take part in exciting discussions about food of the future and robots at the Rehbinder’s House. Don’t forget to visit the torture chamber and Hell in Rakvere castle!

…spend the evening in Kardiorg. There will be an Early Music concert, guided tours in Kadriorg Art museum and Mikkeli museum, guided walks around the park and star gazing venue. Sneak a peak into Kumu Art museum for a tour in English.

…have a cup of coffee in a stylish café with salon music at Amandus Adamson Studiomuseum before seeing a unique installation in the museum’s garden.

…take a chance to visit for the last time Arvo Pärt Centre at its current location in the Aliina building. There will be guided tours to the archives, a lecture and a night concert.

…discover the wedding traditions and objects at Hiiumaa Museum. You can also make a bridal bouquet at one of the workshops there (don’t forget to register in advance).

… try out the folk party folk party in Ääsmäe. The party goes on at 15 o’clock with Pärnatalu accordion boys, Kolga mixed folk dance group, Märjamaa folk dance group Viimikud and Märjamaa accordion ensemble.

…participate in workshops and various activities at Valga Museum. There is also a bus trip around the local castles and manors at 4 pm.

…find out how the parties were organized at the manors, what kind of exciting things were grown in the greenhouses, and what production came from the manor’s distillery  at Kolga museum. There will also be some ghost stories told and spooky corners of the museum visited.

And check out our cultural calendar for more museums to visit on the Night of Museums!

The exhibition is a timeless trip to the secrets of the ancient sea, you are surprised all the time by the various factors that the exhibition shows, a whole ambiance from the first to the third floor makes you think how impressive it was as the creatures lived millions of years ago.
The animals have been replicated in such a real way that on several occasions you imagine that the animal in front of you will move at any moment. It is interesting to see up close the animals that inhabit the region and whom you have not the opportunity to see often; for a moment you go back in time and see yourself before magnificent creatures that inhabited the Estonian sea and begin to imagine how incredible they are.
The exposure sharpens your senses in a way that makes you want to touch and to
explore the whole universe as it looked millions of years ago. The summit of the exhibition is the virtual video, where you are inside of a 3D reality and go millions of years back in time. When you put on the glasses, you are transported to the seabed. An experience of the 3D glasses is very realistic and you can understand in a few minutes how the Estonian sea was formed and you can see and almost feel the creatures. Looking up you can see how deep you are and looking around you get to know the fantastic animals up close, and so your time travel starts going through millions of years until the age of the dinosaurs.
For 8 minutes you are in a moment of contemplation of the seabed. Could you imagine that there were ancient sea creatures several meters long, such as the giant marine scorpion? I had no idea of such magnificent creatures!
The exhibition also makes us reflect how important it is to care for and preserve nature, we know that every year man destroys what is the most important in the world, which is our Mother Nature, and every year we are paying the price of all the destruction of debris that is thrown into the sea and we must be aware of this evil all the time.
I highly recommend the exhibition to people of all ages. Kids will love it and have lots of fun. There is an option to buy the ticket that won’t include watching the film, but choose the full ticket because this way you will enjoy this experience in more depth. I think that the texts of the museum could be in English too, not only in the local language. You often do not want to use the audio guide but rather to be able to read about what you are seeing in front of you. Immerse yourself in this incredible experience.

New cultural week has began! There will be punk and Pallas, another life and jewellery art, Liisi Koikson and a fashion show, hiking in Lahemaa, an Estonian language course and other exciting things. Enjoy!
Photo exhibition „Self-invented People. The Face of Soviet-era Punk in Estonia”
15 Nov 2017 – 18 Feb 2018
Juhan Kuus Documentary Photography Center
The exhibition focuses on individual and group portraits of punks through photos of Arno Saar, Urmas Lange and Väino Meresmaa to give the audience a chance to be faced with the rebels and free spirits of that time.
Harry Tensing’s jewellery exhibition „Another Life”
19 Jan – 19 Feb
A-Gallery
Water and plants are inseparable from each other. Without water, a tree will become wood. At the current exhibition, the artist has presented maple, apple and pear tree wood from his home garden – all the trees that have been cut down during his lifetime and the taste of their fruit are still in his mind. While modeling the wood he has attempted to reanimate them in the form of jewellery.
Estonian language courses at the Estonian Institute
22 Jan – 23 Jan
Estonian Institute
The Estonian Institute will start the new Estonian language course for beginners, starting on 23 January in our premises in Suur-Karja 14 (Tallinn Old Town). Classes will take place on Tuesdays at 6-7.30 p.m. (14 weeks).
TAFF Club
25 Jan
House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads
TAFF Club is initiated by the Tallinn Philharmonic in 2012. The main style of the club is mainstream jazz, additionally, there are special events of different styles. On the 25th of January the performer is Liisi Koikson.
Exhibition „Art Society Pallas 100. Birth and Rebirth”
26 Jan – 3 June
Adamson-Eric Museum
The name of Pallas sounds very familiar in the Estonian cultural history, but there is a shortage of deeper knowledge about it. Yet, in the development of our spiritual and emotional culture, this society that was born with the Republic of Estonia, has played a primary role.
Fashion show „ENNE” at the Estonian National Museum
27 Jan
Estonian National Museum
Fashion show „ENNE” presents the modern collections of Sirli Pohlak and Kertu Kivisik inspired by ethnographic heritage. The event will start with a screening by MoeKunstiKino, the first fashion film festival in Tartu, and, to end, the attendees will be able to experience a conceptual fashion video in virtual reality.
Ekström March 2018
27 Jan
Kolga Manor
Ekström march is an event to popularize active outdoor habits and introduce war history to whole families, which takes place in the untouched landscapes of the biggest and oldest Estonian national park – Lahemaa. There will be three hiking trails: 7 km, 17 km, and 30 km.

The holiday season is approaching fast and that means the culture.ee’s this week’s recommendations are quite christmassy. There are theatre, runic songs, fair atmosphere, Valga, Rapla, tennis hall and observatory, wintery folk dance, a play of the ice flowers, a bunch of literary stuff from the library and warm wishes from Pokumaa. May your week be filled with joy and pleasant experiences!
Time of warm wishes in Pokuland
8 Dec – 17 Dec
Pokuland (Pokumaa)
In December, when there’s Christmas rush everywhere, it’s peaceful and forest-scented time of warm wishes in Pokumaa, just like the Poku calendar says. What would be a Christmas world without sweet activities and cozy moments or without a lovely show for the whole family? This way, Pokumaa will help you enter the beautiful and peaceful Christmas time, where warm wishes are found and delivered on time.
Rapla Christmas World
10 Dec – 21 Dec
Culture Club BAAS
Rapla Christmas World takes visitors to a traditional and cozy world full of the smell of a Christmas tree, magic and Christmas feeling!
Book week of the Christmas month
12 Dec – 16 Dec
National Library of Estonia
Come and choose a great book to spend time with during the dark time or refresh your spirit at the literary events! Here you will find a lot of valuable gifts to fill the Santa’s bag.
Improtest: Ted Parker
13 Dec
Kanuti Gildi SAAL
„Improtest” is a concert series that brings improvisational music from local and foreign authors to a local audience. This time, the performer is Theodore Parker – a musician exploring the use of guitar, electronics, and acoustics in improvised music creation.
Runic Song Room „Jõuaks, jõuaks jõulud tulla”
14 Dec
Valga Museum
Songs about the enjoyment of singing, the beginning of the works of the winter season, holidays, advent time, celebrating Christmas and saying goodbye to Christmas.
Christmas mood concert by Kristina Vähi and Riina Pikani
15 Dec
Tartu Observatory in Tõravere
On December 15, 2017, at 3 p.m., the Christmas mood concert will be held at Tartu Observatory in Tõravere. A soulful soprano Kristina Vähi and dynamic and expressive pianist Riina Pikani will perform. The classical music gems by Schumann, Tubin, Ojakäär and other composers will be presented.
5th Kolga Christmas fair
15 Dec – 17 Dec
Kolga Tennis Hall
The three-day Kolga Christmas fair will be held for the fifth time. The fair offers dance, theatre, music and enjoyment for both adults and children.
Wintry Tartu Folk Dance Day 2017
16 Dec
Tartu Town Hall Square
Dancers from Tartu and Tartu County perform Estonian folk dances and simple group dances on Town Hall Square of Tartu. Indrek Kalda, a violinist, will add to the magic and a folk dance specialist, a teacher and lecturer Vaike Rajaste will tie the event together. The whole celebration is directed by Kati Grauberg-Longhurst. Come and see and perhaps even participate in some of the most loved Estonian folk dances!
Hand-printed Christmas cards – cut once, print a hundred times!
16 Dec
Kumu Art Museum
Come and make your own Christmas cards at Kumu Education Centre under the guidance of Kaija Kesa! Card printing is suitable for both adults and schoolchildren and provides a good experience in graphics and the ancient art of print.
Christmas concert „The Play of an Ice Flower”
17 Dec
Rakvere Holy Trinity Church
Concert of Chamber Choir Solare and Choir Studio So-La-Re. The choirs are conducted by Elo Üleoja, Ly Hiire and Keio Soomelt. Piano accompaniment by Piret Villem.

The red carpet look-a-like path in front of the entrance of the Film Museum leads the visitor to the museum, which works like a workshop. It is obviously an impossible task to capture the art of filmmaking at its entire depth with one museum visit, but it definitely offers some exciting discoveries.
I let the permanent exhibition „Take One” to lead me to a step-by-step journey through the birth of film and I’m happy that I’m allowed to be a direct participant in so many things. I can look at how the animations are made, change the soundtracks of Estonian films, for example, by placing „Nipernaadi’s” famous „Rändaja õhtulaul” (Traveler’s Evening Song) to the animated film „Naksitrallid” (which, by the way, works pretty well. At the same time, it is a refreshing reminder that Sven Grünberg’s music in „Naksitrallid” is a surprisingly naturally flowing prog rock, which in turn works well as the background sound of all the other movie pieces offered). Pretty exciting is the opportunity offered at the green studio, which allows you to place yourself into an animation or a historical photo and the resulting view appears on the screen quite authentically. It is rather funny to see how, for example, on the photo taken at the Yalta Conference in 1945, the fourth „great statesman”, a visitor to a museum from Tallinn in 2017, will appear.
In general, the museum is rather informative in shedding light on the technical aspects of film production. While at the beginning of the exhibition I feel a bit confused in the middle of all the detailed information; then, after some time the texts presented by an actor Sergo Vares work more and more convincingly,  and at one point the terms like „focal length”, „overexposure”, „light temperature”, „close-up”, „medium close-up”, „zoom in” sound already so enchanting that I would like to nod and ask for the camera – stop talking and let’s shoot a movie! True, difficulties may arise when one takes too seriously the glamorous world of film distribution and marketing presented at the final part of the exhibition; falling from the level of blockbusters and theatrically distributed movies to the reality of the auteur films may be too painful for the overly excited filmmaking enthusiast. The gap between the auteur and blockbuster films is manifested perhaps the most clearly in the distribution and marketing of films, and while this information is gathered to a single museum, the overall picture is inevitably incomplete from one aspect or another, in which, of course, the museum’s curators and organizers cannot be blamed.
One of the wittiest exhibits at the museum is an exhibition created by Andres Maimik. If you answer the ringing phone you can get a clue of the external pressures of the Estonian filmmakers in the 50’s, 80’s and during the turn of the century. How have the nature of ideological pressure, and the content, intensity and rhetoric of that nature been changed over time: while at the Stalinist country, the censorship worked as a vituperation, then three decades later it became much more mild in its form, the wording was more refined, more tricky, but also slightly comic, and how „the winds of freedom” have put the screenwriter up against the different but essentially similar pressure of capitalism and financial world.
All this makes one think: the concept of the film museum as a whole is to present one story of the perfect filmmaking – how the screenwriter has a good idea, how it is written into a decent scenario, the director is, of course, practical and professional, the actors are well-chosen, the shooting goes well because the arrangements are well done, countless assistants and advisers have done everything, the lighting specialist is on a high level, the editor and the director are thinking alike, etc.
But in life, as in movie making, man plans and god laughs. The filmmakers have given the public a glimpse of how, in the course of making one full-length feature film, it happens that they are not able to get the requisites in due time or that they must fight like lions for the financing and still lose it, the sudden change of the weather ruins the shooting day, and a good scenario must be truncated because of the lack of money or other unimaginative reason. And one, but not a small one, of all these obstacles is the socio-political and ideological situation in the society surrounding the field of filmmaking. A filmmaker cannot ignore it; it is over and around them like the mist and darkness of November, and everyone must find their own way out of it as successfully as the spirit and purposeful wisdom allows.
At the exhibition, it can be noticed that film is dealing with both beautiful and ugly. At the same time, all the ugly things in a good movie change into something beautiful through some miracle. Even if something makes you cry or cringe, it’s poetic. The transformed, somewhat „pure forms” of sadness and anger born from the real sadness and the real anger always work in the film as a distillation of life and the world and therefore becomes a kind of alibi.
I am talking about one of the exhibits, the drug crook’s Olari’s dental prosthesis from the movie „I Was Here”. The yellowish-brown false teeth are just hideous as a single object, but thinking about Tambet Tuisk’s absolutely unpleasant character in the film, the prosthesis become twice as much abhorrent, but their film context frees the prosthesis and also the Tuisk’s character from the responsibility in front of the real life, because these nasty objects are not „real”, it was just a movie and this statement will bring the man and his dental problems out from the chain of condemnation that would come up automatically. And if I also think about the cassette containing smooth Caucasian music and eye-protecting goggles, which Lembit Ulfsak’s truly pleasant character wore in „Tangerins”, I’ll understand even more clearly that the film is something much more than just storytelling with moving pictures.

Night of Museums and Toy Museum’s birthday party “Games in the Night and Honey in the Day”
The 23rd birthday of Tartu Toy Museum, “Games in the Night and Honey in the Day”, will be extra sweet and agreeable to the museum bears, as at 11 AM already the Estonian Beekeepers’ Association will be visiting. We will talk about honey, bees, and apiotherapy and a transparent beehive with real bees will be on display. In addition to talking, there will be something sweet to taste.
Night of Museums in Estonian National Museum
The Night of Museums in Estonian National Museum starts with a conference for the guests of ENM, where we introduce the story of the permanent exhibition and unveil the soon-to-be-opened national costume exhibition. Additionally, we will talk about the educational programmes and lots else interesting.
Night of Museums in Kadriorg Museum-Library
Kadriorg Museum-Library will be open for the occasion as well. From 17.00 to 22.00, everyone can test their knowledge of Kadriorg and its flora.
Free bus tour on Saaremaa at the Night of Museums
Saaremaa Museum invites everyone to visit Saaremaa’s schoolhouses and learn about their exciting past. The free bus tour of Saaremaa Museum, which took place for the first time last year and proved to be extremely popular, will take place on this Night of Museums again.
Night of Museums at the Zoo
“Games in the Night” in Tallinn Zoo. The exciting Night of Museums offers the guests an opportunity of making toys for both the residents of the zoo as well as domestic pets. The first 100 guests can go to the zoo’s adventure trail for free. After that, the zoologist Aleksei Turovski talks about the games in the animal kingdom. In the auditorium, the documentary film “The Dance of Nature”, the winner of Grand Prix at Matsalu Nature Film Festival 2007, is screened.
Night of Museums at Estonian Open Air Museum
“Games in the Night!” – this is the theme of this year’s Night of Museums. An adventurous and educational orienteering game “Help the Bride” can be played with a new mobile app. At 21.30 real Setos perform at Kolu pub – like museum exhibitions, but actually real.
Night of Museums 2017 “Games in the Night” in the Great Guild Hall of the Estonian History Museum
Estonian History Museum invites everyone to take part in the Night of Museums 2017 programme “Games in the Night”. In the Great Guild Hall, we will play the games that are over 500 years old as is suitable for a mediaeval house at the Night of Museums.
Night of Museums at the Tallinn Creative Hub
To mark the occasion, the Tallinn Creative Hub will keep its doors open from 18:00 to 00:30 and gives its guests the opportunity to walk around in the different rooms of the Creative Hub, even the ones that are usually inaccessible. The events include tours, exhibitions about history, and a music programme. Participants can play with fire, light, clouds, and electricity, learn about fun thinking games, try their hand at table tennis, create their own board games, and support the best Estonian model car racers.
Night of Museums in the Home Museum of the Writer Oskar Luts
Entrance is free of charge and during the entire Night of Museums the second floor of the building will host a large dice game drawn on the floor and Luts-themed memory game. Those who are interested are guided through the house and its expositions and that is not all.
Night of Museums in the KGB Cells Museum
The guests can access the basement part of the building where the political prisoners were held. Some of the cells, lock-ups and the basement’s hallway have been restored to their authentic look. Other former chambers are filled with an exposition giving an overview of the II World War, the crimes of the Communist regime, Estonia’s post-war fight for freedom, and the lives in distant prisoner camps in Siberia.
Night of Museums at Tartu Song Festival Museum
Everyone is welcome to visit Tartu Song Festival Museum on the Night of Museums. Entrance is free of charge.
Night of Museums in Tartu City Museum
Everyone is welcome to Tartu City Museum at the Night of Museums! During the entire Night of Museums, a hide-and-seek game can be played, a workshop corner is open for the children, the new temporary exhibition can be visited, and a pop-up-café is open.
Night of Museums at the Children’s Literature Centre
Come to play in the Children’s Literature Centre at the Night of Museums! Our games are inspired by children’s literature and books. In the library, seeking-the-book game can be played. In the hall on the second floor, there is the game of looking at the pictures. Pianist and improviser Farištamo Eller will make music in the balcony hall. Music will be accompanied by a pre-programmed video installation, which reacts to the pitch and volume of the sounds and plays along with the music, adding even more playfulness. In the attic, everyone can take part in a workshop and a badge chamber is also open.
Night of Museums at the Print and Paper Museum
The Print and Paper Museum invites everyone to explore their inner child during the Night of Museums! In the evening of May 20, games can be printed, folded, and played. All the activities can be joined whenever it is suitable, pre-registration is only necessary for the tours.
Night of Museums at the University of Tartu Natural History Museum
At the Night of Museums, both good old and new exciting nature games will be brought out. In the children’s corner, Estonian nature is introduced with the help of dog girl Lotte’s speaking pencil, Baltic Sea memory games take place, and puppets can be played with. The bigger guests can try their hand at and rack their brains at the board game created by the Natural History Museum itself – “Journey on the Baltic Sea”.
Night of Museums in the 19th Century Tartu Citizen Museum
An evening in the citizen’s home, music is made and books are read. The master of the house, E. R., spends time in the hall and roams the literary landscapes. Mistress of the house, Margaret, is busy in the kitchen and instructs the housemaids. Madame K. paints like she always does on Saturdays, and the master’s sister Luise fiddles with the flute. Daughters of the house, Adelheid and Leontine, are back from their spring outing as well.
Night of Museums in Pärnu Museum and Koidula Museum
In Pärnu Museum you can see a ballet performance by Kersti Adamson’s Ballet Studio. Games start in the museum every full hour. Representative of Pinwings, Aleksandr Kamenski, talks about butterflies and his hobby. The butterfly insectarium in the exhibition hall gets some new residents, still in pupa stage. A guided night tour of Pärnu organised by Pärnu Tour Guides Association starts from the foyer of Pärnu Museum. In Koidula Museum the Night of Museums is opened by young musicians with instrumental music. Hide-and-seek game starts in the museum’s permanent exposition. The game starts at every full hour.
Night of Museums at Eesti Pank Museum
They say that the whole life is a game, but is it worth playing with money? We certainly do! This year, 25 years passes from the birth of Estonian kroon and, on this occasion, it is good to remember both Koidula and the banknote with her picture. Wax figures have come to life in the museum exposition, who help to refresh the memory at the special exhibition and the memory game. The biggest money games and players from history are revealed. Competitions and workshops take place.
Night of Museums in Haapsalu
Foundation Haapsalu and Läänemaa Museums: Haapsalu Town Hall, Ilon’s Wonderland, Haapsalu Episcopal Castle, Railway and Communications Museum, Ants Laikmaa Museum are open until 22. A hide-and-seek game with prizes takes place in all the museums. An object has to be found in each museum, which is not normally in this museum’s exposition, a photo has to be taken with the object and posted on the museums’ Facebook pages. The most diligent players will receive awards!
Night of Museums at the Ice Age Centre: there are games in the ice age!
Several games introduce the Ice Age Centre during this year’s Night of Museums. A hiding drop of water can be searched throughout the building – through the game the players will learn what and who contain water. This night, for the first time, a new visitors’ game is opened in the centre – “Discover through Different Senses”.
Night of Museums at Sports Museum: night quiz and human table football!
Games in the Night. Indeed, sports can be played both day and night. Some claim that the best thoughts come to us during the night. Let’s try! Between 18 and 23, the permanent exhibition of the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum is open for free for everyone. Starting at 18 o’clock, everyone can try out human table football. At 23 o’clock, the traditional super-popular night quiz takes place.
Night of Museums in Tapa Railway Station
Tapa Railway Station with its powerful water tower is unquestionably one of Estonia’s most distinguished railway structures. Their fate has been the cause for worry for years, but this winter the students of heritage protection, architecture and interior architecture of the Estonian Academy of Art and the engineering students of Tallinn Technical University worked out four different, but realistically implementable scenarios of how to put the station of Tapa to work again.
Night of Museums at the Museum of Estonian Architecture
The programme includes the hide-and-seek game “Secrets of the Salt Storage”, which will introduce the building of the museum as well as its exhibitions. A workshop of building towers of paper sticks will take place for families with children.

On Saturday, 20th of May 2017, Estonian museums will open their doors for visitors for a night full of special events and exhibitions, celebrating the Night of Museums in Estonia for the 9th year running. In 2017, the much-loved Museum Night will take place under an umbrella theme of Games in the Night – or, in Estonian, Öös on mänge. Last year, more than 100.000 people took part of the Night of Museums, to enjoy both free access and the special programmes and excursions offered by museum teams all over Estonia. Around 200 different museums, art galleries, manor houses and other organisations are expected to open their doors for the 5-hour long event.
Since a wide variety of museums and other cultural organizations participate in the special programme, the Night of Museums makes it possible to discover a wide variety of outlooks on the topic of games and playing. Why do people play games? Why is playing fun? What kind of games have been played in Estonia at different times and what kind of games have travelled across time and history? Do animals and birds play games and why?  What are the most famous board games of all times? What types of play exist? Why do we like word play so much? How will we play tomorrow?
According to Laura Kipper, one of the main organisers of the big museum event, there are more and more tourists visiting Museum Night events across Estonia. “Visitors from Finland, Latvia and Russia have definitely discovered our Museum Night and our museums are recognising this as well, trying to provide more English tours and events during the night – or to make sure the event can be enjoyed to the full regardless of what language you speak.”
For tourists staying in Tallinn centre, the programme of the Museum Night is always just a few steps away: most of Tallinn centre museums are participating in the programme. “Ask your hotel reception for advice – they will be able to point you to the nearest participating museum, and there will be Museum Night programmes available at most museums,” adds Laura Kipper.
The museums participating in the programme will open their doors from 6pm to 11pm and during this time the entrance will be free – in previous years the number of participating museums has been close to 200 – for 2017, the special programmes and the final museum list will be public by April 10th. Every year the participating number of archives, galleries, churches and other organizations who deal with knowledge, history and memory, has grown.
The Night of Museums is organized by Estonian museums and the Estonian Museum Association.

We are starting a new and very informative tradition! From now on, on every Friday, we will offer you different funny and not too funny facts about Estonians and their culture. The first pie is about what Estonians do in their free time.
Have a great weekend!