Culture.ee’s weekly recommendations: 11–17 Mar 2019

Kultuurikohvik (Cultural Café) is a series of concerts that take place in 2019, where different bands of minorities living in Estonia perform. All the music of the bands is inspired by the folklore of their land of origin, that has been modified to a contemporary form. The concerts are acoustic and give the atmosphere of “home concerts”. In addition to playing their music, the artists share their ideas and thoughts about their creation and culture. In the first concert on March 13th, bands Taraj and Svjata Vatra will share their music.

This year’s programme includes video and film works by contemporary artists, both from Estonia and abroad; a curated selection Re-Voyage from the series of Performance Voyagevideo works by Finnish interdisciplinary artists’ association MUU; and priceless treasures from the collection of the Estonian Film Archives. Among the programme films there are those made years ago as well as some newly completed video works that will have their premiere at the festival. Festival has free entrance; all film and art aficionados are warmly welcome!

Dance Camp is a dance party with some crazy nuances – there will be an example music video and dancers on the stage to be followed! These are choreographers and dancers Britt Kõrsmaa, Märt Agu and Oliver Soomets. Between dancing, there will be a surprise live concert by Andre Maaker who is a recognized guitarist and resident-DJ of the Dance Camp!

Saturday night brings you an intimate concert experience with 2 great bands: Architecture Vigilante Orchestra, a 6-piece band from Saint Petersburg, and local favourites Tovarish Astronom from Tallinn.

Can the Soviet era provide inspiration for art and fashion? Could the Eastern Europe that emerged after the fall of the Iron Curtain have its own post-Soviet chic? The exhibition Sots Art and Fashion brings together two original art movements that emerged in the region and that have generated considerable international interest: the Sots Art of the 1970s and 1980s in visual arts and the post-Soviet aesthetic of the 2010s in fashion. What unites them is a search for inspiration from local histories, and their symbolic and material legacy, whether a red star, a flower-patterned smock or the Berlin Wall.

Baltic Sea Philharmonic – an orchestra that brings together musicians from countries around the Baltic Sea: Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. The concerts maintain their electrifying effect with their artistic director, the charismatic Kristjan Järvi.

Programme:
K. Järvi. Aurora
Gelgotas. Violin Concerto
Tchaikovsky. Concert suite Sleeping Beauty (arranged by Kristjan Järvi)

Short format festival Made in Estonia Marathon is coming again on the 16th of March, to offer the chance for those who want to test out new ideas, perform in front of a large audience or simply come and enjoy an extraordinary evening. In spite of the event name, it is not a race, but a joint celebration for those who are on and off stage.

One of the most important performers at this year’s festival will be Rozi Plain (UK), an artist who makes music that is truly peculiar (in the best sense of the word). In addition, Finnish singer Lau Nau (a.k.a. Laura Naukkarinen) can also be found in the programme. The audience will also be entertained by outstanding representatives of the local scene, who will need no further introduction to music lovers: the man with a crisp, Nordic touch Erki Pärnoja: Efterglow; the always mellow Orelipoiss; the trance-like rhythms of meisterjaan; the dreamy Mick Pedaja; and Weekend Guitar Trio, perfectionist and experimental in the nuances of sound. You can rest both body and mind in the ENM Night’s Ambient Hall, where flowing sounds will be taken care of by the trio Stereo Hypnosis from Reykjavik and Söör Paul a.k.a. DJ Paul Lepasson.

Sõprus brings together the best of the recent films and helps those who have missed something good in the cinema. The selection will be made only from foreign films this time, and within two days, the films that the film critics and audiences have wanted to see again will be screened. You can see the following movies: Isle of Dogs, The Favourite, Shoplifters, Whitney, Climax, Happy as Lazzaro, Phantom Thread, Suspiria and The House That Jack Built.