Estonian modern culture

01.03.2005

Estonia situated between Eastern and Western Europe is also culturally a border area, to be more exact a crossing point. In the traditions of these parts, one can find elements originating from the East, as well as the West, but even more the Estonians have considered themselves as northern people and conceptually bound to Scandinavia. Marginal and border cultures are where one can find interesting phenomena and combinations. In this regard, Estonia happens to be a country of a dozen possibilities. Estonian modern culture, in spite of its size, includes a great number of different facets, for which it is often difficult to find common denominators.

One of Estonia’s visiting cards is undoubtedly modern classical music. Composers Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis and Erkki-Sven Tüür need not be introduced to the fans of more serious music, the same applies to conductors Neeme Järvi, Eri Klas and Tõnu Kaljuste working with different orchestras and choirs all over the world, as well as Anu Tali who is attracting more and more attention.

The role of music and singing has throughout the centuries been of utmost importance for the preservation of the Estonian nation. The tradition of great Song Festivals, which got its beginning in the swell of the national movement in the 19th century has up to present been a distinctive event in the local culture. In recent years, the Viljandi Folk Music Festival has become a popular event for all ages, while keeping alive and interpreting the traditional music of different peoples.

The Estonians who have dedicatedly engaged in jazz music through the decades have created a base and a following for Jazz music and Jazzkaar (Jazz Arc), an international festival that takes place in Estonia in the spring. The festival Hea Uus Heli (Good New Sound) is a presentation of experimental and alternative music.

The collections of Estonian alternative musicians like Rulers of the Deep, Dave Storm, Galaktlan and many others have merited recognition in the US, Great Britain, Germany and around the world. Estonian pop artists like Vanilla Ninja, Maarja, 2001 Eurovision Song Contest winners Tanel Padar and Dave Benton have widened their field of play by succeeding on Western pop charts.

Although visual arts know no language barriers, the path to international success for Estonians in this field has been a little bumpier than in music. Video artists Jaan Toomik and Ene-Liis Semper, who have represented Estonia at the Venice Biennial, energetically participate in the international life of art together with Mare Tralla, Liina Siib and several others. Among expatriate Estonian artists Mark Kalev Kostabi and his Kostabi World in New York have attracted the most attention. Through the decades the works of painters Jüri Arrak and Enn Põldroos have been popular with the domestic public.

While the wider acceptance of new forms of art inevitably requires time, it has also been difficult for the Estonian public to keep continuous contact with its art classics due to the lack of a full-scale museum exposition. In 2005, an event of great importance to the Estonian, Baltic, Nordic, as well as the Europe art scene will take place; the completion of the new Estonian Art Museum (KUMU) in Tallinn in Kadriorg. This event should make Tallinn, at least for a certain period, into the regional art centre.

Due to the protestant tradition one has often regarded the Estonian culture as being word centred, rather than image centred and one has emphasised the importance or even the preferred position of literature in comparison with other arts. In the present kaleidoscopic scene of literature one can find several different trends. As before, new works are being published by Jaan Kross, the grand old man of Estonian literature who has treated the history and the fate of the Estonian people. Jaan Kaplinski, a versatile prose writer, poet, essayist and translator is also influential in his works. In the past decade the fiction works of Tõnu Õnnepalu have evoked resonance and the texts of Hasso Krull have played an important role in revealing the significance of culture. Viivi Luik has written poetry and prose blending together historic and personal experience. Doris Kareva is carrying on the viable tradition of Estonian women’s poetry. In Estonia, Andrus Kivirähk has become one of the most popular writers writing his own style of Estonian mythology. The same applies to Kaur Kender, who depicts the modern early-capitalist society. Active young Estonian poets have gathered into several groups. The Nordic Poetry Festival that takes place in the spring presents new local poetry, as well as the poetry of close neighbours.

In addition to Estonian literature, translating has had a key role in the interpretation of fiction classics, as well as the basic history of culture texts. The problems of the preservation, development and modification of the Estonian language, spoken by less than a million people, as well as the creation of a proper vocabulary in all spheres of life are becoming increasingly topical in the modern and evermore open society. The cultural media fills the same role, since its readership is proportionally large compared to the population.

The theatre compared to individual creation is a more complex system and for that reason changes in that field have been slower and more painstaking. Having for some time been at a low ebb, the houses were full again at the beginning of the 1990s. The oldest Estonian theatre, the "Vanemuine" in Tartu has retained its universality with drama, music, as well as dance performances being staged there. In addition to the Estonian Drama Theatre and the opera and ballet house “Estonia”, the Tallinn City Theatre has become a top-level theatre primarily thanks to its strong willed leader, producer Elmo Nüganen.

The Von Krahl Theatre headed by producer Peeter Jalakas consistently deals with alternative forms of performance. Playwright and producer Mati Unt has been introducing post-modern strategies and tactics, and in this way he has created a public devoted to his theatre. The summer theatre has become a phenomenon and public magnet on its own. The theatre discovers new playing places that allow for the creation of entertaining, as well as more serious performances outside ordinary theatre rooms. Alongside of big state theatres, small freelance troupes are becoming more and more viable; also a circle of those actively engaged in modern dance has sprung up involving a number of troupes, agencies and festivals.

Along with the theatre, film production is getting on its feet again with new economic and creative resources accompanied by a new generation of film directors (Marko Raat, Jaak Kilmi). The annual highlight of film scene is undoubtedly the international Black Nights Film Festival, which has developed into a meeting place for Estonian film nuts as well as for neighbouring film buffs. The Pärnu Documentary and Anthropological Film Festival organised every summer by filmmaker and versatile mediator of culture Mark Soosaar has also found its own public. The trademark of the Estonian film industry has for decades been animation and its calling card Priit Pärn’s animated cartoons are among the best in the world.

The Estonian living environment has undergone as many changes as the spiritual space. Architecture and urban renewal have in the last decade been the topics of a lively discussion primarily in Tallinn, where the old town included in the UNESCO list of world heritage and a new city space with mirror-glassed offices and bank buildings, hotels and malls stand side by side. Another topic of conversation has been monuments, which recall complicated and at times controversial events throughout Estonian history as well as standing as works of art and specimens of urban design. In addition to the spiritual and physical environment the role of the third space, virtual reality is becoming more and more important in everyday life as well as in the cultural life of Estonians. New technological mediums have left their mark on the development of visual arts, but also as a means of communication through professional electronic journals and web sites. The openness towards new possibilities reflects the mobility of a small culture and its being readiness for change without self-effacement.

Written for the MFA by Anu Allas, art critic