Today Foreign Minister Urmas Paet presented Foreign Ministry cultural stipends to two creative Estonians—author, director and journalist Imbi Paju and theatre director Tiit Ojasoo.

Foreign Minister Paet stated that Imbi Paju and Tiit Ojasoo have made a significant contribution to successfully presenting Estonia’s society and culture abroad. “We wish to recognise both of these creative individuals—as a result of their valuable artistic and intellectual work, many more people abroad know about Estonia’s society and history,” stated Foreign Minister Paet.

Tiit Ojasoo is a respected Estonian director who views social life and the events therein with a critical eye. Ojasoo’s production “ГЭП—Garjatšije estonskije parni” has participated in many theatre festivals abroad. The production has travelled outside of Estonia more than any other Estonian production. In March of 2009 the production took the stage at the Russian theatre festival “Golden Mask” and in May at the a/d Werf festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In 2008 performances were given in Cologne, Oldenburg, St. Petersburg, Tampere, Wiesbaden, Vienna, Torun, and Bern, and in 2007 in Poniewiez, Lithuania.

Imbi Paju attempts to look to the future by talking about the past, since the way to a healthier society is by examining its painful areas. Imbi Paju examines history primarily through emotions. In 2009 Imbi Paju premiered her historical-psychological documentary film “Sisters Across the Gulf of Finland”. It premiered in Helsinki, Tallinn and Brussels. Paju’s film talks about the experiences of Estonian and Finnish women through the events of the 1930s, the Second World War, and the Soviet occupation. In 2005 Paju’s documentary film “Memories Denied” was released, which describes two sisters growing up among Stalinism, Soviet occupation and terror, where suppressing one’s memories was the only form of self-defence. In March of 2009, a compilation of articles created in co-operation by Imbi Paju and Sofi Oksanen entitled “Fear Behind Us All” was published on the 60th anniversary of the Estonian deportations.

SPOKESPERSON´S OFFICE
+372 637 7654
+372 521 3085
pressitalitus@mfa.ee

Exhibition in Estonian Embassy, Helsinki
8 June – 2 September, 2009

Exhibition compiled by Kersti Koll and Ülle Kruus
Exhibition designed by Anu Paal

Huge boulders and sea-washed pebbles, limestone fossils or roadside cobbles are sure to catch your eye with their might and exceptional variety of form and colour. These impressions are often caught on photos, used in landscaping and the smallest specimen are sometimes brought home as keepsakes.

Local natural stone was first used in Estonian professional design jewellery at the end of the 1950’s. The intense 1960’s, when great shifts took place in Estonian applied art, introduced new, plain forms and novel materials in local designer jewellery.

One of the first to use natural stone in making ornaments was Adamson-Eric (Erich Carl Hugo Adamson, 1902–1968). Adamson-Eric, above all a painter, was a versatile experimental artist, who generated avant-garde ideas in almost all spheres of applied art.

The exhibition ‘Stones in Estonian Jewellery’ held at the Adamson-Eric Museum in 2008 is now in Helsinki at the Estonian Embassy at a slightly smaller scale. This exhibition presents an overview of the use this very own and location-specific material by Estonian jewellery designers from the 1960’s until today.

In addition to Adamson-Eric, the stone-inspired jewellery by Viivi Aavik, Mari Käbin, Tiina Käesel, Urve Küttner, Lilian Linnaks, Kadri Mälk, Anu Paal, Helge Pihelga, Ane Raunam, Anne Roolaht, Juta Vahtramäe, Harvi Varkki, Kertu Vellerind and Raili Vinn are exposed.

The display demonstrates the variety of ways of using stone as a material, the evolution of form and concepts in time and the value of stone as a symbol in its own right.  Different stones are exposed on opposite shores of the Bay of Finland which have become symbols of identity for the two kindered nations.  The national stone of Estonia is limestone, in Finland it is granite.

Geologists helped to establish the specific types of stone used by the artists. The most common natural stones found in Estonia – granite, gneiss, gabbro, rapakivi-granite, pegmatite, migmatite and quartz-porphyry – are introduced together with jewellery on the photos by Tõnis Saadre, accompanied by Tõnu Oja’s texts.

We are hoping that different interpretations of natural stones captured as jewels and objects besides magnificent photos of mighty boulders with charming microscopic world within rocks will offer inspiration to our viewers.

Welcome!
Kersti Koll and Ülle Kruus

Supporters:
Finish Design Museum
Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design
Estonian Ministry of Culture
Estonian Foreign Ministry

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s Symphony No. 4 will be premiered in Helsinki’s Finlandiatalo concert hall on Thursday, 16 April. This is the European premier of the composer’s newest work. The Helsinki City Orchestra will be conducted by Turkish conductor Cem Mansur.

Nearly 40 years separates Arvo Pärt’s last symphony, Symphony No. 3, from this new work. The subtitle for Symphony No. 4, which is nearly 40 minutes long, is “Los Angeles”—the world premier of the symphony even took place in Los Angeles in the USA in January of this year, where the local orchestra was conducted by its long-time conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.

The composer has dedicated his great composition to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is held in prison in Russia. “With my composition, I would like to reach out, extending a hand to this prisoner and through him to all those imprisoned without rights in Russia. I wish him peace of soul notwithstanding the circumstances, and I hope that my carrier pigeon one day reaches faraway Siberia,” Arvo Pärt wrote in the dedication of his Symphony No. 4.

The concert in Finlandiatalo will begin with a performance of Pärt’s symphony at 19.00. During the second half of the concert, Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with solos by Aleksander Toradze as well as variations on Elgar’s “Enigma” will be performed. The concert will be broadcast live on the radio through co-operation by Estonian Classical Radio and Finnish Yleisradio. During the intermission of the concert, Yleisradio and Estonian Classical Radio will be playing recently recorded interviews with Arvo Pärt. He will discuss the creation of his Symphony No. 4 and his perception of music in general.

President of the Estonian Republic Toomas Hendrik Ilves and his wife will attend the premier of Arvo Pärt’s Symphony No. 4 at the Finlandiatalo concert hall.


SPOKESPERSON’S OFFICE
pressitalitus@mfa.ee

Photo exhibition of Peeter Langovits
Thinking about Lennart Meri
3 April - 5 June 2009
at the Estonian Embassy in Helsinki
(Itäinen Puistotie 10)

Here we have only some of the unique moments which were gifts of Time given to me from my meetings with Lennart Meri.

The Great Man of our history whose behavior was often so unpredictable and oblivious; who always spoke up for Estonia, and who rather faced the future than the mundane. Openness and determination, sophistication and a precise perception of details made him a media favorite.

A checkered thread of events and meetings as recorded by a press photographer is part of our common history.

Peeter Langovits


President Lennart Meri (29 March 1929 - 14 March 2006)
http://www.riik.ee/lennartmeri/?lang=en
http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/heads.php?gid=81983

Opening of plenary session: EP marks 60th anniversary of deportation of Baltic citizens to Siberia

At the opening of this week's Strasbourg plenary session, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering made a declaration on the 60th anniversary of the deportation of thousands of citizens of the Baltic states to Siberia by the Soviet regime.

Fear Behind the Wall
Seminar and concert

Monday, 23 March 2009, 17.00-20.30
Helsinki, Cinema Orion, Eerikinkatu 15

* * *
P  R  O  G  R  A  M  M E

* * *
17.00 – SEMINAR

GREETINGS
Merle Pajula, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia
Einars Semanis, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia
Halina Kobeckaité, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania
Anna Žīgure, author and former ambassador of the Republic of Latvia

PRESENTATIONS
Moderator: political scientist and columnist Iivi Anna Masso
Toomas Hiio, Estonian Foundation for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity
Martin Arpo, Estonian Security Police, former investigator of crimes against humanity and war crimes
Professor Seppo Zetterberg

INTERVIEW
Editors of the article compilation "Fear Behind Us All"
Imbi Paju and Sofi Oksanen interviewed by Iivi Anna Masso

INTRODUCTION
Introduction to the film programme "Fear Behind the Wall"
Antti Alanen, Finnish National Audiovisual Archive

* * *
19.30 – CONCERT

GREETING
Marten Kokk, Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

PREMIER
REQUIEM
Jüri Reinvere's music and spoken word composition "Requiem"
will be complemented by a film from Australian director Catherine Jarvis
of documentary video clips from the years 1911 - 1940.
"Requiem" is the message of those we have lost brought to today's audiences.

* * *
The working languages of the seminar are Finnish and English (no translation will occur).
The seminar and concert are free and open to all guests,
although the number of spaces is limited.
Free tickets are available from the box office of the cinema "Orion" on Eerikinkatu 15.

* * *
Organisers: The Estonian Embassy in Helsinki in co-operation with
Sofi Oksanen, Imbi Paju, WSOY, the Finnish National Audiovisual Archive,
and the embassies of Latvia and Lithuania in Helsinki.

* * *
Press releases:
20 Years Since Fall of Iron Curtain to be Observed in Helsinki
Article Compilation "Fear Behind Us All" to Be Released in Helsinki

"Sula jagu"
Is the curtain still there?-  Yes.
And the radar?-  On guard.
The meadows of Karhiidia, a whitish-gray day lie ahead of us.

choreography: Kati Juurik
dance: Kati Juurik, Mihkel Ilus
stage: Mihkel Ilus
music: Märt - Matis Lill
lighting: René Liivamägi (Viljandi Traditional Music Center)


"Technical dialogue"
the space offers the being,  the human creates the emptiness

choreography: Jaan Ulst
dance: Sandra Palm, Irina Krotova
lighting: Triin Hook (VAT Theater)

Kati Juurik, who gratuated from the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy in the field of Dance Art Studies in 2008, focuses mainly on creating the atmosphere, a state of being. The action in the piece „Sula jagu” is inspired by a game or a fairytale, the aim of which is not to express the inexpressible, but simply to invite to join. The piece was created in close cooperation with Mihkel Ilus, an arts student at the University of Tartu.

"Technical dialogue“ by Jaan Ulst, a graduate of the choreography department of the Fonty’s Dance Academy in Tillburg, Holland, is a story about the relationships between people. Through a dynamic dance language, the dancers create a space full of touches and glances, focusing attention to the emptiness which in a relationship so often needs to be filled artificially.

On March 12^th at 19pm in Helsinki Theatre Acadamy. Tickets from the spot.

Organizer: Independent Association of Dance

Producer: Raido Bergstein / +372 56 454 888 / raido@stu.ee

Additional information: www.stu.ee