Tallinn

In May 2022, the first legal graffiti wall was opened on a concrete wall of the Pärnu Highway viaduct. On 15 July, experienced artists and young art lovers also covered the old wall at 2 Paljassaare Road, Tallinn, with their art.

After a two-year break, last week saw the Birgitta Festival, one of Tallinn’s signature music festivals, organised by the Tallinn Philharmonic. This year's spectacular music event, which took place in the ruins of Pirita Convent from 6 to 14 August, focused on the creation of the Finnish-Estonian musical bridge and attracted 4,244 music lovers to the unique concert venue.

On 13 August at 4 pm a virtual discussion on the topic “Potentials of political curating during crises” will take place. The event is part of the official finissage of the Kumu Art Museum’s exhibition “Thinking Pictures”.

Two Estonian artists – poet Elo Viiding and painter Santa Zukker – are trying to disrupt how people see art to make art exhibitions more engaging by combining paintings and poetry; their exhibition, “Vastukaja” (“Echo”), runs until 18 July at a piano bar in Tallinn.

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen,” Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance, reportedly said.

The latest artwork as part of Estonian NGO Mondo's #IShareHerPower campaign is a seven meter high mural in Tallinn's Ülemiste district, painted by artist Lex Zooz. The work's main theme is the issue of forest conservation, with Zooz taking inspiration from Kenyan environmental, social and political activist Wangari Maathai.

"I chose forest conservation as the subject of my work because it is close to my heart and is also a topical problem in Estonia", said Zooz.

Lines from 30 Estonian poems have been sprayed onto the streets of Tallinn as part of a cultural tour that encompasses every district of the capital. The Tallinn Poetry Trail was compiled by young poets Elisabeth Heinsalu and Reijo Roos in cooperation with the city of Tallinn.

Roos said the poems force people to stop in their tracks and pay attention.

The lines of poetry relate to specially chosen locations, and among the authors, in addition to many new creators, there are also familiar names from Maarja Kangro to Tõnu Õnnepalu, he said.  

Tallinn's first ever legal graffiti wall has been opened, and may pave the way to more officially sanctioned walls in future, depending on how the project goes, ETV news show 'Aktuaalne kaamera' (AK) reported Friday.

The wall is located under the Pärnu mnt viaduct, south of the city center, and has so far attracted around a dozen artists. One, Emilia, told AK that:

I have spray-painted various colorful birds, or more specifically a toucan ... I really like birds and I've actually drawn several bird graffiti in Tallinn. This is one of that series.

The international new music and city festival, the Tallinn Music Week, held annually since 2009, will take place in both the Estonian capital, Tallinn, as well as border town Narva from 4-8 May. The festival starts on 4 May in Tallinn and ends on 8 May in Narva – a town of 55,000 mainly Russian-speaking people that sits at the Estonian-Russian border.

The annual robotics festival Robotex International is due to take place in Tallinn from 5-7 November; in addition to autonomous machines, a renowned humanoid robot called Sophia will “make an appearance” at the festival.

The festival will host competitions and robotics workshops and sheds light on autonomous machines and electromobility. It will also showcase locomotives developed and produced in Estonia and abroad.