From August 26 until September 1st, culture festival "Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania x 100" takes place in Helsinki, to celebrate the 100th years' jubilee of the Baltic states. The programme will include seminars, poetry reading, music and theatre, as well as movie programme.
Here are some picks from the diverse festival programme:
Wednesday, 29 August, from 14:30–17:00 The festival opens at 14:30 and the seminar “Norden as a concept and influence” begins at 15:30
Over the last hundred years, the concept of Norden has acquired a broad meaning that goes far beyond geography or politics, encompassing a particular lifestyle, social order and Nordic aesthetics. The discussion is dedicated to different approaches to identity and how, indeed, everything could have evolved differently. Panellists: Mart Kuldkepp, lecturer (Estonia), Prof. Dr Mindaugas Jurkynas (Lithuania) and Gustavs Strenga, postdoctoral researcher (Latvia). Moderator: Ainur Elmgren, a scientist from the University of Helsinki.
Wednesday, 29 August, from 18:00–24:00 Baltic film night with three excellent films, one from each Baltic State. All these films have been nominated for various awards at international film festivals, with two of them already having accumulated quite an impressive number of accolades. Rocks in my Pocket (LV, 2014), Owl Mountain (LT, 2017), The Man Who Looks Like Me (EE, 2017).
Thursday, 30 August, from 18:00–20:30 Piip and Tuut Theatre presents Hamlet. Based on the works of William Shakespeare. This is not your typical Hamlet play: two clowns re-interpret Shakespeare’s masterpiece in a surprising way that has already gained popularity in Estonia. According to the clowns, Hamlet is basically a comedy, or a tragedy, a simultaneously tragic and comic drama, a musical, a grotesque satire, spoken word theatre with music, a ballet, an opera, a rock opera, poetic and political theatre – at the end of the day it is just a fun family play.
Saturday, 1 September, from 19:30–21:00 The Nordic Passion concert of Baltic jazz will be held at the Temppeliaukio Church. You will hear how Baltic musicians create a link between traditional and modern music. Music composed by Villu Veski and Tiit Kalluste reflects the sophisticated melancholy of the North. Villu Veski – saxophones (Estonia), Tiit Kalluste – accordion (Estonia), Taavo Remmel – double bass (Estonia), Raimonds Macats – keyboards (Latvia) and Valerijus Ramoška – trumpet (Lithuania).
We are marking the 100th anniversary of the independent Baltic States by organising this festival in cooperation with the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian offices of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Culture Point.
Cooperation partners: EV100, Estonian Institute, SVYL, Runokuu, Finnish Embassy in Estonia, Restored Lithuania 100, Finnish Embassy in Latvia.
Full festival programme: https://www.nordiskkulturkontakt.org/en/events/festival-ee-lv-lt-x-100/
The festival is a joint event of the Nordic Council of Ministers´ offices in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Nordic Culture Point and literature festival Runokuu in Finland.
