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EESTI ELU reedel, 10. juulil 2020 — Friday, July 10, 2020
On the Wall: Evolving Art Curation in Estonia and Canada
Time Machine: Comparing language legislation in Canada and Estonia
Vincent Teetsov
Vincent Teetsov
For some, the very concept of art is irretrievable and exclu sive-sounding. It can stir up mental images of parquet floors and sullen paintings by Vermeer, which recall a time period that’s not so relatable anymore. Art can even insti gate frustration. Sparse, con ceptual creations scattered throughout a room and blank walls will evoke the tired debate “what qualifies as art?” Is it simply “what you can get away with” as Andy Warhol apparently said? As art curators and directors project gallery and museum visitor numbers over the next decades, it has become a matter of making the experience more participatory. Less watching from the sidelines, and more engagement. At the Art Gallery of Ontario, this was noticeable with the arrival of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors in 2018. Not only was social media a place to celebrate the dazzling installations created by Kusama, it created a commu nity built around sharing with friends the feelings evoked by the art. Tickets were sold out. The AGO extended its evening hours to accommodate for more visitors. Not all galleries can or will fit mirror and LED labyrinths into their spaces and budgets. But when institutions make their visitors part of the picture and expand art into a more democratic experience, that’s when it thrives most of all. Kumu in Tallinn has em
Estonia… (Continued from page 10)
cerning Dmitry Kiselyov for his central role in Russian propa ganda justifying attacks against Ukraine (including the an nexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russian federation’s military activities in Eastern and SouthEastern Ukraine). “Due to the personal sanc tions against Mr Kiselyov, Estonian banks froze in October 2019 Rossiya Segodnya’s payments. In December the Financial Intelligence Unit, responsible for implementing financial sanctions in Estonia, informed employees of Rossiya Segodnya that knowingly work ing for or providing services to a person under sanctions could be a criminal offence. “In June 2020, the Estonian Internet Foundation imposed a restraint on the disposition on two domains – baltnews.ee and sputnik-news.ee – registered to Rossiya Segodnya. The restraint on disposition means, that legal actions are forbidden – for example, the domain cannot be
Photo: visitestonia.com
bodied this principle through their ongoing Noorteklubi (Youth Club). The Club is a social way for 15 to 20 year olds to see the many exhibits that come through town, and to broaden one’s horizons with projects that include design, screen printing, and poetry. If the gallery is a place where young people can make it their own and have a voice, or even if it’s just a place to meet up and be comfortable, it’ll take on a life of its own. 11 minutes away is Kai Art Center, which opened in the autumn of 2019. Originally a Tsarist-era naval submarine manufacturing facility, this structure hosts an array of dif ferent events: international art residencies, seminars, Foto Tallinn, workshops, and movie screenings. A bistro, cocktail bar, restaurant, and confectionery shop on the ground floor fuel the liveliness of the seaside spot. Art curation mainly in volves what we look at, but just as the placement of pieces is considered, consideration can be also made of space usage. As with Kai Art Center, a less rigid facility makes it easier for potential visitors to make the institution personal to them.
Inviting artists themselves into these spaces to mingle and talk allows for relationships to be built.
sold or transferred to another person and thus used as an economic resource. Initiated by Estonia, the foreign ministries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania asked the European Commission’s opinion on implementing financial sanc tions, the Commission replied on June 19, 2020 and the answer is available here: https:// ec.europa.eu/commission/press corner/detail/en/ip_20_1126 “After the opinion was issued the Latvian media regulator also stopped transmission of RT (earlier known as Russia Today) TV channel. Estonia and Latvia are in constant communication regarding this issue. The Esto nian Financial Intelligence Unit is analyzing information re ceived from Latvian partners, legal framework and will for mulate its position on the need to implement sanctions and on possible measures.” Sputnik Estonia’s 35 em ployees ended their employ ment with the agency as of January 1, 2020. The Sputnik Estonia website continues to operate. ERR News reported in
November that sanctions against the Kremlin propaganda chan nel Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) are forcing the Russian state-controlled media portal Sputnik organization to move out of its rental space in Tallinn as Estonian banks do not accept Sputnik salary payments.
We can liken it to profes sional sports, another pillar of culture. Not everyone can per form at the level of an NBA basketball player, but the team energy and camaraderie of the game keep bringing spectators in. Athletes become heroes, and push us to put on our sneakers and play, too. Then we watch games with the excitement that we have about playing our selves. Or what about music festi vals? The bands make the “soundtrack” to the party of everyone there at one time, and the fun of that party is what everyone is after. The bands survive on the relationship they have with their fans. The more people make art for themselves and the more it’s encouraged to become a normal social ingredient, the more popular these places will be come. Parties will be thrown. Heroes will be found. It would be another natural thing for everyone to take part in, regard less of if you do it professionally or not.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu told ERR in an interview that Russia is accus ing Estonia of going after Sput nik to erode the EU’s Russian sanctions policy.
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cate in Estonian sign language and signed Estonian...” The Act It was June 1973 when the also speaks pragmatically about Société de l’Acadie du Nou the use of the Russian language. veau-Brunswick (SANB) was In local governments where at founded in Shippagan, New least half of permanent resi Brunswick, to “defend and dents speak a language other promote the rights and in than Estonian, they have the terests of Francophones and right to communicate in that Acadians in New Brunswick.” language. This was four years after the This poses an interesting Official Languages Act was question about how the propor passed, making English and tion of languages determine French the two official lan their official use. When I guages of Canada. It is also a s tudied in Cardiff, Wales, legal requirement for federal w ritten Welsh (including sig institutions to provide services nage, road markings, and in French upon request. A o fficial documents) was abun combination of activism and federal legislation has made dant, even though only 9% of New Brunswick a thoroughly adults in Cardiff speak Welsh. This is the lowest percentage in bilingual province. However, in comparison with Wales, as of June 2019. the actions that have protected Nevertheless, Welsh is one of the Estonian language, how the two official languages of have the languages of the in Wales. Welsh is the first lan digenous Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqi guage of Wales. Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, and yik, and Peskotomuhkati people Peskotomuhkati people in New of New Brunswick been con Brunswick had their languages sidered in Canadian legislation? banned. English-only policies In the late 1970s, more pres inhibited the continued speak sure than ever before was ing of these languages. The placed on Estonians by the Indigenous Languages Act of Soviet authorities to learn June 2019, was one step in the Russian. Schoolchildren were taught from kindergarten up right direction, where a federal wards. With the reforms of institution may “provide access glasnost, Estonian was made to services in an Indigenous the official language in 1989. language, if the institution... has With the gradual restoration of the capacity to do so and there Estonian independence, the is sufficient demand for access Eesti Vabariigi Riiklik Keele to those services in that lan amet (now the Keeleinspekt guage.” However, just as legislation sioon) was created in 1990, to ensure public services were and change is always prompted provided in Estonian. Yet, this by the advocacy of individuals was not possible without the and organizations, it will be activism of individual Estonians person-to-person engagement, and Estonian political parties. such as educational programs at Vocalizing one’s ideas came the University of New Bruns with great risk, even with politi wick’s Mi’kmaq-Wolastoqey cal transparency being pro Centre, that will ensure lan guages continue to be spoken. moted by Mikhail Gorbachev. More recently, the Language Estonian is the first language Act was passed by the Riigi of Estonia. Eastern Algonquian kogu (“Parliament”) in February languages are the first languages 2011, which expanded upon the of New Brunswick. Even if we Law of 1995 on Language. The don’t learn any languages 2011 Act enforces “right to beyond Estonian or English, I access public administration in think any of us who believes in the Estonian language in oral or our cultural preservation can written form” and furthermore, agree that more attention should “the right of deaf and hearing be given to all of Canada’s impaired persons to communi languages.
Reinsalu (Isamaa) said: “But what I want to emphasize is that we have not taken mea sures against the portal’s media content. They are financial sanctions aimed at economic activity. I believe it to be justi fied.” Rossia Segodnya is a news agency owned and operated by the Russian government whose name translates as “Russia Today.” It should not be con fused with RT, the Russian government-funded Russian in ternational television network, which operated under the name Russia Today from 2005–2009.
Welcome sign featuring artwork by Wolastoqiyik artist Samaqani Cocahq (Natalie Sappier).
