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EESTI ELU reedel, 18. veebruaril 2022 — Friday, February 18, 2022
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What it takes to acquire your own rahvariided Vincent Teetsov Many Estonian families have passed on their rahvariided/ rahvarõivad (traditional folk costumes) from one generation to the next, so they can be worn at special events. These days, those events include Laulupidu, Vabariigi Aasta päev, graduations, choir con certs, and folk dance perfor mances. The costumes are very per sonal. As Piret Õunapuu, for merly of the Estonian National Museum, wrote in one explana tion of folk costume traditions for Eesti Instituut, “Young men and women received a complete set of festive clothes for confir mation, which marked their coming of age.” Clothes were either “festive”, used for less festive errands and visits, or they were more ordinary “work ing clothes.” And these days, Õunapuu adds, folk costumes “basically mean the festive clothing dating from the first half of the 19th century.” At one point or another, to pass on a folk costume requires an individual to make items like hats, tunics, waistcoats, skirts, coats, belts, and trousers.
Owners, in turn, must be vigi lant to maintain the condition of the clothing over years of per spiration and exposure to moths and other wool-hungry insects. If your family has managed to keep an entire set of rahvariided in good condition over the years, kiitus teile! What if the set of rahvariided you’ve been given is damaged beyond repair, or you weren’t handed down a folk costume, though? You don’t need rahvariided to take part in Estonian culture, but the fulfilling ex perience of connecting to your roots through clothing is within reach. The trouble is knowing which kind you should wear. Across Estonia, dozens of traditional costume styles exist depending on the purpose, location, and stage in life of the wearer. Firstly, identify where you’ll wear the costume. Not all events or seasons will warrant wearing a full ensemble, com plete with items such as a heavy coat and hat. If you see yourself using the costume for folk dancing, perhaps you’d like to stick to more practical items – a white tunic, a colourful
Estonia’s English-language podcasts, all in one place Andrew Whyte, ERR News, January 2022 Podcasting is hardly a new phenomenon, and Estonia is often referred to as one of the foremost digital states global ly, so it will come as no sur prise that there is a multitude of podcasts out there about different aspects of the coun try, including many in English. Some of these might have so far slipped below the radar for many potentially interested lis teners, however. To help solve that issue, ERR News has drawn together a dozen of the current crop of podcasts of all types, all together in the same article for ease of reference. For a podcast to be listed it needed to meet three criteria: Be in English, be about Estonia and have had multiple episodes posted online within the last year or so. Participants are both Esto nians and native speakers of English (with Australians by far topping the list with around half-a-dozen appearing in the episodes below!), along with people of other nationalities. Formats vary from mono logues, to host-guest dialogues, two hosts, two or more guests etc., while the language runs the gamut, from the formal, to the somewhat coarse, so Caveat Auditor. The podcast episodes also range in length hugely, from
around five minutes, to over two hours, and some podcasts run video, others audio only, and still others a choice of both (Spotify and YouTube are among the most commonlyused platforms). e-Estonia podcast A digital podcast to kick things off, from the e-Estonia briefing center’s official Art of Digitalization series. This fo cuses on digitalization stories that have taken Estonian knowhow globally, the site says. Tallinn University Podcast Tallinn University Podcast kicked off big with its debut episode in May this year. Host and TLÜ lecturer Terry McDonald was joined by none other than former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who is perhaps uniquely placed in be ing able to summarize indepen dent Estonia’s 30-year history in its geo-political context. Ilves was Estonia’s first ambassador to the U.S. following the res toration of independence, later becoming foreign minister, ahead of his two terms as head of state, 2006-2016. History of Estonia Podcast Literally what it says, this regularly-updated podcast has been running two years and is currently at episode 46, which averages around one installment a fortnight. The host goes by the name of William of
Folk costumes at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum.
waistcoat, long socks, and either trousers or a patterned skirt – to allow for easy move ment.
the waist, and leather boots. The aforementioned white shirt and trousers form the base of the outfit.
Foreseeing its use in cold temperatures, or just to just have every item on hand as needed, you could go the way of men from Mulgimaa: a tall black felt kabu (hat), a long black wool coat with red trim, a red patterned vöö (belt) to tie at
It’ll help focus your search if you identify what region you’d like to source the design from. Think about your connection to Estonia. Where did your ances tors come from? Then again, maybe you want to choose a style based on looks alone.
Clermont, real name William S. Parsley, and the series starts at the start, in prehistory.
some of the key players in the sector, who already have a track record of having successfully done the same.
Estonian Football Podcast The only podcast on the list so far to be dedicated solely to sport, this is brought to you by U.K.-based brothers Reece and Nath Broughton, and covers club football, primarily the top-tier A. Le Coq Premium Liiga (also known as the Meistriliiga). The podcast’s Twitter account is here: https:// twitter.com/EstonianFBP Found in Estonia A real people podcast, this one, hosted by Tiina Pärtel – and, in the earlier episodes, co-hosted by Kaisa Holsting – and interviewing many different expats from all over the world on their lives in Estonia. Tallinn Talks Hosted by Chantel Rowe and Solace-Rose Quartey, the pod cast is aimed at international residents of Estonia’s capital, and anyone else interested in Tallinn. KultuuriReflektor A pure culture podcast, this installment hosted, the site says, by Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) alumni [sic] Michael Haagensen in its English episodes – the podcast also has Estonian episodes and is affiliated with the EAMT. Startup in Estonia British-Estonian host Adam Rang takes a look at different aspects of creating and building up a startup, by interviewing
This Estonian Life Dan “Le Man” Renwick returns with this professionally put-together video podcast, co-hosted by fellow Australian Andrew Martin and broadcast from the Heldeke bar itself. It takes an off-the-wall look at the quirks of living in Estonia as a foreign resident. Comedy Guy with Louis Zezeran The founder of entertainment troupe and promoters Comedy Estonia has been hosting this for a couple of years now, often joined by co-host Tadhg Ó’Riada (Tim Reidy). In this episode (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=nW5oOS6MOoM), they are joined by journalist Sille-Kadri Simer, to mark the 10th anniversary of the publi cation of a notorious “pick-up” guidebook. The Estonian Experience The Estonian Experience with Stew and Jay is here ( h t t p s : / / o p e n . s p o t i f y. c o m / show/6IWB6WR6aBPDJ cySqvR5KJ), with some epi sodes available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/ c h a n n e l / U C Y J k D r I o 1 t -MeHEUjwECCQ). It features U.S. stand-up comic Stewart Johnson and his co-presenter Jay, with the most recent guest being another well-known fig ure from the expat community in Estonia, writer Justin Petrone.
Photo: erm.ee
Depending on how much you’re looking to follow tradi tion, there are numerous con cepts that augment the design and items worn. For example, married women traditionally covered her hair and wore an apron. Visit Setomaa says of their own region’s rahvariided that “The proudest part of the Seto woman’s folk costume is (Continued on page 20)
quESTonia A current affairs-based pod cast hosted by Stuart Garlick plus journalist-activist, and now Social Democratic Tallinn city councilor, Maris Hellrand. Digital Government Podcast Journalist, sociologist and researcher Federico Plantera is show host, across dozens of episodes on e-governance, the e-state and digital development. Tissident The Tissident lifestyle pod cast, while generally in Esto nian, occasionally carries English-language episodes, in cluding this one with EstonianCanadian trans-man comic Kaido “Kid” Strange (https:// soundcloud.com/tissident/ 104tissident-x-kid-strange-koiktranssoolisusest), and this one with U.S. comic Rachman Blake (https://soundcloud.com/ tissident/92-crazy-dating-sto ries). Estonia Explained ERR News’ very own pod cast here, hosted by writer and historian Maarja Merivoo-Parro and, as its name suggests, de constructing many of the under lying aspects of the national character and way of doing things. EXPO Dubai 2020 Podcast Maarja Merivoo-Parro has been keeping busy by also presenting this limited-episode series, which ties in with Estonia’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai, currently in prog ress (through to the end of March 2022).
