12
EESTI ELU reedel, 25. veebruaril 2022 — Friday, February 25, 2022
Nr. 8
The business of Estonia-themed merchandise Vincent Teetsov
Sample Sessions: From the archive to the dancefloor Drawing a connection be tween the old and the current, creating something new and unique through looking into the past and exploring our roots is a very relevant con cept right now. Music is often a great gateway into learning more about our cultural histo ry and to understand what elements of the past we can bring into the future and reuse time and time again. But what about discovering your roots through the art of turntablism? Professional turntablist Erik Laar’s Live Remix & VEMU Sampling workshop is the perfect opportunity for this! Erik’s involvement with and immersion in music started when he was around 5 years old. Playing multiple instru ments over the years, he couldn’t stay away from the turntable and has been showcas ing the intricacies and creativity necessary for turntablism ever since. Having performed inter nationally in the UK and United States, being involved with Nuit Blanche and the TIFF Bell Lightbox as well as founding and running his own successful DJ school Off Centre, there’s no doubt that Erik knows his way around a turntable. He also has a strong connection to the Estonian community therein being both an ambassador and performer at Estonian Music Week. So what exactly is turn tablism and what’s the work shop all about? Read on to find out. While DJ’ing involves the skill of mixing one track into another seamlessly, an intricate skill in it’s own right, turntab lism builds on the original role of the DJ and takes it to the next level. Turntablism features increased manipulation of sound, precision, and extreme levels of hand-eye coordination to create completely unique and original compositions. In collaboration with Estonian Museum Canada (VEMU) and Estonian Music Week, this workshop aims to
rejuvenate and increase interest in our cultural history and bring it into the present day through the use of state of the art DJ techniques and technology. It’ll take place in 3 parts: a trip down to VEMU’s archives to peruse the collection and pick out historical records, dis covering more about Estonian musical history and culture along the way. Part 2 is where we learn and apply the skills necessary for turntablism through a set of two 3-hour small group sessions featuring one on one opportunities to work with Erik, plus a 9 hour additional online workshop to further develop and practice skills and prepare. Prepare for what? Part 3, a final perfor mance where participants will get to showcase their original compositions and newly ac quired turntablist chops in the style of a live remix session. This will also be recorded and available for viewing online at a later date. Whether you’ve had experience with DJ’ing in the past or are completely new to it, all skill levels are welcome. If you’re between the ages of 16 and 30, this is the place to be. And the best part…it’s free! Make sure to keep your Thursday nights in March and April free; stay tuned for the exact dates of the work shop via our websites vemu.ca and estonianmusicweek.ca and through our Facebook and Twitter accounts! Be quick about signing up, registration ends on March 13th and spots are expected to fill up quickly…. WHERE: vemuesc@gmail.com We would like to thank the Estonian Integration Foundation and the Estonian Studies Centre for their sponsorship and for making this project possible. For a taste of what Erik’s com positions sound like, check out his Soundcloud page https:// soundcloud.com/eriklaar and h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=3SaOESGQPOc. See you there! KATI KIILASPEA
Entering “Estonia” as one of your search criteria on a site like Walmart’s online retail platform will give you 25 pages of Estonia-themed products. For example, a t-shirt with “EST wrestling” printed on the front; the “EST” in blue, black, and white. The same design comes on a linen throw cushion, and it’s possible to swap wrestling for nearly any sport you can conceive of. Other items available for purchase include an approxi mately 20 by 30 centimetre metal sign that says “Parking for Estonians only... All others will be towed.” Or how about a shower curtain that displays the coat of arms of Estonia? Beyond products with decora tive purposes, there are many different varieties of Estonian language Aabitsad (alphabet books) for kids. To stimulate the intellect, there are also books like Catalytic Hydro genation of Liquids from Estonian Kukersite Oil Shale. And this is just one site. You can fill in the gaps with a plat form such as alibaba.com or amazon.ca. Huge e-commerce sites like these host countless smaller brands who specialize in patrio tic or otherwise niche products. Brands such as Hollywood Thread and Colorado-based Flagline have their own web sites, but capitalize on the visi bility of a huge international retail company through the Walmart Marketplace and others. Sales performance is benefited by designing and manufacturing specialized products, such as those with national flags and patriotic slogans that are diffi cult to find elsewhere. Is there a significant enough financial incentive for businesses to make products tailored to Estonians? Certainly, online shoppers look for more specific goods, whereas in-store shop pers will more likely browse and purchase less specialized items. Estonian merchandise is part of catering to as many specialist shoppers as possible. Stocking a few items that satisfy a range of nationalities increases each of these busi nesses’ chances of making money, for when, let’s say, someone is getting a gift for a friend who is very enthusiastic about their Estonian roots. Estonia isn’t the only nation that is part of this commercial strategy. Type any country name into these sites and you’ll find equivalents. In the very least, flags and flag-related merchan dise for dozens of nations. Brands are also prepared for cross-cultural exchanges. Take, for example, the listing of Benvenuti a: Estonia, Diario di Viaggio per Bambini (Welcome to: Estonia, a Travel Diary for Children). Not every business wants to
An Estonian coat of arms shower curtain by Libin. Photo: walmart.com
be aggregated, though, especially when one has to compete with other online listings by lower ing prices. Specialized products will likely not sell in such huge numbers to warrant low prices. And when there’s the finan cial risk of keeping stock of items that won’t sell, companies can try working through a printon-demand system. Shopify, Canada’s largest publicly traded company, describes print-on-de mand as “...a process where you work with a supplier of whitelabel products (like baseball hats or tote bags) to customize those products and sell them on a per-order basis under your own brand and with your own designs.” One site making the most of this appealing business model is the Australian online market place site Redbubble. Designs are uploaded, approved for printing on the products they are most suited to, and then printed and shipped out once ordered from a seller’s profile. Anticipating a niche demand such as patriotic merchandise is a shrewd way of making money, but it raises a question about the commercial use of national emblems. According to the Republic of Estonia’s Copy right Act, passed on the 11th of November 1992, the Act “does not apply to...official symbols of the state and insignia of
More than 3,000 Estonian citizens make Canada their home
organisations (flags, coats of arms, orders, medals, badges, etc.)” Use of the Estonian flag is very free. In contrast, the Canadian flag is trademarked and permis sion must be sought to use it commercially. Based on Order in Council P.C. 1965-1623, permission to use the maple leaf design is subject to whether “use of the design or trademark conforms to good taste” and that “an applicant for the registration of such design or trademark disclaims, in his or her application, the right to the exclusive use of the maple leaf.” The United States Flag Code recommends that no “apparel, bedding, or drapery” should have the American flag on it, though doing so isn’t technically illegal. Moreover, the flag of the United States is in the public domain, so the usual concerns of intellectual property laws don’t apply. National symbols bring out strong feelings in many people and tie to a sense of identity. These product designs serve a purpose, then. We probably have a few in our own homes, such as the miniature Estonian and Canadian flags we wave on major holidays. But there is certainly an unexpected dis connect between where many of these items come from and the cultures they represent.
the World War II fair somewhat lower. There are 4,803 (4%) Estonian citizens in the USA, 3,054 (2.5%) in Canada and 2,996 (2.5%) in Australia. According to Enel Pungas, According to the Estonian Head of the Population Facts Population Registry, 3,054 Department of the Ministry of Estonian citizens live perma the Interior, these figures corre nently in Canada. Globally, spond to the number of people 121,243 Estonian citizens live who have applied for Estonian outside of Estonia. The ma identity documents abroad and jority of Estonian citizens who have indicated an address abroad live in Estonia’s neigh outside of Estonia as their boring countries. Finland permanent residence. boasts 54,084 (44.6%) Esto There are no reliable global nian citizens and Russia statistics about people who 19,172 (15.8%). These two identify themselves as Estonian. countries are followed by the According to the 2016 Census United Kingdom (9,537 or of Canada, 24,530 people of 4.6%), Germany (5,588 or Estonian origin lived in Canada, 4.6%) and Sweden (5,038 or most of them in Ontario 4.2%). (15,075 or 61.5%), British Countries that took in most Columbia (4,840 or 19.7%) and of the Estonian refugees after Alberta (2,720 or 11.1%).
