Culture Capital Tallinn

Cruisers love the harbor city of Tallinn, located along the shores of the Baltic Sea - on some days, the wide city harbor's guest terminals receive four or five big ocean liners at the same time.

Then thousands of tourists make their way through the winding alleys in the city's downtown district, which was known as Reval during the Middle Ages. Its protective wall with 46 towers made it one of the most secure fortresses in Europe. Much of the city's medieval flair has been well preserved, from Gothic churches to thick chunks of the old city wall with its red-topped defensive towers.

The tourists move through the city's antique passageways in a frenzy of camera clicks, marveling at so much romantic beauty. Most who come to the city concentrate on seeing the historic district first, including young German author Sarah Portner. But she's had the fortune of being able to stay longer in Tallinn, and her exploration has taken her beyond the center.

"It actually gets more and more beautiful and interesting as I get to know the city better," she said.

The Munich-based writer has five months to spend in Tallinn, part of a scholarship program sponsored by the German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe. Her eyes glow as she talks about what she's learned about Estonia's long and dynamic history, which has been marked by foreign influence and occupation by the Danes, Swedes, Germans and Russians.

Portner enthuses about the openness of Tallinn's residents and districts outside of the city wall, scarcely seen by tourists.



Culture kilometer

Kalamaja is a neighborhood seldom on the tourist radar, but it's where Tallinn's young and creative make their home. As Tallinn celebrates its year as a European Capital of Culture in 2011, a so-called culture kilometer connects points of cultural interest along the coast, including the edge of Kalamaja. The kilometer connects locations where art is happening, and being experimented with.

Exhibition venues include a former prison, the so-called Ecological Island, and scattered "problem points," which offer free poems for anyone facing difficult situations. There's also a pontoon in the water topped by an old English double-decker bus offering drinks and the chance to sit down on flea market sofas. The sunsets are free, just like the chance to look out across the water.

Taking in the water is, by the way, an activity that's gone by the wayside in Tallinn, said Jaanus Rohumaa, program director for Tallinn 2011. He blames the city's tendency to turn away from the sea on the Soviet occupation, which more or less blocked off the coast.

"The military was there, and there were factories. It was impossible to just go sailing here or do something else along the coast," Rohumaa explained.

Opening up to the sea

For years, people have tried to make the coast accessible again, and the city's motto during its year as a culture capital is "Stories of the Seashore."

The year-long festival has absorbed a traditional event celebrating Tallinn's harbor city history; it is promoting the upcoming opening of a maritime museum along the coast and offers kayak expeditions to help Tallinn's residents recall that they do indeed live at the edge of the sea.

Local residents have shown great interest in the program, but many also ask whether some of its ambitious projects can actually be realized.



Every penny counts

Tallinn has one of the smallest budgets of any of the cities in the 25-year history of the European Capital of Culture program. As a result of the financial crisis, the original 40-million-euro ($57-million) budget has been reduced to just 16 million euros. Organizers took the reduction in stride, choosing to do without some big, expensive names in favor of national and regional artists instead.

But the provision that seems most makeshift during Tallinn's celebration - a large theater made largely out of straw - was planned well in advance, confessed Director Tiit Ojasoo. The stray used to build its walls was collected in Estonian fields. The airy theater will remain standing for a couple of months through the summer, serving as a temporary performance venue that cost little, consists entirely of renewable materials and is even flame resistant.

Each night, contemporary theater performances are staged by artists and groups that Tiit Ojasoo and his team discovered at festivals throughout Europe. The Estonian guests are curious to get a taste of what's hitting stages beyond their own shores, and nearly every performance is sold out.

But you won't see many cruise liner tourists in the theater. They stay for a few hours to soak up some medieval atmosphere and sail on, perhaps resolving to come back and spend more time in Tallinn later. After all, there's so much more they still have to see.

Author: Silke Bartlick / gsw
Editor: Kate Bowen