Introducing the First Part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 Main Programme

Today
Tartu 2024 has three programme lines: Tartu with Earth, Tartu with Humanity, Tartu
with Europe.

Tartu
with Earth 

Enter
Woodland Spirits
is at once an online anthology of natural heritage put together from the
collections of the Estonian Folklore Archives, as well as an international
digital art exhibition devoted to exploring the meaning of ancient traditions.
Organisers: Taive Särg, Henri
Hütt, Ave Goršič. 

ReVogue
Fashion Festival
aims to educate the public about how they can avoid fast fashion and
overconsumption and make more eco-conscious choices as fashion consumers. The
project will include various fashion-related events, including a fashion fair
and three fashion shows: MoodPerformanceTants, OmaMood and Antonius Fashion
Show. Slow fashion is the new fashion!
Organisers: Maiken Austin and
Estonian Fashion Festival. 

Reclaiming the River Emajõgi and the Great Lakes is an international boating festival that will enable both Estonians
and visitors from Europe to explore the exciting and little-known waterways
connecting Lake Võrtsjärv to Lake Peipus. The festival will include a diverse
cultural and educational programme whose activities will take place both on
boats and ashore at local harbours.
Organisers: Liisa-Lota Kaivo, Linda Saare, Kadi Ploom, Karoliina Lass.

Photo: Evelin Lumi

Arts
of Survival Urban Nature Festival: “Nature Creates” aims to raise
awareness of the biodiversity around us. The festival will delve into the
connections between nature and culture in urban spaces and present
nature-inspired creative works to audiences.
Organisers: Margus Kasterpalu,
Veljo Runnel, Reet Mägi.

Curated
Biodiversity will fill the parks and green areas of downtown Tartu with
life: crowds of people, lush vegetation, exciting activities, games and sports,
and landscape art. This will make Tartu an even better home for plants,
insects, small animals, and people alike.
Organisers: Merle Karro-Kalberg,
Karin Bachmann, Anna-Liisa Unt.

 

Stencibility Goes Europe will introduce both local and international
audiences to the unique features of Tartu’s street artists and their works. In
2022 and 2023, the project will travel to various European cities and
festivals, while in 2024, a grand special Stencibility festival will take place
in Tartu.
Organisers: Kadri Lind, Sirje Joala.

Photo: Mana Kaasik

Growing
with your Food is an initiative that aims to promote
growing food in a sustainable way, for which it will partner with educational
institutions and families from across Southern Estonia. The programme will
teach children to appreciate food and how it is grown, exploring everything
from planting seeds all the way to composting. Growing with your Food will spread
the message of homegrown clean food across Europe!
Organisers:
Elen Peetsmann, Karin Pai, Eeva Kirsipuu-Vadi.

Wild
Bits is an open-air exhibition of technological art that
invites visitors to contemplate the connections between nature and technology.
The project will include two smaller outdoor exhibitions in the European
Capital of Culture Kaunas in 2022 and in Latvia in 2023. The main exhibition
will be held as a culmination of the project at the technology and art farm
Maajaam near Otepää.
Organisers: Timo Toots,
Mari-Liis Rebane, Kadri Lind, Marie Kliiman, Taavi Suisalu.  

Tartu
with Humanity

Stand
Up for Your Mind carries the message that even
though good mental health is acknowledged as essential for well-being, our
problems are often invisible and stigmatised. That is why we need to create a
supportive and caring culture of talking about mental health. Stand up for your
Mind will help explore mental health issues through humour by organising mental
health cafés, improv comedy groups, and stand-up performances in Southern
Estonia, where both professionals and locals will be given the stage to share
their mental health stories.
Organisers:
Minna Sild, Sandra Liiv, Mihkel Mooste.
Partners: MTÜ
Peaasjad, MTÜ Improkool, Kinoteater MTÜ.

Creative
Connections aims to foster the development of social skills and mutual
understanding through art. The project will involve the creation of an
educational programme linking the domains of art and social issues, works of
art that promote communication, and an exhibition of international contemporary
art.
Organisers: Hanna-Liis Kont and
Tartu Art Museum.

 

Photo: Mana Kaasik

Through the City is a true story of Tartu and its people that aims to
collect assorted memories from the residents of the assorted districts of the
city. Through the City will fill Tartu with diverse creative endeavours and
offer a voice to those who do not normally participate in artistic circles.
Audiences will get to experience the districts of Tartu and the stories of its
people through a travelling production.
Organisers: Tiiu Tamm, Jaanika Tammaru,
Merilyn Elge.

Inwards Festival is a series of ambient music concerts that will take place
in Tartu. Visitors will be immersed in multi-faceted presentations combining
electronic music, psychogeographic theatre, visual effects, and light
projection. Each concert will be preceded by a thematic hearing experience
trek.
Organisers: Tristan Rebane, Merili Laur,
Anni Sikk.

Hidden
Worlds Expanding aims to expand the opportunities available for creative
self-expression to people with special needs. The project will bring outsider
art to wider audiences and, in the summer of 2024, will launch international
outsider art exhibitions in three Estonian cities: Tartu, Narva, and Viljandi.
Organisers: Mari Vallikivi, Eva Laantee Reintamm, Annika
Vihmann.

Literary
festival Prima Vista 2024 “Futures Better and Worse” is a
cross-disciplinary literary festival that will explore modern interpretations
of utopias and dystopias in artistic and critical forms. The festival will
bring together writers, artists, academics, and culture enthusiasts from
various countries to map and unravel societal hopes and fears in as diverse and
comprehensive a way as possible.
Organisers: Jaak Tomberg, Hedi-Liis
Toome. 

Crossing
Generations
will connect local and international audiences with older generations to learn
skills that are in danger of becoming lost to history. In 2023 and 2024, the
project will see various workshops teaching archaic skills being held in Tartu
and Southern Estonia.
Organisers: Ants Siim, Kärt Kunnus, and Anna Venchakova
(Tartu City Museum).

Photo: Mana Kaasik

Surrealism
100 will see four art projects brought to life at Tartu Art
Museum and the Estonian National Museum, devoted to the 100th anniversary of
the first Surrealist manifestos. These will be accompanied by a versatile
public and supporting programme.
Organiser: Tartu Art Museum.

Washing
Machine Made of Beetroot is a joint exhibition project dedicated to invention,
ingenuity, recycling, and DIY efforts, put together by the Estonian Road
Museum, the Estonian Agricultural Museum, and Tartu City Museum. Beetroot
Washing Machine aims to give people of all ages and skillsets the DIY bug!
Organisers: Paavo Kroon
(Estonian Road Museum), Madle Uibo (Tartu City Museum), and Ilze Salnaja-Värv
(Estonian Agricultural Museum). 

Tartu
with Europe

Performa
Borealis is an international
festival of professional performing arts that will explore themes of social
responsibility and eco-conscious theatre. The festival will take place in
theatre halls and urban spaces, where audiences will get to experience visual
theatre, political theatre, documentary theatre, contemporary dance and circus
performances, and more. Expect to be inspired and delighted in 2024!
Organisers: Kristiina Reidolv, Inga Koppel, MTÜ Performa
Borealis.

Toomemägi
Revisited is a project aimed at revitalising Toomemägi, the heart of
the city of Tartu, by imbuing it with light, culture, and science. The city’s
residents and visitors will be able to take a stroll in the ruins of the
cathedral while their full beauty is revealed by a well-designed lighting
solution, as well as visit surprising installations on Toomemägi that explore
the cultural heritage of the University of Tartu. Toomemägi is worth visiting!
Organisers: Mariann Raisma,
Karoliina Kalda, Külli Lupkin, and the University of Tartu Museum.

 

Kissing
Tartu is an initiative aimed at promoting compassion and respect
towards others and oneself. The initiative will consist of an educational
programme, a grand concert performance, and an unprecedented mass kissing
event. It will include simple and honest discussions and excellent
entertainment. The message intended by the organisers is: ‘Because what is life
without kissing? Nothing but the sad passage of time.’
Organisers:
Tartu Student Club, Kulno Kungla, Meelika Hirmo, Kadri Asmer, University of
Tartu Youth Academy.

The
Route Diverse will explore Southern Estonia through the eyes of various
linguistic and cultural groups in a series of travelling performances.
Characters, stories, and skills have always been highly regarded in Southern
Estonia!
Organisers: Nastja Pertšjonok
and International House Tartu

Tartu
World University is a series of community academies. At these academies,
active communities from Southern Estonia and the world’s top scientists and
cultural figures will meet to inspire each other and make the world a better
place. The participants will join forces to seek solutions to global problems
at a local level and vice versa.
Organisers: Triinu Laan and the
University of Tartu Centre for Ethics.

Photo: Kiur Kaasik

The South
Estonian Community Programme is a region-wide inclusion initiative
where the stage will be given to exceptional communities who have created
unique events through which the story of the local places and people will be
told to the rest of Europe.
Organisers: Kristiina Tammets,
Tiina Ivask, Kerli Kanger, Endla Mitt, Kaisa Timmi.

Arts
of Survival Documentaries aims to create a collection of documentary films. These
documentaries will explore the diversity of Southern Estonia and will be
co-produced by both Estonian and foreign directors. The short films will be
combined into an ‘Arts of Survival’ film collection that will be played in
cinemas across Estonia, on TV, and at special screenings in small villages.
Those who prefer to dress up for such occasions will get to enjoy films
celebrating the uniqueness of Southern Estonia at various prestigious European
film festivals.
Organisers: Liisa Nurmela,
Anna-Liisa Ingver, Kaarel Kuurmaa.

Hybrid European Democracy Festival. In 2024, Tartu will
simultaneously be a globally recognised digital city and a small green town.
Everyone who cares about the future is invited to attend a Prejudice/Opinion
Festival in Tartu as well as a pan-European Hybrid European Democracy Festival.
The discussions will explore intriguing lines of thought on all imaginable
aspects of Europe, ranging from Southern Estonian smoke saunas to Western
European university campuses.
Organisers: DD Foundation, MTÜ
Arvamusfestival, and Üliõpilaskonna Sihtasutus.