“Tallinn is breaking free from its one-time reputation as a stag-night city” 10-06-2008 In 2011 Tallinn will be European Capital of Culture. Twenty years ago the
city was still the capital of the ‘Estonian SSR’. Today it is the capital of an
independent Estonia, a country home to one of the fastest growing economies of
the European Union, that has recently become part of the Schengen area. Tallinn
has become a popular tourist destination. Especially its Old Town – a UNESCO
World Heritage site – draws many visitors to the city. Tallinn has thus
experienced a major transformation. Tallinn 2011 is supposed to take the city
one step further. “Tallinn is already breaking free from its one-time reputation
as a stag-night city,” says Mikko Fritze, director of the Capital of Culture
Foundation. “From a tourist point of view Tallinn might still be considered to
be a somewhat ‘new’ destination. However, Tallinn is much more versatile – with
interesting city districts from different eras.” Ambitions for the cultural year
in Tallinn are high. “After 2011 Tallinn should be on everybody’s mind as a
capital of a European country where cultural life is abundant,” Fritze states.
How would you describe the current position of the city of
Tallinn in Europe?
“Tourists often applaud our UNESCO World Heritage site Old Town. However,
Tallinn has much more to offer. Luckily, Tallinn is already breaking free from
its one-time reputation as a stag-night city. It is attracting a more and more
specific kind of visitor to its parks, events and museums. It is also a city
very open to contemporary IT solutions, reflected in our digital public
transport tickets and mobile-phone parking. However, this side might not be
visible to visitors yet. Tallinn also definitely serves as the first point of
entry to Estonia and the Estonian market, being the biggest business hub of the
country.”
In the bidding document of Tallinn 2011, it is written that with
the cultural year ‘Tallinn hopes to find the solutions it needs to solve its
unique challenges in the 21st century’. What are the main challenges the city
faces?
“The main challenges the city faces are of course bigger than culture could solve, like urban sprawl and population ageing. But there are also cultural aspects, which need to be tackled.” As Tallinn is a Northern city, it experiences long winters, which might be less attractive for visitors. “We need to have bigger cultural events and international conferences all year round in order to survive the long winters and mark ourselves down on a cultural map of capitals.” Fritze also points to the fact that the Old Town of Tallinn is not a living environment anymore. “The area has been taken over by companies and all kinds of service providers. Apartments are mainly owned by foreigners and the streets are crowded by tourists. The local people do not see any reason to visit the area anymore.” Moreover, Estonian society is quite diverse: a third of Tallinn’s population
is formed by Russians and other nationalities. However, because of their
cultural and linguistic diversity, confluence is not very large. “This is also a
mission for Tallinn as a Capital of Culture. The event should at least bring
people culturally together, irrespective of their nationality. We want to reach
all kinds of social groups, so we are not going to plan a very elite year of
cultural events. The cultural year should offer something for everybody.”
Nonetheless, the biggest challenge for Tallinn, is to open the city to the
sea. “Today, Tallinn residents have almost no access to the sea, so we need to
turn our faces towards the water. After all, Barcelona achieved that mission for
the Olympics, so Tallinn could do it for the year of the European Capital of
Culture. For that Tallinn needs to retrieve several industrial areas on the
seaside from their private owners and arrange the coastal area into a
picturesque sea promenade.” The idea is that a ‘Cultural Kilometre’ will be
created, which should enable nice walks by the sea. This ‘boulevard’ should also
bring cafeterias and cultural life to the sea area. “This year Tallinn will
already start with the so-called Maritime Days, which should grow into an annual
huge festival which celebrates the sea. There are also several old buildings
that need to be renovated into modern multifunctional cultural facilities, which
also help bring life to the sea area.
What should Tallinn look like after 2011 and how is the European
Capital of Culture year going to contribute to that image/reality?
“Our goal is to create a cultural programme that will have a steady and positive impact on Tallinn’s creative and city environment, but also on Estonian culture, and Tallinn’s and Estonia’s image as a whole. After 2011 Tallinn should be on everybody’s mind as a capital of a European country where cultural life is abundant. We hope that culture-oriented people will come to find Tallinn a delightful place to live in.” When it comes to the future physical image of Tallinn, Fritze also has some clear ideas. “The physical reality of the city will change towards more light transport roads – cycling being much more apparent in the city, and, as stated before, our greatest hope and desire is that Tallinn will have a better access to the sea.” Why was culture chosen as the main strategy to reach these goals?
What do you think is the strength of culture in this respect?
“Culture is a good way of doing things because it allows you to choose a more
natural rather than a forced method. Culture provides a wide conceptual
framework, which logically links different topics into an integral whole, like
the sea area, the green city idea, cultural and historical diversity. We also
need to get rid of a certain national depression the country is facing; culture
is definitely a way of lifting the overall mood and national self-esteem.”
Many cities have been European Capital of Culture before.
However, only a few cities of the 12 EU Member States that joined the European
Union in 2004 & 2007 have been ECoC until now (Krakow & Sibiu; Vilnius
will celebrate its year in 2009 and Pécs and Istanbul in 2010). Where did/do you
find inspiration for the Tallinn year? Do you compare yourself to other ECoCs in
‘new’ Member States or do you think Tallinn is in a different position? Which
cities function as an example for the ECoC year?
“We hope that the distinction of ‘new’ EU Member States as such will slowly
fade away. In the planning of our 2011 programme, we have learned from several
ECoC cities. Some of them are from the so-called ‘new’ Member States, and some
from the ‘old’, but the grounds for learning from one or another are based on
programme needs and shared interests, not taking lead from the historical and
geographical ballast.”
In some previous European Capitals of Culture the residents of
the city felt that they were rather excluded from the process. They felt that
the event mainly served ‘hard goals’ such as economic growth, investment,
infrastructure and tourism instead of ‘soft goals’ like community development
and empowerment. Many Capitals struggle with this issue. How do you feel about
this? What does Tallinn plan to do in this respect? How will the city secure a
balanced and inclusive approach?
“We hope to see right from the beginning that the people of Tallinn are very
much involved in the process of shaping the programme of 2011. This is why the
call for ideas for the Tallinn programme, which was opened 20 May 2008, will be
very widely promoted, making the programme more co-designed than curated by one
or a few individuals. Even though there is not a very strong tradition of
cultural programmes being shaped according to the ideas of many – we hope that
Tallinn 2011 will bring the first change to the rule.”
LinksVisit the website of the Tallinn 2011 Foundation back |
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