Folk music with a strong message

No doubt, Tormis succeeded in his mission. It all began with his visit to the small island of Kihnu where he witnessed a traditional Kihnu wedding. This experience led to the writing of the cycle for mixed choir “Kihnu Wedding Songs” in 1959. A pivotal piece in his handling of runic song became the series “Estonian Calendar Songs” (19661967), which consisted of five cycles: “Mardilaulud” (Mardimas Songs), “Kadrilaulud” (St. Catherine’s Day Songs), “Vastlalaulud” (Shrovetide Songs), “Kiigelalulud” (Swing Songs) and “Jaanilaulud” (St. John’s Days Songs). This choral piece helped to develop Tormis’ unique style. He himself has said “I do not use the folk tune; the folk tune uses me”. This means that folk music was not a means of expression for him, on the contrary – he felt the duty to transmit folk music, its spirit, ideas and form.

Between 1970 and 1989, Tormis composed the six-part series “Forgotten Peoples” for mixed choir based on the perpetual melodies of six Finno-Ugric peoples (Livonians, Votic, Izhorians, Ingrians, Vepsians and Karelians) who, at the time, were all but forgotten by the wider world. By the time he finished the series, all of the folk singers whose songs formed the core of the compositions, were dead. Many of the ancient Finno-Ugric languages have very few speakers left. By preserving the languages and stories within his compositions, Tormis has made them immortal. The double CD of “Forgotten Peoples” was released under the ECM label in 1992 by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, who has spent his lifetime ensuring that the music of Tormis is heard in the world.

Tõnu Kaljuste, who has performed and also recorded most of Tormis’ works for mixed choir with the EPCC, claims (with a touch of humour) that Tormis composed one of his best-known choral pieces “Curse Upon Iron” in 1972 while he was often forced to hear heavy metal music that his son listened to at home.

The piece is based on the Finnish epic Kalevala and it has been performed by countless choirs worldwide as well as the legendary Estonian ethno-heavy band “Metsatöll”. Tormis has said that he carried the piece in him for seven years and he was physically shaking when he finally wrote it down. An emotion that performers and listeners alike have shared for decades. Yet, at that time the official Soviet music bureaucracy didn’t value the piece much, offering a fee of 30 roubles for the composer’s effort (worth a pair of shoes at the time). In 2011, Tormis said: “’Curse Upon Iron’ and ‘God, Protect Us from War’ draw attention to the actions of big powers that harm people. This was a purposeful activity that I started in the 1970s. I wanted to resist. Today it’s hard to grasp what the meaning of a few lines in a song can be.”

The founder of Viljandi Town in southern Estonia (pop.17,000). Folk festival Ando Kiviberg’s first encounter with the music of Tormis was as a singer in a boys’ choir: “Tormis reached to the deepest roots of Estonia. He used choir music to promote runic song, something he considered to be a musical mother tongue.” Kiviberg is convinced that, without Tormis, runic song would be a peripheral niche phenomenon: “He used the choir and song festival movement as a tool to create a joint runic song experience – the best and most effective way available in Estonia. Therefore, so many people in the music world feel comfortable with runic songs and carry the tradition.”

From ancient to virtual

Tormis saw folk song as his life’s work and he also began teaching it. He performed as the lead singer at many events and managed to make people feel the almost shamanistic magic of runic tunes. Tormis was well-acquainted with the presentational mannerisms of runic tunes and he also demanded this typical singing style from the performers of his compositions.

He has said: “Having developed throughout centuries, runic song is the most ancient, unique and complete creation of our people; the expression of our creative genius. The original rhymes, parallelisms and poetic images of our ancient runic song hide a magnitude of melodious chimes and shine, the beauty of word and thought, and a suggestive power which is born from the monotonous repetition of a runic tune.” Tormis considered the words which have been used to describe one’s mother tongue to also apply to the music: “The song of my people is the best, the most beautiful and the most valuable to me.”

His body of work, now also widely accessible via the virtual centre veljotormis.com, includes hundreds of compositions for choirs but also instrumental, film and stage music.

Why a virtual centre?

According to the composer’s son Tõnu Tormis, who is a professional choir singer and has been organising the conservation of his father’s legacy, Veljo Tormis was very interested in a website that would bring together information about his creations and simplify finding sheet music, recordings and discography for many interested people. “The first attempts were the webpage created by Alan Teder in Toronto and my own ‘Veljo Tormis databank’. But it soon became clear that the daily search for Veljo’s concerts and coverage and the regular updating of this information is too much work to be done as a hobby. At about the same time over a decade ago, the music journalist Immo Mihkelson approached me with the idea of creating a modern website based on a database.”

Iti Teder, project manager of the virtual centre, says that Veljo did not want a statue or a monument. A ‘real’ centre was never a topic with him. Also the folk music which Tormis as a composer used, has been preserved throughout centuries in the form of an idea. The most important building related to Veljo Tormis is his birthplace in Kõrveaia, which is located in the Aru village of Kuusalu county. Some interested people can visit there on the basis of a former agreement with the Veljo Tormis Cultural Association and the present hosts.

The virtual centre was opened on the 90 th anniversary of Veljo Tormis, on August 7th , 2020. The catalogues of discography and performances make it very clear that Tormis is a household name for choirs around the world, not just in Estonia. So, the virtual nature of the centre is a practical way to make the material accessible to millions of choir singers around the world. “Tormis is quite possibly bigger in the world than he is in Estonia. Therefore, the centre aims to collect and consolidate all available information about publications and performances. There are more than 700 records worldwide and counting. The recordings stretch to all continents and go beyond choir and classics,” says Iti Teder.

With the help of this centre, choirs in the whole world can find music by Tormis easily. It also offers teaching materials to music schools and other institutions. The new centre hopes to involve and engage Tormis’ fans from all over the world with a storytelling campaign where people can share their memories and experiences of Tormis’ music. “The virtual centre should become a home for an international community interested in Tormis’ music and promote even more performances. Now that the virtual centre is open, it will keep growing and will never be completed, as there will be new performances and recordings of music by Veljo Tormis,” says Teder.
 

Jüri Arrak, Red Flight Oil on canvas, 1990
51 Peet Aren, Red Sails Oil on cardboard, 1923
Henn-Olavi Roode, Sea Oil on canvas, 1962
52 Lepo Mikko, Sea Landscape Oil on Masonite, 1964
Konrad Mägi, Vilsandi motif Oil on canvas, 1913-1914
53 Aleksander Krims-Radava, Rocky Beach with Boat Harbour Oil on canvas, 1930s-40s
54 Eerik Haamer, Outcast Oil on Masonite, 1945
55 Andres Tolts, Morning Oil on canvas, 1970s-80s
56 Andres Tolts, Evening Oil on canvas, 1970s-80s
57 Tiit Pääsuke, Knots Mixed media, 2010

Viinistu Art Museum has permanent exhibition with around 400 works by Estonian artists from the private collection of Jaan Manitski, who can be frequently spotted giving tours in the museum and around the premises of the former fish factory complex, which now also houses a hotel, restaurant, chapel, theatre hall and marina. Located 70 km east of Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). by the seaside, Viinistu has become a popular destination for art lovers.

Gateway to post-industrialism

Its founder Jaan Manitski was born in Viinistu in 1942 and fled Estonia with his parents during the Second World War in 1943, along with 80 000 other Estonians. He grew up in Sweden where he made a bright career as the investment director of the world-famous pop group ABBA. Manitski was one of the first exile Estonians to return to his country of birth when Estonia regained its independence in 1991. Manitski first served as Foreign Minister and later headed the privatisation agency. He bought the production facilities of the former Kirov fishing kolkhoz in his native village Viinistu and continued fish production there for several years.

Hundreds of workers were transported with buses from the nearby town Loksa, sprats were smoked, cured and tinned in the large halls until Russia closed its market to Estonian products in the late 1990s. Today, art lovers come to the former fish factory by the busload.

Manitski realised that a new approach was needed to keep the village alive: “We could not compete with Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). as a production location.”

In 2002, on the 630 th anniversary of the village, the former cold storage for fish opened as an art gallery. Over the years, the exhibition halls have expanded into the former pump house, giant water tanks and other former industrial objects. An old production facility was converted into a conference centre and hotel with rooms looking towards Mohni island across the bay. The former heating plant turned out to have excellent acoustics after it was cleared of boilers and pipes and has become a theatre and concert hall attracting performances throughout summers. A former storage building was turned into a charming non-confessional chapel by architect Emil Urbel and designer Toivo Raidmets; a giant window now forms an ever-changing seascape altar painting with Mohni island and a lighthouse in the background.

To make space for the collection, an annex was built according to plans by Emil Urbel and Manitski himself. The new part of Viinistu Art Museum includes large windows with a sea view that exhibit ever-changing artworks by nature itself. Manitski stops at one of the large windows where a large boulder can be seen in the water. He had heard legends about this boulder in his early childhood in Sweden: “Viinistu-people used to say that here babies are not delivered by storks like in many other places around the world but rather parents find their babies behind the ‘baby-stone’.” Now the ‘baby-stone’ of Viinistu has become part of the art collection of Manitski.

The Barrel gallery was built inside giant water tanks that were filled during the night and the water was used during daytime in the fish factory. “The rusty internal walls become alive in sunshine and could be artworks themselves – just put a frame around them,” thinks Manitski out loud.

There is a bustling marina, village museum and sports hall with more ideas in the pipeline. Yet, with all the surroundings in constant development, it is obvious that the large art collection of Jaan Manitski is the heart and soul of Viinistu today.

How it all began

“At the time – late 1990s – I didn’t have much knowledge of art. After fleeing to Sweden my parents were simple textile workers, there was no place for art in the factory flat. So, the first piece I bought was almost a coincidence. Jüri Arrak had invited me to his studio in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). in 1997. He showed me one, and then another, and then a third piece of his work, but my taste in art was not very developed at the time. Finally, he took out a painting with a red bird on a blue background and told me that this bird, which had been made to fly artificially by winding the key, symbolised the Soviet Union. It too would only fly until the wind-up mechanism lost its power. This is what sold it to me – the political message.”

Manitski was smitten: “I discovered that art is a great way to educate myself – who is the artist? What’s the story? Now I’m surprised myself that the collection has grown so big. Obviously, I had a lot to learn.”

Many works in his collection have a story to tell. For example, “Outcast” by Eerik Haamer (see p. 55) who fled Estonia in 1944, rowing all the way from Vilsandi island to Sweden. Manitski later met Haamer’s son in Sweden, who told him that his hands had no skin left and it took a whole year of recovery before he could hold a paintbrush again. “Outcast”, painted in 1945, at first seems associated with the escape, but a closer look tells a grim story from Ruhnu island where the artist used to spend time before fleeing Estonia.

Or, the landscapes “Morning” and “Evening” (see pp. 56-57) by Andres Tolts, that once decorated the main lobby of the Olümpia Hotel in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). . Jaan Manitski accidentally saved them from the rubbish container during the renovation of the hotel as these had just been broken to pieces and a corner stood out from the dump. Luckily the works were not broken beyond repair.

The collection consists of more than 1000 works by Estonian artists from the 19 th century up to contemporary art, from Estonia as well as Estonian artists in exile during the Cold War era. Manitski admits that the collection grew fast and at times erratically. It was only organised in a digital catalogue by art students a few years ago. “One day, when I retire again, I will make a proper catalogue with facts and stories to each piece,” says Manitski.

A lot to see

This new exposition is the first time the collection has been viewed and organised through a curatorial lens. As part of the Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). Biennial, curators Mary-Ann Talvistu and Kädi Talvoja created a concept that brings together top pieces from auction houses, contemporary street-art favourites and works by lesser-known artists. According to project manager Andra Orn, a few focal points became visible while working with Manitski’s collection.

The new exposition has been organised in several distinct sections. The Baltic German section includes artists from the Düsseldorf Academy together with the first Estonian professional artists like Johann Köler, August Weizenberg and Amandus Adamson. The hall of genre paintings brings together relaxed still lifes, festive leisure moments and painful loss of the homeland by artists such as Johannes Greenberg, Eerik Haamer, Richard Sagrits and Olga Terri. Seascapes are represented by modernists like Konrad Mägi as well as contemporary artists like Tiit Pääsuke, who has depicted the symbol of Viinistu – the lighthouse on Mohni island.

A separate room is dedicated to rare sketches of Eduard Wiiralt Wiiralt is an Estonian rock-band. that Manitski dug up himself in the drawers and back rooms of Paris antique shops. Many well-known pictures by the artist can be first recognized on the back of an envelope or a napkin.

The mythology section brings together motifs of the Estonian epic hero Kalevipoeg Kalevipoeg is the Estonian National Epic. by Evald Okas and the religious symbols of Jüri Arrak, among others. Landscape paintings, which are popular among Estonian artists, form a season of their own in Viinistu. Among other works, you can find the scenes of spring-summer by Elmar Kits and Linda Kits-Mägi. The tribune section includes social and political messages from Leonhard Lapin, Lola Liivat, Kaido Ole and Marko Mäetamm.

The section of portrait paintings brings together autoportraits and dialogues with models. The flowers by Malle Leis presented in the middle can be seen as an allegorical reference to the artist herself. Indirect connections are also created in the section of fantasy.

The newest masterpiece of the permanent exhibition was born moments before the opening when street artist Edward von Lõngus arrived to create a stencil painting “PaperPlane” on the white brick wall of the museum. The staff of the museum said that the artist was accompanied by a group of friends who all participated in completing the painting, hence the secret persona of Edward von Lõngus was not revealed in Viinistu.

The owner of the collection likes the new concept: “Earlier, it was an exhibition, now it’s an art museum. It is thought through and designed professionally by Tiit Pääsuke, whom I trust.

On the other hand, the old expo had a certain charm as well. And there are still some paintings that I think should be up there that were not selected by the curators. I might sneak them in once the curators are gone. Surprises still to come!”

Viinistu is by no means ready. Manitski says, he doesn’t like to make plans … but: “I hope to get on with the reconstruction of the 800 square metre, former factory/restaurant. It looks ugly now, but it is actually interesting architecture. I want to open the seaside wall with a huge window and create art studios there. We have a few guest apartments, so artists could stay there and use the studio. Art residencies would be great here, it’s a very inspiring environment to work.”

Another idea being contemplated in cooperation with NOBA (Nordic & Baltic Art Centre) are house museums of Estonian artists in Viinistu – a studio setting of an artist will be recreated and the works exhibited in an intimate way.

For more check the museum's website. Or take a daytrip.
 

Re-discover the city

More than 3000 people have attended the Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). Linnahall Tallinna Linnahall is a multi-purpose venue in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). . tours and talks by the Estonian Architecture Centre since August to get a first-hand glimpse of the most impressive piece of Soviet monumental architecture in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). and the film-set of a Hollywood blockbuster. This massive amphitheatre-style hall, with seats for 4200 people, stood empty for a decade, but has become a new attraction for architecture enthusiasts and film fans. The multifunctional space was built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics when its sailing regatta competition took place in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). .

“Tenet’s” opening scene was filmed at Linnahall Tallinna Linnahall is a multi-purpose venue in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). . . And under normal circumstances, the release of this Hollywood sci-fi action movie would have triggered a fan pilgrimage to this and every location. But in 2020, hopes for a new tourist attraction are overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit international travel severely. Fortunately, locals and some tourists were able to visit Tenet locations over the summer months and the Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). tourism office has compiled a special Tenet tourism route.

Not only did star director Christopher Nolan shoot in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). , but part of the story actually took place in the Estonian capital. For instance, a scene set at the Maarjamäe Second World War Memorial – yet another piece of Soviet era architecture that has been neglected over the last decades, mainly due to its controversial historic interpretation. Architecture historian Carl-Dag Ligge points out the high architectural value of the memorial complex and hopes for a re-interpretation. Perhaps a prominent role in film will help locals to view the place from a new perspective.

The highway cut through limestone in Lasnamäe Administrative district in the east of Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). (pop. 119,000). – Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). ’s largest concrete block suburb – has become an attraction too, in homage to neck-breaking and time-defying stunts that were shot there in summer 2019. And, of course, anyone can hop a tram ride like John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, who shot a scene in centre city.

Kumu Art Museum is cast as a fictional “Oslo freeport” – the transit depot for art collectors and the mysterious time-machine. And railway tracks near Telliskivi district served as a backdrop to some violent scenes; belying the fact Telliskivi Creative City was a favourite hangout of the cast during the two-month shoot in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). .

Major breakthrough for Estonia as filming location

“Tenet”, with a total budget of 205 million USD, is doubtless the largest movie project to film (partly) in Estonia. The amount spent here can’t be disclosed, but the expenditure provided employment for hundreds of local people and technical staff; furnished significant income to the accommodation, service and transport sectors, and gave a financial boost to restaurants and retail as well.

This production now stands as the greatest achievement of the cash rebate scheme, established by Film Estonia, Estonian Film Institute and Ministry of Culture in 2016; a programme that allows foreign film productions to reclaim part of their budget spent in Estonia. Nele Paves, Film Commissioner of Film Estonia, points out that these schemes are widespread throughout the world and encourage production companies to choose particular international locations and partners.

Paves noted that “Christopher Nolan’s name and a film like ‘Tenet’ draw a lot of attention. There are not many directors whose films are anticipated throughout the whole world with such huge interest. It’s the absolute top level and a great victory for all of us that we managed to attract the production of this film to Estonia. The credits of the film include many Estonians in key positions. Quite a few of them kept working on the project outside of Estonia and have received impressive offers from the international film world as a result of this project. The interest for Estonia as a film country and shooting location has truly leapfrogged.”

Apart from a few well-known Estonian actors there were thousands of extras involved, as well as hundreds of production staff in lighting, costuming, art direction, make up and more. The Estonian film community took a crash course in large-scale Hollywood production.

Nele Paves commented that “After serving such a big project we are really assured that, even as a small country, we can do big things. Film production always involves surprises at every step as part of the job. We learned how to adapt and adjust quickly, how to solve challenges and be prepared for surprises. We really did everything to make sure all goes smoothly.”

Meanwhile, “Tenet” has triggered further interest in Estonia as a film location. Paves explained that the project attracted notice from Hollywood and the movie industry in other countries. “It is a big achievement and progress in terms of bringing new productions to Estonia,” he said. “The film world is quite secretive, however, and large Hollywood projects in particular are kept well out of sight until everything is finalised. So, we can’t talk about these before the director calls ‘Camera. Action!’”

Paves’ job – to attract international productions to Estonia – was quite tricky at early stages when the potential of Estonia was unrecognised, but is easier now.

“Thanks to the success stories of the past few years and the good work of our film makers,” said Paves, “this is changing. But we are still small and unknown. The challenge is to turn this to our advantage as an exotic, new and exciting location for foreign film makers.”

Security cameras, batons, handcuffs and firearms, laptops, selfie-sticks and drones, shopping carts and coffins – these are the accessories of the characters in question, making reference to the peculiarities of today’s society and consumerism that rely on our deepest instincts i.e. the subconscious need for power and control, information and connection, self-admiration as well as fear of death. They do so by mere suggestion, leaving space for the viewer [whether conscious art consumer or random onlooker] to enjoy their own fantasy and interpretation. Edward von Lõngus’ socially critical art does indeed point the finger but in a playful, rather than a moralising, manner. Tongue-in-cheek, he juggles images from the same system he criticises; an artist who also wants to sell us something – embodying the very idea of the instincts he purports to dislike.

It is in the nature of street art that you come across it as a random passer-by or in a dark alleyway, but increasingly, there is an effort to bring it indoors through representatives and dealers of the art world, as well as through art collectors. Lõngus’ works can be found both next to the rubbish bin on the exterior wall of a museum as well as in its exhibition hall. 

Art gourmands are hunting his pieces in clean and well-lit auction houses. Those who cannot afford auction prices can always purchase a T-shirt with one of his motifs online and strike a few poses for social media. In this way the artist’s observations about society establish themselves.

Edward von Lõngus has named cave painters, Renaissance masters and pop-artists among his role models, all of them connected through a creative spirit that moves through time. His own career began with pasting full-scale black-and-white printouts of human figures onto exterior walls where they didn’t last long in the weather. Soon after, in 2008, a boot sole pattern emerged in the same arena. His first stencil – a type of graffiti in which the image is created using a cut-out template and spray paint – enabled the artist to work rapidly and efficiently. Efficiency and speed are essential for street artists, as it allows them to leave a recognisable identification mark in as many places as possible while avoiding being caught by law enforcement.

However, the police have intervened in Lõngus’ creative process – even when his grafitti was green-lit by authorities and his project (R)estart Reality selected to mark Estonia's presidency of the Council of the EU in 2017, the Republic’s 100th anniversary celebrations in 2018 and the artist’s tenth year of activity. Throughout this project, one that reached eleven capital cities of Europe, Lõngus’ witty characters were inspired by ancient Estonians as well as scenes from the “Dance of Death” (Danse Macabre) by the famous Gothic artist Bernt Notke who worked in the Baltic region.

While literally leaving his mark in many different cities, dealing with police was the rule rather than an exception for Lõngus. In Rome, for example, they questioned his permission to paint graffiti and the artistic team was left on the streets at night for hours, awaiting the conclusion of official procedures. It is worth mentioning that the very same project won the cultural prize of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lõngus has also received the title of Honorary Cultural Ambassador of Tartu City in the west of Estonia (pop. 91,000). twice.

“In Rome, we stayed in a strange basement apartment. Lõngus left his stencil block in the corridor and when he went to check in the morning, it was gone,” Kadri Uus, one of the coordinators of the project recalls regarding another incident in the ancient city.

“Later it was found next to the garbage containers in the yard. Apparently someone thought it was trash and carried the 20 kg package to the container. Considering the fact that the design and cutting out of the stencil is the most time- and labour-intense part of street art, we experienced a pretty scary moment thinking it was all gone.”

Kadri also remembers how they came upon a Teufelsberg street art festival in Berlin outside the official part of the project.

“At first the organisers reluctantly gave Lõngus a little spot behind a corner, but when they saw what he was doing, they immediately offered him more walls.”

Another one of the coordinators and the curator of the artist’s last retrospective exhibition, Andra Orn, recalled how they participated in a local street art festival in Helsinki. The Hedgehog [who is mentioned at the top of this article and also the artist’s personal favourite], was depicted working with his laptop on a tree stump and won second place in online voting organised by the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

The exhibition “Doomsday Cathedral”, which took place in the Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). Biennale last summer served both as a retrospective and as a separate spatial experience. The elements of “The Dance of Death,” which until then had been only exhibited in parts, were now joined into a parade of steel plates reaching over 12 metres in length and weighing more than half a ton. Above the plates hung the ‘doomsday clock’ and in front ‘the mirror of truth,’ all crowned by a remix of Michelangelo’s fresco in the Sistine Chapel. The exhibition space – a former factory of nuclear electricity equipment – and the satellite exposition in a shopping centre added some spin to the dance. Where else could one address both destruction and crazy consumerism more vividly than in the spaces which produce it?

Various figures and shapes from cultural history were cut and pasted together to dance in the cathedral – Venuses by Willendorf and de Milo together with shop display mannequins; Estonian author Oskar Luts Oskar Luts was an Estonian writer and playwright. with Quentin Tarantino; Leonardo da Vinci with Stanley Kubrick. Eduard Wiiralt Wiiralt is an Estonian rock-band. ’s “Absinth Drinkers” from the 1930s Paris were transformed into today’s ‘joint smokers’ and the socialist-realistic composition of national grain policy merged with a capitalist version of national forestry policy.

In addition, posters from the Cold War era were displayed accompanied by Lõngus’ rhetorical question: “If a million apes equipped with typewriters are able to re-write all of the books by Shakespeare by pressing random buttons over a long period of time, what can 8 billion apes do, given with enough time, with 10,000 active nuclear weapons?” Although the ‘infinite monkey theorem’ which inspired the question is fortunately just a mathematical construct with zero probability of coming true, it is nonetheless thought-provoking.

The exhibition “Doomsday Cathedral”, now on virtual tour on the contemporary art platform noar.eu and accompanied by Taavi Tulev’s soundscapes, may give rise to similar reflections. And it almost goes without saying that the virtual tour provides a great tool for teachers to bring arts closer to their students. As Andra explains: “It could encourage everybody to discover the wider art world.”

By the way, as you may have guessed, the name Edward von Lõngus (meaning ‘slouch’ in English) is a pseudonym and his true identity a well-kept secret known to few others.