Tallinn Blog

Since there is no escaping them …

tom — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:47:40 +0000

Here’ s QueeNNaive :

they are playing saturdaynight after 21 h in Korter
at the Rotermanni district Roseni nr 9

tickets 50/75 kroon
http://www.myspace.com/popqueennaive

info : Thomas Viaene

BLIXA is coming !!!

tom — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:59:29 +0000

We are pleased to let you know that on 16th of oktober Blixa Bargeld is coming to Tallinn ! For all of you who haven’t heard about this legendary performer here is a short summary .Born in 1959 this German performance artist, writer and actor founded the essential noise band Einstürzende Neubauten. He took the name Blixa from a brand of markers and Bargeld from Dada-artist Johannes Baargeld. Originaly called Christian Emmerich even his mother calls him now Blixa. From 1984 till 2003 he was also guitarist of the Bad Seeds who where Nick Cave’s homeband. Blixa often sang duets with Nick as in The Weeping Song. Since the mid 90’s he’s been doing solo speech performances those are known for adventurous audiovisual tricks.Blixa been a vegetarian for over 30 years though he has given up on that now since he lives with his wife in Beijing, it seems quite hard to get good veggiefood in China.

The Rede/Speech he will be performing in Kanuti Gildi Saal at 21 h on 16 oktober, tickets are 390 EEK. The performance is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Check out his website www.blixa-bargeld.com

Don’t miss it !

text: thomas viaene

Essential Estonian songs

tom — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:47:13 +0000

Vaiko Eplik : Sylvester otsustab surra

28 year old Vaiko Eplik got famous trough his 2003 eurovision song contest appearance with the rather annoying song ‘eighties coming back’, however the song featured here somehow seems to capture perfectly the happy yet melancholic feel of this city . Like a modern day hymn of the city of Tallinn, it is rumoured that this song seems to be about Sylvester Stallone . The tune is an impressive synthesis of nordic pop and beatlesque sing a long even for a non estonian speaker the emotion rings clear . As said a contemporary classic!

Kodulaul

Kodulaul from the movie Nukitsamees (1981) the movie was shot in Karksi-Nuia. This song composed by Olav Ehala sounds like an Estonian Sound of Music, in my opinion even surpasses it. An example on how good Estonian child choirs really are. Some bars use this song to tell visitors they are closing as an “it’s time to go home song” . Kodu= home, laul=song . Estonian pride!

Hannaliisa Uusma : Absoluutselt

This tune by 23 year old Hannaliisa Uusma is popular in many gaydancings and most notably loved for its kinky whipslashdrum. Still a radiofavorit!

Chungin and the Strap-on faggots : 10 jahre alt

Chungin and the Strap-on Faggots : this song has a Berlin like touch but is op and top Estonian punk . What is most remarkable of this band is its charismatic frontman Chungin, a skinny pale-faced man with a frightening female look and an ultimate ‘live fast die young’ radiance.He has a talent rarely found among European frontmen in these times . Like stepping into a timemachine with Bowie, Johnny Rotten and Ian Curtis . This guy is the real thing . And a thrilling experience to watch.Live concerts highly recommended!

text : Thomas Viaene

Lucas Abela in Polymer

tom — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:29:16 +0000

Yesterdaynight (2th oktober) i had the honour to watch Lucas Abela perform in Polymer factory here in Tallinn on an event created by Finno-Australian curator Elijah Vartto.

What makes Lucas Abela, who is originaly from Australia, so outstanding is the simplicity of his whole set : a man and a piece of glass plus a bunch of amplifiers. And yet the power and energy of this squeeking, synthlike chainsawnoises that he produced . See it as a mix between an absurdist theatre a la Waiting for Godot and Jimi Hendrix, and you’re almost there . Its frightening and beautiful at the same time, tuning into a space of sound that is hardly heard on this planet and just seems way ahead of its time, yet its just him and the glass . The feeling that this performance evoked is that one could almost make music out of anything. From a sonic point of view it just sounded amazing, revolutionary and droidy at the same time as if somebody is cutting open a robot or molesting ET himself .Though in moments there is just the feeling you get as if you were watching the first punkconcert ever given, say protopunk crashing trough the roof in Iggy Poppish ways . It leaves a stunning impression to everyone who witnesses it as if someone has just discovered a way to make fire out of wood, well rockmusic out of glass …it ’s just that jawdropping feeling . Lucas himself is a cool bloke, walking trough the rainsymphonies of a dark Tallinn night, sharing an umbrella with him and then ending up in the place where everyone ends up on a friday night in Tallinn the Levist Väljas cavebar .I suppose no one had the slightest idea who he was and that is just one of the oddest things, can you imagine yourself buying a beer for Jimi Hendrix while the room is utterly filled with indifference ? Perhaps Lucas is never going to reach any of Jimi’s status but the music is just as exciting and revolutionary as his and that is no overstatement . Check out some more videos here :

text: Thomas Viaene

curator of event : elijahvartto@hotmail.com

Back to school at Viimsi Keskkool

tom — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:18:42 +0000

If i were today, on the first of september to go to school again i would definitly make it happen in Viimsi highschool . Not only is it a stunning piece of contemporary architecture by Eero Endjärv, combining a Frank O Gehry like feeling with skandinavian influences . It also has the ability to make you feel at ease from the minute you walk in. Fear of school seem to be unnecesairy at first glance . You walk past a glasdoor that has fishes painted on it and you find yourself in the big commonhal which is filled with plants and even has a waterfall that looks like a big black meteorite ( space oddeseystyle no kidding).

The rusty, coppercoloured exterior of the building tends to spark a creative, playfull yet hardworking flame, the exact thing one needs at school. It tends towards the futuristic, with its shape, but then wisely sticks into a more earthly even countryside like feel . Well its not exactly a summerhouse, but wood is an important component to the feel good of this school, more exactly in the windowframes, that have this Mondrianish style of warm balanced logic . The structure of the building is based on an island concept having a central space with four long arms in rotating shape, so at each moment of the day the light integrates to the rooms where it is most needed . More info on architecture is found at www.aet-arhitektid.ee for Viimsi Keskkool look at http://www.viimsi.edu.ee/

entering Viimsi highschool : aquariumstyle

when nature meets logic : a waterfall inside the school

funky coloured outside of the toilets : OXO style !

the outside holding a playfull ,warm and logic fashion

a spacestation desire , just cherised and not overexpressed: wonderfull !

mind the cute design chairs behind the butterfly ...a classroom

the commonroom : a place to eat amongst the sound of falling water

the amazing exterior : looks a lot like an artmuseum !

a different look at the commonroom

the clock on the schools aula : a distinctive skandinavian charm

a comfy chill out space : well done !

ever wondered how the ceiling looks like ? notice the librarybox on the right

the librarybox : wonderfully integrated in the space of the commonroom

impatiently awaiting pupils : 31st august

Text and pictures : Thomas Viaene

Architecture gossip : Vabadussõja võidusammas on Vabaduse Väljak

tom — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:54:42 +0000

Now your opinion on this one the new monument at Vabaduse Väljak is officialy called Vabadussõja võidusammas , the war of independence monument . It was opened on 23th of june 2009. It is 23,5 meters high and consists of glass plates , on top is the cross of liberty ( vabadusrist) .

Opinions might vary but despite it’s meaningfullnes, there is a lot to say about the esthetiques, we invite you here to share your opinions about this monument . What do you like about it, what do you hate about it, how does it make you feel, is it a waste of money, and what more…

Please grab your chance and give your opinion here below !

Polymer

tom — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:11:55 +0000

Polymer last weekend, before you get any wrong ideas …it’s this hip old factory that works as an artcontainer and experimental event machine, was throwing in an ultracool party . One could not imagine being anywhere else but in Berlin just after the wall came down. This Nordic energy really made the place feel like being inside a lightbulb with nuclear party sparks shooting all around you, hyperinfective and irresistable . Imagine a bunch of rooms on the same floor used for various music, like a ‘party shoppincenter ‘ almost.

One can walk trough from live experimental stuff (one moment you’re in India,the next in Montreal or Arabia, on Mars or similar in your neighbour’s teenage bedroom), to a dj set in another graphitystyle room, to alternative techno, a theaterstyle almost dolltheatre-like room and offcourse a chillout bar .

This is partying for the 21st century boys and girls : never get bored, keep moving and try to grab it all, delicious rooms full of yummiyummi-tunes left, right, center all around you (!), from the live festival feel, to the laserhaze of a clubby atmosphere . Mix it with an artgame where you have to hit boys riding on bicycles and throw balls through toiletrings attached to the wall, the place was as insane as it gets .

But what a playground it was ! Definitly Tallinn’s most experimental place to party and an absolute hyperplus for this city’s hipness, there is great reason for Estonia to be proud of the Polymer concept.

The history and facts about Polymer : During Soviet times it was a toyfactory (yeah yeah!), after the closing down in the mid 90’s a group of artists decided to turn it into studio space . Musicians aswell saw opportunities for rehearsal space.Nowadays the 3000 sq m building houses some artist studios and works with ‘artists in resident’ from abroad, there are exhibition spaces and places to experiment . It’s a base for exchanging imagination a kinetic work space, well we all heard of Andy Warhol’s art “factory”, it’s not exactly the same thing we have here but one can find many similarities.There ’s some 30 artists and organisations living in Polymer.

You can find Polymer at Madara 22, some 20 minute walk west of the old town .More pictures at http://www.flickr.com/groups/polymer and on facebook .For artists who want to become a resident at Polymer check out this link ! Info for upcoming events is to be found on this site http://festival.kultuuritehas.ee/index_eng.html this week up until august 30 there are lots of things going on every day . So CHECK IT OUT !

author and photographer : Thomas Viaene

People in Estonia

tom — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:51:10 +0000

Kalju Suur

The man above is 81 year old Kalju Suur, a renomed photographer in Tallinn and often found in KUKU kohv (on Vabaduse Väljak), a birdeye’s-view on his work and life …

Starting out with factory-photography while being employed in the mechanics dep of the textile factory Marat he transformed his carreer into an eclectic horizon of sorts …such as being a reporter for a cultural magazine Hammer and Sickle, founder of Stodom a photographic group and even founding his own one-man publishinghouse Suurkalju ( Big-Rock ,infact just his name in another order) focusing on photoalbums obviously . Outside Estonia he featured in exhibitions since the mid 60’s , in countries as : Australia, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Sweden, Finland, Denmark , Hungary, Russia) . Well known for comical subjects and nudes aswell as portraits of famous Estonians he also had a foot into the reportage field . Not in the least during the famous Singing Revolution, even while being allready retired he was a voluntary journalist. His pictures often important time-documents got published in foreign press . In 1978 Kalju Suur was awarded the title of Artist of the International Federation of Photographic Art (AFIAP) . A videofragment of him can be seen at http://www.nuffi.ee/video/zsWtvubMyjU. Books can be ordered at www.apollo.ee or in various bookstores in Tallinn, or if you ‘re lucky you can purchase a signed version from the man himself at KUKU kohv whenever he’s around …

text and picture : Thomas Viaene

Leigo festival

tom — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:35:19 +0000

Last week’s Leigo Festival in South Estonia was somewhat of an exercise in sublime poetry . Not only had they landed a piano and an operasinger on a lake which gave it such a magnificent aura, they also seem to put an entire orchestra on the bigger lake . Now lakes are strange things, their power to reflectiveness is widely known but when it comes down to music there is something out there that seems to resonate on a deeper level . The echo in the water, is like an answer to the music, a true participant in the piece as if water tunes into a song and a thousand drops boost it back in the atmosphere with this near organic feel …the body is water afterall. I think this must be where music ends up when it travels past the eardrum, in that great inner lake of our soul . Inside and outside connect uniquely.The atmosphere of the lakelands is quite special aswell there are some big wooden houses, in which one nearly had a tribal feel or distinctively ancient feel, the arcade fire was burning, it was the only light in there, all you could see was the faces of families gathered around tables …one could only imagine this viking age feeling from a vague old subconscious memory . It felt a bit like a ‘home of pastlife’ tense. More of this paganish stuff when the fires were lit on the lake by guys in little rowingboats which felt a bit like seeing a fairytalebook flapping page by page before your eyes, then later the sailboats set in, to fit with the orchestral ambiance, well i guess they were invited aswell. Choirgirls in traditional dresses came walking round the lake and went up the wooden bridge onto the island, as an aquarel that bursted into a motion picture, surreal beauty. Music ranged from Mozart to Beethoven, one can only imagine the squirls and foxes entranced by these masterpieces of human imagination and craft, i would have loved to see how it all felt for them, the unseen listeners of this concert the wild animals of Leigofestival . In the end torches were lit on the hill into a pagan circle and people were dancing with firetorches , i must say an impressive feel as the canonshots burst out in the back . My favorit moment however was a hundred or so Chinese firelampions that were flying up into the sky, second by second they went up higher and smaller untill you could see a swarm of stars buzzing into nightsky, amazingly enough one could even think of it as a cloud of UFO ’s or celestial beings …beauty beyond words . The unforgettable day was settled with a mobilephone orchestra , which brought back memories of Steven Spielberg Close encounters of the 3rd kind, i’m sure the birds at Leigo right now have picked up some of those ringtones and introduced it into their language … Anyway to experience the magic yourself check out www.leigo.ee and some of the pictures i took …

Author & photographer : Thomas Viaene

Where to buy furniture in Tallinn?

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:41:53 +0000

You can buy used furniture here:

Büroomööbli Realiseerimiskeskus: You will find used quality furniture mainly coming from Finland.

Realkeskus: You will find all sorts of overstock and second hand goods. The choice in furniture is not very big choice, but you might make a good deal.

For high quality and design furniture checkout the shops in Pärnu mnt. More info.