International opening: Estonian National Museum
Alice Durrans talks to director Tõnis Lukas about a venue that showcases the country’s history, including its struggle for freedom from the Soviet Union
The Estonian National Museum, which is housed in a 355 metre-long glass structure, was completed in October last year and attracted 100,000 visitors in its first three months. It is in Raadi, on the outskirts of Estonia’s second largest city, Tartu, which is 190km from the country’s capital city, Tallinn.
The museum was founded in 1909 to preserve and nurture the history and culture of Estonia. The stories it tells include Estonia’s struggle for independence from the Soviet Union, which occupied the country, alongside the other Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania, from 1945 until 1991.
The original museum building was destroyed by fire during the second world war. The site later became the largest Soviet military airfield in the Baltic region. The importance of the airfield meant Tartu was closed to foreigners and access to Raadi was restricted for more than 50 years. The museum’s collections were placed in storage.
After the Soviets left in 1991, the Estonian Parliament started work on a plan to construct a new Estonian National Museum at Raadi.
The design of the building is the result of a competition won by a trio of international architects: the Italian-Israeli Dan Dorell, the French-Lebanese Lina Ghotmeh and Tsuyoshi Tane from Japan.
The three established a practice together, DGT (Dorell Ghotmeh Tane), and the Estonian National Museum was the architectural firm’s first project.
The building, with its roof expanding towards the sky, is designed to give the museum a sense of space and freedom. The glass-panels that line the structure allow visitors to see the surrounding landscape wherever they are in the building.
The museum’s collections from the 19th and 20th centuries comprise medals, military material, photographs, texts and lots more. Among the objects are those that tell the story of the country’s struggle against foreign rule. The museum also actively invites locals to donate personal items to the galleries.
What is the history of the museum?
Tõnis Lukas: The museum was founded in 1909, but operated in temporary accommodation in different locations around the city until it was given a permanent space at the Raadi Manor on the outskirts of Tartu in 1922.
Unfortunately, the manor was destroyed in 1944, so the museum was forced to return to a temporary space. As an institution that represents our national identity, the museum was disliked by the Soviets and its role was diminished to one of a minor museum of ethnography.
Giving the museum back the role it once had was one of the most important political demands during our national reawakening of the late 1980s. But it took a generation to get its new residence.
How was the new building developed?
In the early 1990s parliament decided that the most important cultural institutions would get new buildings, with the theatre and music academy coming first, the art museum second, and the Estonian National Museum third.
The planning process for the national museum started after the art museum (kumu.ekm.ee) was completed. In 2005, the international competition for architects to build the venue was held, before the decision was made in 2006. But the global financial crisis hit before construction started and we wasted three years writing financing proposals to Brussels and the EU.
It turned out to be in vain. Only in 2012 did the government take a decision to build the museum with Estonian money, at a cost of €75m (around £54m).
What happened to the collections when the museum was destroyed?
We had evacuated the collections to the countryside before the battlefront re-emerged in August 1944. The collections were kept in temporary repositories, such as churches and hangars, during the Soviet occupation.
What do the museum’s displays cover?
Encounters, one of the permanent exhibitions, covers the cultural history, everyday life and contemporary life of Estonian people. Another permanent show is titled The Echo of Urals, which details the life and traditions of the Finno-Ugric indigenous peoples.
What’s your temporary exhibition programme like?
The building has a temporary exhibition hall of 900 sq m and the first show, which opens in June, will be on traditional Estonian folk costume. We also have smaller exhibition halls and an art gallery. In addition, the museum has a long tradition in producing travelling exhibitions for schools and other museums in Estonia.
How do you acquire objects?
As the museum specialises in collecting tradition, folklore, and stories of ordinary people and everyday life, we have almost no budget for acquisitions. We try to get everything via campaigns and voluntary donations. It is considered prestigious to donate items to the museum.
What are the highlights?
One of them is the e-paper text screens, which allow us to translate an exhibition into 50 languages. The screens each have 500 pages of e-text and do away with the need for more wall labels. Then there are unique items, such as the first blue, black, and white flag of Estonia dating to 1884, 34 years older than the country itself.
How has the museum been received by locals?
Everybody is fond of it. In the first three months we had more than 100,000 visitors, which is remarkable in a small town of 97,000 inhabitants.
www.erm.ee/en
The museum was founded in 1909 to preserve and nurture the history and culture of Estonia. The stories it tells include Estonia’s struggle for independence from the Soviet Union, which occupied the country, alongside the other Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania, from 1945 until 1991.
The original museum building was destroyed by fire during the second world war. The site later became the largest Soviet military airfield in the Baltic region. The importance of the airfield meant Tartu was closed to foreigners and access to Raadi was restricted for more than 50 years. The museum’s collections were placed in storage.
After the Soviets left in 1991, the Estonian Parliament started work on a plan to construct a new Estonian National Museum at Raadi.
The design of the building is the result of a competition won by a trio of international architects: the Italian-Israeli Dan Dorell, the French-Lebanese Lina Ghotmeh and Tsuyoshi Tane from Japan.
The three established a practice together, DGT (Dorell Ghotmeh Tane), and the Estonian National Museum was the architectural firm’s first project.
The building, with its roof expanding towards the sky, is designed to give the museum a sense of space and freedom. The glass-panels that line the structure allow visitors to see the surrounding landscape wherever they are in the building.
The museum’s collections from the 19th and 20th centuries comprise medals, military material, photographs, texts and lots more. Among the objects are those that tell the story of the country’s struggle against foreign rule. The museum also actively invites locals to donate personal items to the galleries.
What is the history of the museum?
Tõnis Lukas: The museum was founded in 1909, but operated in temporary accommodation in different locations around the city until it was given a permanent space at the Raadi Manor on the outskirts of Tartu in 1922.
Unfortunately, the manor was destroyed in 1944, so the museum was forced to return to a temporary space. As an institution that represents our national identity, the museum was disliked by the Soviets and its role was diminished to one of a minor museum of ethnography.
Giving the museum back the role it once had was one of the most important political demands during our national reawakening of the late 1980s. But it took a generation to get its new residence.
How was the new building developed?
In the early 1990s parliament decided that the most important cultural institutions would get new buildings, with the theatre and music academy coming first, the art museum second, and the Estonian National Museum third.
The planning process for the national museum started after the art museum (kumu.ekm.ee) was completed. In 2005, the international competition for architects to build the venue was held, before the decision was made in 2006. But the global financial crisis hit before construction started and we wasted three years writing financing proposals to Brussels and the EU.
It turned out to be in vain. Only in 2012 did the government take a decision to build the museum with Estonian money, at a cost of €75m (around £54m).
What happened to the collections when the museum was destroyed?
We had evacuated the collections to the countryside before the battlefront re-emerged in August 1944. The collections were kept in temporary repositories, such as churches and hangars, during the Soviet occupation.
What do the museum’s displays cover?
Encounters, one of the permanent exhibitions, covers the cultural history, everyday life and contemporary life of Estonian people. Another permanent show is titled The Echo of Urals, which details the life and traditions of the Finno-Ugric indigenous peoples.
What’s your temporary exhibition programme like?
The building has a temporary exhibition hall of 900 sq m and the first show, which opens in June, will be on traditional Estonian folk costume. We also have smaller exhibition halls and an art gallery. In addition, the museum has a long tradition in producing travelling exhibitions for schools and other museums in Estonia.
How do you acquire objects?
As the museum specialises in collecting tradition, folklore, and stories of ordinary people and everyday life, we have almost no budget for acquisitions. We try to get everything via campaigns and voluntary donations. It is considered prestigious to donate items to the museum.
What are the highlights?
One of them is the e-paper text screens, which allow us to translate an exhibition into 50 languages. The screens each have 500 pages of e-text and do away with the need for more wall labels. Then there are unique items, such as the first blue, black, and white flag of Estonia dating to 1884, 34 years older than the country itself.
How has the museum been received by locals?
Everybody is fond of it. In the first three months we had more than 100,000 visitors, which is remarkable in a small town of 97,000 inhabitants.
www.erm.ee/en