Tomorrow, on 9 April, the Estonian Minister of Culture Indrek Saar will start his visit to Paris and London. During the two-day visit, the Minister of Culture will meet with his French, Latvian, and Lithuanian colleagues and attend the opening of the exhibition on Baltic symbolist art at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. In London, the Minister will open the London Book Fair, where this year’s Market Focus countries are the Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris will mark the centenaries of the three Baltic states in France.
“The joint Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay as well as the joint appearance as guests of honour at the London Book Fair are long-awaited and iconic events, that we have strenuously worked toward,” said Minister of Culture Indrek Saar. “I am glad that the increasingly strong cultural cooperation between the Baltic countries is bearing such good fruit as we are celebrating the centenary year of the Republic of Estonia. By jointly appearing in the international arena, we can achieve a greater visibility and greater opportunities to introduce ourselves in Europe and beyond,” Minister Saar said.
The visit will commence on Monday, at 13:00 Paris time, with a meeting between the Estonian Minister of Culture Indrek Saar, French Minister of Culture Françoise Nyssen, Latvian Minister of Culture Dace Melbārde and Lithuanian Minister of Culture Liana Ruokytė-Jonsson, where cultural cooperation between the four countries will be discussed. Thereafter, at 15:30, the Minister of Culture will attend the opening of the exhibition called Wild Souls. Symbolism in the Baltic States at the Musée d'Orsay. The exhibition will be opened with a high-level ceremony attended by the French President Emmanuel Macron, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, as well as the Ministers of Culture of all four countries. Paavo Nõgene, the Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Culture, will accompany the Minister on his visit.
The major international exhibition, which focuses on symbolist art from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania dating from the late 19th century to the 1930s, is a result of collaboration between the Latvian National Museum of Art; the Art Museum of Estonia; the Lithuanian Art Museum, and the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum of Lithuania. The main curator of the exhibition is Rodolphe Rapetti and the exhibition will be open at the Musée d'Orsay from 10 April to 15 July. The exhibition will open at at the Estonian Kumu Art Museum from 12 October 2018 to 3 February 2019.
On Tuesday, 10 April the Estonian Minister of Culture will continue his visit in London. At 14:30 local time, the Estonian Minister of Culture, along with his Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues will open the 2018 London Book Fair at the Kensington Olympia conference centre. This year, the featured Market Focus countries of the London Book Fair are the Baltics. The joint exhibition of the three countries at the London Book Fair 2018 is also part of the centenary celebrations of the independence of the three Baltic countries celebrated this year.
At 18:00 in London, the Estonian Minister of Culture will participate in the award ceremony for the LBF International Excellence Awards, which reckognises outstanding contributions into the literary field. The list of nominees for the literary award 2018 is available here. Estonia will be represented at the fair by authors Rein Raud, Maarja Kangro and Andrei Ivanov, headed by Mihkel Mutt, who is also one of the three Market Focus Authors of the Day. The authors’ programme of the London Book Fair is curated by the British Council in cooperation with the Estonian Publishers Association and the Estonian Literary Information Center.
More information
Kai-Ines Nelson
Spokesperson for the Estonian Ministry of Culture
[email protected]
5568 9644