Viscosa Culture Factory manager Marco Pärtel told ETV news broadcast "Aktuaalne kaamera" on Sunday that currently, their high season runs from Midsummer through the end of August.

While last year the venue hosted ten concerts and ten performances, this summer's schedule has already spiked to 13 concerts and 40 performances.

This year's season kicked off with a production of Mait Joorits' "Song of the Sea" ("Mere laul"). Come fall, however, work will begin on building a new center for creative industries on site.

In effect, this will involve the renovation of a significant part of the factory's covered area, construction of a theater hall and improved opportunities for the use of Viscosa as a venue for art events.

"We've now received a fairly substantial investment from the European Union, which we're going to start investing here this fall," Pärtel said. "There's major potential here to establish artist residencies and training studies for creative industries."

The €3.3 million investment includes €2.5 million secured via a measure financed from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a €250,000 contribution from Hiiumaa Municipality and the rest from private equity.

Even so, a couple of major art exhibitions are already taking place at Viscosa this summer, before work on the creative industries center begins.

Currently on display at the complex is an exhibition by the painter Martin Saar.

"I came to see what was even happening here, and these walls and this space started to speak to me," Saar recalled. "I chose [pieces] of nature, animals, birds, people, and also ships, boats and then the kind of mood that may exist here."

Also still awaiting setup at the culture factory is the sculpture exhibition "Everything is in the Air" ("Kõik on õhus"), which will open on June 21 and features the works of 20 acclaimed Estonian artists.

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