Folklore nowadays is just not the way it used to be. "Of course, we need to preserve some things and other things perhaps need to be frozen in time. But we need to accept that change will happen," says folklorist Ave Goršič, when we speak somewhere deep inside the "amazing maze" that is the Estonian Literature Museum. "And, in essence, that's not good or bad, it's just the way it is. It's folklore, and it's always changing."

This year, Goršič and her fellow senior folklorist at the museum, Taive Särg, have certainly embraced that ethos. They've teamed up with artist Henri Hütt and curator Evelyn Raudsepp for an ultra-modern technology-driven art project, firmly rooted in Estonia's rich cultural heritage.

"Enter Woodland Spirits" consists of two intertwining parts, which together, take the wisdom at the heart of Estonian folklore and re-imagines it in a range of different artistic forms, highlighting its enduring relevance in the modern world.

The first component, which Goršič and Särg are responsible for, involves the creation of a brand new online anthology of Estonian nature folklore. Packed full of written texts, audio recordings, images and videos, the anthology has been painstakingly compiled from materials previously stored in the Estonian Folklore Archive. "It's a first attempt to make an anthology of Estonian nature folklore, to translate it into three languages (Estonian, English, plus one of the local South Estonian languages – Võro, Seto, Mulgi or Tartu – ed.), and make it available [online]," says Särg.  

And that's no simple task.

Translating ancient songs and sayings so they can be understood by modern audiences, while also ensuring they stay faithful to the originals, provides no end of challenges. "For poetic texts, the words and expressions often don't have a direct meaning," Särg explains. Runo songs (regilaul in Estonian) are particularly difficult, she says, because they have a different word order and rhythm to everyday speech. "For proverbs too, the expressions are often so short that the most important part is left unsaid. You really have to get to the meaning of what they were thinking."

But its thanks to this attention to detail, the foundations were laid for the second part of "Enter Woodland Spirits:" a contemporary technology-driven art exhibition, of works inspired by the very materials Goršič and Särg have been working so hard to preserve.

And this is where artist Henri Hütt and curator Evelyn Raudsepp come in.

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 "[Ave and Taive] were searching for a curator, or a person who could be their artistic dialogue partner in order to create the exhibition here," explains Hütt. "Because it's so complicated to start with," he smiles. "But what makes this art project really unique is the connection with the original material that is from this building (The Estonian Folklore Archive – ed.) and the visual art giving it a new shape to see how that material somehow metamorphosizes."

Hütt's not wrong about it being complicated. On the surface, the worlds of ancient folklore and contemporary technological art seem to have little in common. However, that was a huge part of the appeal for the artists who opted to get involved.

"The initial idea was to invite artists to make new works based on the anthology," Raudsepp says. At that stage they expected potential contributors would need some serious persuading to get them interested in "our weird stories from the past" she tells me. "How can you say [to an artist] that you have this very cool contemporary practice, but maybe you would like to work with this?"

But, as things turned out, the responses were extremely positive, with a host of artists from across the Baltic and Nordic regions all keen to take part. "I was like, 'wow, they really appreciated the material and really found inspiration from there,'" Raudsepp tells me.

While many chose to create new works by adding their own modern-day twists to stories and themes passed down through the generations, not all the pieces in the exhibition are based strictly on the materials sourced from the Estonian folklore anthology.  Some of the artists from abroad found similarities to folklore from their own countries: "But I think they also really got into this [Estonian folklore] and really enjoyed working with it. We tried to support and encourage them and say, 'you can still bring your own heritage and woodland spirits with you,'" Raudsepp says.

"I think that's the whole point of translating [this material] into contemporary understandings of our world and not to just stay true [to the originals]. That's how it lives on as well," she adds. "Otherwise, if we try to preserve it as it was, it might die."

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However, as Ave Goršič points out, convincing people that the tales told long ago still have so much to offer in 2024, is far from easy. She describes the relationship people used to have with nature as like a trade deal. "You gave an offering to whatever kind of spirit was at home, in the forest, in the lake or in the fields and then you could expect that you would be given something back. You were protected, your herd was protected, or your crops were protected," she says. "Because life was harsh."

Back then, nature simply had to be respected. "It's not like you could just click on an app and then order yourself a pizza. You had to work the whole year for food – so that changes the way you think a lot. When you live in the city, especially nowadays, you can't really think back to those circumstances," says Goršič.

"But when you live in connection to the land, as Estonians did, you need some sense of partnership. Because when you work with nature, you see that nature has the upper hand. It can kill your crops, or it can kill your animals. But it can also benefit you."  In 2024, Goršič adds, "we have Bolt and Wolt or whatever app, who are our partners and bring our food," she says. "But back then it was the forest, it was the land."

This understanding of nature as a "soulful partner," is one Evelyn Raudsepp says the artists involved in "Enter Woodland Spirits" have also come to share. "There are a lot of stories that reflect the idea of there being forest spirits, that trees are talking, lakes are drowning people and that they have their own kind of agency," she explains. "This is very natural to the Estonian understanding of nature – that it can do something to you if you're not respectful. So, as a child you hear those kinds of stories a lot."

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And there's one character in particular from those stories that stood out to artist Henri Hütt while he was researching for this project. "Soovana," Hütt tells me, is an elderly spirit that lives in Estonia's bogs or swamps, where he protects people from drowning.

Hütt admits that quite often the narrative logic of these ancient stories can be somewhat unusual in comparison to what we might expect to find today, but they reveal a lot about how thinking and storytelling have developed through the ages. "They usually end quite suddenly in a totally random place and then you're lost and thinking – what just happened?" Hütt says. "Sometimes you don't even get what the moral is, because it's so weirdly structured."

Still, when it comes to "Soovana," there seems to be little in the way of ambiguity. While he may appear to be a "heartwarming" character for those who stay on his good side, anyone foolish enough to show disrespect could end up with serious problems. After all, explains Hütt, "Soovana" is a "special character, who lives in the kind of areas that are a bit shady." And in those types of places, "you really have to watch out that you're not going to drown."

With characters as ruthless as "Soovana" it's tempting to suggest Estonians' historical respect for nature stems largely from fear. There's something to be said too about the fear of this knowledge dying out, being lost, or simply forgotten that appears not only inherent to the "Enter Woodland Spirits" project, but to the whole concept tying together Tartu's year as European cultural capital.

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Folklorist Taive Särg is keen to stress, however, that there's a deeply spiritual side to all this too. "I think humans feel quite lonely in the big universe," she says. "Humans need a kind of idea that helps them to find a mental partnership with the distant stars, or the forest or somewhere. They need nature to respond to them and so, they tend to search for spirits, ideas or some kind of supernatural power, to feel that they are not alone."

"We constantly need to explain why we exist and why we are necessary," says her colleague Ave Goršič. "And that's the thing, we explain our own culture, our own nature and our own mentality and psychology and how versatile the whole picture actually is."

"How we fight for our existence, our arts of survival, is this building," Goršič continues, referring to the very place where the Estonian Folklore Archive, and all the wisdom it contains, is housed. "We may focus on certain points in the culture and our nature or mentality, but we also need to regard everything else as well that might come in play. So yeah, that's the art of our survival."

"Folklore will exist as long as humans exist," Goršič adds. "It can't die, it's with us all the time." And, as the "Enter Woodland Spirits" project goes to show, it never stops changing.

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The "Enter Woodland Spirits" exhibition opens at the Estonian Literary Museum on Friday June 28 as part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 main program. The exhibition will remain on display until August 25.

The exhibition includes works by Bryndís Björnsdóttir and Þorsteinn Eyfjörð from Iceland, Oskar Koliander from Denmark, Tori Wrånes, Ingrid Torvund and Jonas Mailand from Norway, Hans Rosenström, Niskanen & Salo in collaboration with Inkeri Aula, Pia Sirén and Nastja Säde Rönkkö from Finland, Linda Boļšakova and ART+ from Latvia and Norman Orro with Joonas Timmi, Zody Burke, Johannes Luik, Emer Värk, Roman-Sten Tõnissoo and Mari-Leen Kiipli from Estonia.

More information about the exhibiton opening and after party is available here and here.

The Estonian nature folklore anthology can be found online here.

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