Culture.ee's weekly recommendations: 5-11 November
A selection of cultural events taking place in Estonia this week as curated by culture.ee: "This week you can watch a screening of a Puccini opera, a film about the 'Dolphin Man,' or Joosep Matjus' epic film about Estonian nature. There are also parties in Tallinn and Tartu, a dance performance and an interdisciplinary festival."
Monday, 5 November
Met Opera: "The Girl of the Golden West"
Coca-Cola Plaza, Tallinn
Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Puccini's gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West, alongside star tenor Jonas Kaufmann in the role of the outlaw Dick Johnson. Baritone Željko Lučić is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance. Directed by Giancarlo del Monaco, under the direction of Marco Armiliato.
Monday, 5 November - Sunday, 2 December
Ivar Veeremäe exhibition "Eternal Interests"
Tallinn Art Hall Gallery
The demolition of the Baltic Exchange in London in 1993 has resonated both in the art world and in the media. Resonates still, because most of what is left of the building is awaiting its fate in Estonia. The story of the Baltic Exchange is also the starting point of Ivar Veermäe's exhibition. This — visually created — generalisation is a story of an eternal circle of interests that develop, collide and fade away.
The art of Ivar Veermäe (born 1982, works in Berlin and Tallinn) evolves similarly to the thread of a networked world while keeping a sharp eye on the functioning of an uncontrollable whole.
Monday, 5 November - Saturday, 12 January
Oleg Frolov & Tobias Kaspar, "Epicentre"
Temnikova & Kasela Gallery, Tallinn
Oleg Frolov and Tobias Kaspar's joint exhibition "Epicentre" at Temnikova & Kasela Gallery uses the night image of the planet Earth as an advertisement and observes the artists' discomfort against the polarised world and the cities where they live.
Monday, 5 November - Sunday, 14 April
Exhibit "The X-Files [Registry of the Nineties]"
Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn
"The X-Files" is an exhibit that delves into the deeper layers of the decade and tries to shed light on works that have been overshadowed, forgotten or even disappeared from the cultural memory.
It attempts to view some of the works by disregarding the main narrative of 90s art, which has already been relatively well-developed, attempts to recover phenomenal works from a decade that was quite indifferent to the preservation of these works, and searches for definite beginnings in the local art field in regard to general trends and individual authorial positions. The exhibition also tries to accurately depict the societal metamorphoses that characterised this explosive decade as reflected in the art found outside of canonical works.
Curated by Eha Komissarov and Anders Härm.
Wednesday, 7 November
Kumu Documentary: "Dolphin Man" (FREE)
Kumu Auditorium, Tallinn
Discover the story and legacy of Jacques Mayol, the legendary free-diver whose life became the inspiration for Luc Besson's cult film "The Big Blue."
Narrated by Jean-Marc Barr, the actor who portrayed Mayol in "The Big Blue," the film weaves together rare archival film from the 1950s onward with stunning contemporary underwater photography to discover how the "Dolphin Man" revolutionised free-diving and brought a new consciousness to our relationship with the sea and our inner selves.
Directed by Lefteris Charitos.
Language: English, French and Japanese, with English subtitles.
Wednesday, 7 November / Thursday, 8 November
"The Wind Sculpted Land"
Paide Music and Theatre House / Kuressaare Town Theatre
Joosep Matjus' epic nature film "The Wind Sculpted Land" makes a deep bow to Estonian nature, which is the true business card of Estonia.
Landscapes that have been knitted throughout the millennia speak to us about ancient times. No single feature has turned up here randomly; all have been carefully sculpted in spite of the battle between primordial forces and the inhabitants of this place. Every tree and blade of grass has been carefully cut out, animals have been attracted or driven away, voices have been pulled closer and arranged to sound in a chorus. All in accordance with opportunity and necessity. The aspirations and sense of beauty held by our ancestors have survived in the patterns of our landscapes.
Language: Estonian, with Russian subtitles.
Wednesday, 7 November - Friday, 9 November
"Breathe! Do not breathe!"
Stage of Independent Dance (STL), Tallinn
"If one can breathe, then one can dance!"
Liis Vares' new performance observes the reactions and instincts specific to human bodies and the relationships between them. This performance reveals subjects that can not be discussed but can only be moved and dance through.
On the stage, two very different bodies as materials are meeting: dance artist Liis Vares and simply Paša (as he introduces himself). From the meeting of two bodily realities, every evening a social sponge is born to be squeezed empty together to create a new reality.
Liis: "My performance deals with the death of dance. Or with the birth of it. With the birth or death of the body. Depending on which perspective you are looking from."
Paša: "I'm not a dancer, I'm a pensioner."
Author-director: Liis Vares
Performers: Liis Vares, Pavel Semjonov
Thursday, 8 November - Friday, 9 November
Festival "Crazy Tartu"
Tartu Literature House
"Crazy Tartu" is an international interdisciplinary festival where writers, poets, musicians and artists from Estonia and abroad come to perform.
One of the main principles of the festival is to bring as many unprecedented performances to the audience as possible. This principle is also followed in choosing the event's venue. Eeach year, a new piece of art is also debuted in the new environment.
Friday, 9 November
Apareiv
Various locations, the Widget Factory (Aparaaditehas), Tartu
Rave of the year at the Widget Factory in Tartu. Sets include:
Frotee x Monopol Entertainment OÜ @Kolm Tilli (23:00-06:00)
SÜNK Experimental Room @Love Hall (23:00-06:00)
MÜRK @Aparaat (23:00-06:00)
KTRL @Tartu Club of Different Rooms (23:00-10:00)
Hospitality (18+!)
Tallinn Creative Hub
The world's biggest drum and bass party series Hospitality will be at Tallinn Creative Hub on 9 November!
The lineup consists of seven artists, including Brazilian drum'n'bass legend DJ Marky, Etherwood from UK and MHKL x Jozels (GRIND).
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This post originally appeared on the Culture critics' blog at culture.ee.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla