Do you know this story? 500 years of Estonian books
Book Year cluster exhibition at the Estonian National MuseumThe exhibition opens on 25 April 2025
It’s a book celebration!
2025 marks 500 years since the publication of the oldest printed word in Estonian. In 1525, a work came out of the printing press that contained text in the Estonian language, among other things. On its way to Estonia, the work was seized and burned, so it probably never arrived here. No copies of the book have survived, but researchers are fairly certain that the first known printed text in Estonian was contained within its covers. This is where the story of the Estonian-language book begins, and to celebrate it, a playful cluster exhibition titled ‘Do you know this story?’ will open at the Estonian National Museum on 25 April.
The heart of the Book Year cluster exhibition can be seen in the lobby of Section A of the Estonian National Museum. On the wall opposite the bust of Jakob Hurt, artist Siiri Taimla-Rannala, along with curator Sirel Heinloo, will create a panel that tells the colourful story of the milestones of Estonian written language, reading, education and literature. According to the artist, the topics of the panel, which reaches almost to the ceiling in the Estonian National Museum, unexpectedly took the shape of the head of an (ABC) rooster. This rooster head holds a long cultural history, with witty imagery that makes the story of literature and culture easy to remember. Come see for yourself that it is as easy as ABC!
While the heart of the cluster exhibition is located right next the main entrance of the museum in the form of the Book Year panel, we naturally invite our guests to explore further. Specifically, the Estonian National Museum asked book lovers where they most enjoy reading. We heard about grandmother’s apple trees, hammock swings, beaches (though yes, the sand is annoying), attics and pioneer camps. We gathered the data, processed it carefully, and as a result of a not entirely scientific study, it turned out that book lovers most enjoy reading in the bath, on the bus, in the living room or bedroom, in the park, and in the closet. But please, let there be an opportunity for this during the Book Year at the Estonian National Museum – after all, it can all be organised.
In a reading corner, specifically in the living room, which the Pallas University of Applied Arts is helping to furnish, the character Lummaja will settle in. You probably have not yet had the chance to meet this mysterious character. The chat agent Lummaja, an interactive installation created specifically for the Book Year cluster exhibition by the Institute of the Estonian Language, is an AI-based chatbot. Lummaja brings to us the wisdom of the language world from centuries ago. It connects the modern digital world – primarily large language models – with the richness of 17th- and 18th-century Estonian literary language, more specifically the first Estonian-language (German-Estonian and Estonian-German) dictionaries.
Just a little further from the panel, also in the Section A of the Estonian National Museum, the space in front of the Jakob Hurt Hall will become the home of pop-up exhibitions, where it is planned to showcase children’s book illustrations, the most beautiful books and also fascinating volumes that have ended up in the collections of the Estonian Literary Museum through the Estonian National Museum’s collection campaigns.
In Section B of the museum, you will find the exhibition on exile literature curated by Jan Kaus and artist Henry Griin for the Book Year, with the aim of translating the expressive power of fiction and the central motifs of exile literature into a spatial experience. A good exhibition sometimes goes by several names – this display is part installation, part audio play and part theatrical performance. The exhibition will open on 26 April.
The cluster exhibition’s accompanying programme invites everyone to enjoy readings, meet famous readers, listen to Jan Kaus’s lectures and discover the Estonian National Museum’s reading nooks from April to December. Children are also welcome to the book frame workshops of the School of Architecture, which will result in a unique book exhibition by the beginning of next year.
Partners: Estonian Literary Society, Estonian Literary Museum, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institute of the Estonian Language, School of Architecture, TYPA and others.
