The Organizing Committee of the Karaoke World Championships (KWC Organization) in Finland has passed the baton to Russia, announcing that Moscow will be the location for the 2010 Karaoke World Championships. For the first time, world’s largest and most prestigious karaoke event will take place in the Russian Capital, and will be placed in the [...]
The traditional Rīga Festival will be held this year in the capital from August 20 to 22, featuring a wide range of events and concerts. The festival will hold a mascot parade and a “cartoon” rally, and the night run, open to anyone regardless of age, nationality, physical condition or occupation. Music and literature devotees [...]
Hindus have applauded Norway’s Oya Festival (Oyafestivalen) for being a sustainable and green festival in an environmentally friendly zone, calling it “a step in the right direction”. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that in view of global ecological crisis, musicians and artists should not stay silent spectators to [...]
Estonia is reguarly represented with its own pavillion at the Venice Biennale. The costs involved could be better spent on other projects, criticises the daily Eesti Päevaleht: “The bitter truth is that neither the Ministry of Culture nor the Cultural Fund pay artists salaries, but they do support any and every trip to exhibitions abroad. [...]
Estonia’s Freedom Monument, unveiled in 2009, is already showing signs of serious structural damage. The news portal Delfi recalls the long series of scandals over the monument: “The problems started even before construction began. Whether a monument should be built, where, with what text, with which history, by whom and when … . This is [...]
From May 25-29, Rīga cinemas, clubs and cafes will host the international film festival 2ANNAS. This is the fourth year of the festival, which shows the newest international short films and also looks at the latest developments in short film making in the Baltics. The theme of this year’s festival is “Renaissance 2010”, which can [...]
Every year on 9 April Finland pays tribute to the memory of Bishop Mikael Agricola, the founder of the Finnish language. His primer Abc-kirja containing an alphabet, spelling exercises and a catechism appeared around 1540 and is considered to be the first printed book in the Finnish language. The daily Savon Sanomat seizes the occasion [...]
Estonia is preparing a law under which one percent of the money invested in buildings commissioned by the state must be invested in works of art. This would apply to public buildings like bus stations, prisons, schools and authorities. The daily Eesti Päevaleht is delighted: “The world of art is underfunded in Estonia and the [...]
Riga’s Museum of the Occupation of Latvia has once more come under attack. Israeli media as well as Jewish and Russian organisations have criticised a one-sided focus on communism and too little attention to the fate of the Latvian Jews. The daily Latvijas Avīze defends the museum’s approach: “First of all we must remind visitors [...]
Estonia has a railway museum and a toy museum but it still has no museum dedicated to the culture of the local Russian minority, complains the daily Eesti Päevaleht: “Around one third of Estonians speak Russian as a mother tongue. Over the centuries Russia and the Russians have played a decisive role in Estonia. … [...]
