1. Cultural policy system
Estonia
Last update: November, 2020
Objectives
The General Principles of Cultural Policy of Estonia up to 2020 (adopted by Riigikogu (the Parliament) 12th February, 2014):
The objective of the cultural policy is to form a society that values creativity by maintaining and improving the national identity of Estonia, researching, storing, and transferring cultural memory, and creating favourable conditions for the development of a vital, open, and versatile cultural space and for participating in culture. General principles have been set, stating that cultural policy is based on the constitutional aim of ensuring the preservation of the Estonian nation, language, and culture in perpetuity. The national culture policy views this aim as the harmony between the preservation and continuation of culture on the one hand, and the innovativeness and openness of culture, on the other hand.
The General Principles of Cultural Policy adopted by the Parliament of Estonia are the basis for the state’s decisions in the field of culture up until 2020. This strategic document is a continuation of the former General Principles of the Estonian cultural policy adopted by the Parliament in 1998.
This document also draws on the national strategy for Estonia’s sustainable development (Sustainable Estonia 21), which has the viability of the local cultural space as one of its objectives. In this document, Estonian culture is defined as both the creation of Estonians as well as of other nationalities living in Estonia. The cornerstone of Estonian culture is the Estonian language. The state has agreed on the objectives of the language policy and activities of the development plan of the Estonian language, which is why the general principles do not address the language policy separately.
The cultural policy is closely interlinked with several other national policy areas including educational, economic, social, environmental, employment, integration, regional, tourism, and foreign policy. The many-faceted cultural life has a significant impact on the well-being of the Estonian people, the quality of the local living environment, and the international competitiveness of the country. The general principles are based on the conviction that culture is one of the key factors in achieving many goals both on a local and national level.
According to the Estonian Constitution, all issues related to local life are decided by local governments who operate independently based on the applicable legislation. The General Principles of Cultural Policy are activity directions for shaping and realising the cultural policy for the Government of the Estonian Republic, at the same time considering that local governments have an important role to fill in organising local cultural life, sustaining cultural establishments, and supporting cultural activities.
Main features
The General Principles of Estonian Cultural Policy up to 2020 state that the development of the society and communities, and the quality of local sustainable life, depends on accessibility to culture, active/passive participation and diversity of culture.
The preamble of the Estonian Constitution states that to "form a pledge to present and future generations for their social progress and welfare, which must guarantee the preservation of the Estonian people, the Estonian language and the Estonian culture through the ages" are among the main functions of the independent state.
The Ministry of Culture stresses that its mission is to retain the national identity of Estonia as well as to develop and ensure a vital cultural space. In order to achieve this, the Ministry of Culture values, retains, develops, acknowledges, and spreads Estonian culture, the rich heritage, and cultural diversity as well as the sportive lifestyle both in Estonia and abroad. The Ministry also supports both professional and amateur creative and sporting activities. This shows a wide concept of culture, broader than the arts and heritage alone.
Since 1997, Estonia participates in the European Programme of National Cultural Policy Reviews and the cultural policy priorities of the Council of Europe have been accepted by the Ministry of Culture. Support for identity and creativity, openness for cultural influences from abroad and concern for participation in cultural life are all part of Estonian cultural policy. At the same time, culture is an identity-building factor. On the preservation of the institutional structure, the definition of culture has been instrumental in guaranteeing a sustainable support system for a large number of culture organisations. So, that part of cultural policy model in Estonia is moderately centralised.
The arms-length-principle of cultural policy is represented by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (Kultuurkapital) as well as in the fact that funding proposers of support programmes in the Ministry of Culture are committees of experts. The same system of experts’ and stakeholders’ involvement is used in other public funding cultural programmes, such as the Estonian Folk Culture Centre, the Estonian Film Institute etc. Thus, the representation of umbrella organisations, NGOs and wider civil society has become more frequent in decision making processes involving state cultural policies.
However, the Minister of Culture is free to make funding decisions without consulting the expert advisory bodies or partners. Thus, since 2014, the last three ministers have increased the number of cultural organisations that receive direct support from the Ministry of Culture.
The Ministry of Culture is also responsible for sport, media and integration policies. Since the early 2000s, the ‘creative industries’ appear in the Ministry’s policies and a support to creative industry development organisations were established in Enterprise Estonia, and later in the Ministry of Culture.
Background
During the last century, Estonia has survived a number of pivotal times and events. These included the creation of an independent state at the end of the First World War (on 24th February 1918), two occupations during the Second World War and the destruction of social as well as cultural structures by the Soviet regime. The fifty-one-year period of Soviet rule lasted from 1940 until reindependence in 1991 (Estonia was occupied by Nazi-German regime during the period 1941-1944). An important milestone in the history of Estonia was the entry to the European Union on 1st May 2004, NATO on 2nd April 2004 and to the Euro zone on 1st January 2011.
In the 1990s, the Estonian government and its citizens built a democratic and liberal society with an open economy. The state as well as local authorities closed, restructured or created new institutions, also in cultural field. A désetatisation process started in a few fields of culture (for example, in 1998 the organisation of the traditional song and dance celebrations was transferred from a state agency to the state-owned foundation Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation). Several fields of culture, like architecture, design and film, survived the privatisation and the institutions found themselves in totally new circumstances.
In the 1990s, legislation in the cultural sector developed with great speed, important laws such as the Copyright Act (1992) and the National Minorities Cultural Autonomy Act (1993) were passed. In 1994, the main arms-length-principle financing instrument in the cultural filed was re-established with the Estonian Cultural Endowment Act (1994) (see chapters 1.2.2 and 4.2.1).
Debates about a cultural policy document started and the General Principles of Estonian Cultural Policy passed in the Parliament in September 1998.
Estonia became a member of UNESCO in October 1991, joined the European Cultural Convention in 1992 and became a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1994.
Last update: November, 2020

Last update: November, 2020
Estonia is a democratic parliamentary country. Under Article 59 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, the legislative power in Estonia is in the hands of the Parliament (Riigikogu). Riigikogu is the representative assembly of the Estonian people. In addition to passing legislation, the Constitution imposes other functions on the Riigikogu: adopting the state budget and enforcing budgetary compliance, exercising a review of the activities of the government, appointing senior state officials and representing Estonia in international organisations.
Among other tasks, Riigikogu -
- decides the allocation of budget resources for the cultural sector;
- regulates sectors with specific laws (Performing Arts Institutions Act, Museums Act, Heritage Conservation Act etc,);
- regulates the state, but through legislation also the non-governmental sector, which includes also state-owned foundations;
- as to the General Principles of Estonian Cultural Policy, the Parliament reviews the report of the Minister of Culture once a year;
- decides about other Acts having an impact on cultural life.
Riigikogu has the Parliament Cultural Committee, which has members from all political parties represented in the parliament. The committee is debating over laws and the state budget, it also nominates the candidates to the boards of public law cultural organisations, such as the Estonian National Opera, the National Library of Estonia and Estonian Public Broadcasting.
Executive power is vested in the Government of the Republic. Executive power is divided over two functions – governance and administration. The Government of the Republic coordinates the agencies in the executive branch and performs oversight of the agencies.
The Ministry of Culture is responsible for national culture, sport and heritage conservation. It promotes arts, and coordinates the state’s media policy, audiovisual policy, and the implementation of the integration strategy. It is coordinating policies for cultural diversity and for the integration of ethnic and immigrant minorities.
The only governmental authority under the Ministry of Culture is the Estonian National Heritage Board. The objective of the National Heritage Board is to value cultural heritage and culturally valuable environments and ensure their preservation. For this purpose, the organisation is carrying out surveillance, counselling the owners of monuments, provides support for renovation, and maintains the national registry cultural monuments (see chapter 3.1.).
Outside of the Ministry of Culture, the main institution distributing state money for cultural purposes is the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. It was originally established in 1925 and re-established by the Parliament on 1994.
The General Principles of Cultural Policy up to 2020 state: “In addition to the other state budget funds, culture is supported under public law through the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. The basic operating principles of the Cultural Endowment — the organisation of the budget in a manner specified in legislation as well as independent foundation capital and expert groups formed from specialists of different fields — are not changed. The Cultural Endowment of Estonia mainly supports creative individuals and project-based initiatives, while the budget of the Ministry of Culture is used for funding the main activities of state-supported institutions and long-term activities that are important from the aspect of national culture.”
The Cultural Endowment receives monthly a fixed share of alcohol and tobacco excise duty (3,5%) and gambling tax (7,8%) (whereof 60,6% is allocated to finance cultural buildings of national importance, 35,6% is allocated to award grants and support, for administrative expenses and 3.8% through the public universities for arts and culture teaching staff to develop and promote arts’ creative work).
The supervisory board of the Cultural Endowment is chaired by the Minister of Culture, but it lacks any other form of official subordination to the Ministry or to other political bodies, which makes it arm's-length-principle body. Through the Minister, information flows directly to the government, but funding decisions are free from any political influence.
Other members of the supervisory board are: a representative designated by the Minister of Culture, a representative designated by the Minister of Finance, 8 representatives designated by each sub-endowment panel. The term of authority of the supervisory board is two years. The membership of the supervisory board shall be approved by the Government of Estonia. The supervisory board also has a quarterly budget to support interdisciplinary or crossover cultural projects.
The activity of the Cultural Endowment is managed and represented by the director, who is appointed by the supervisory board for up to four years.
The structure of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia includes eight sub-endowments and fifteen county expert groups. The sub-endowments are: literature, dramatic art, music, audio-visual art, visual and applied arts, folk culture, architecture and sport.
A sub-endowment is a structural unit of the Cultural Endowment, the function of which is to distribute the money appropriated to a specific field of culture by the supervisory board of the Cultural Endowment on the basis of submitted applications and on its own initiative. The activity of a sub-endowment is organised by a sub-endowment panel consisting of seven persons active in the corresponding area of culture and who are nominated by organisations of this field of culture.
A county expert group is a structural unit of the Cultural Endowment, which acts in every county and distributes funds in similar manner as the sub-endowments. An expert group consists of five members that are persons active in the cultural fields or sport of that county.
Last update: November, 2020
The county (maakond) is an administrative subdivision of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties: Harju County, Ida-Viru County, Jõgeva County, Järva County, Lääne County, Lääne-Viru County, Põlva County, Pärnu County, Rapla County, Tartu County, Valga County, Viljandi County, Võru County on the mainland and Hiiu County and Saare County as islands. The primary function of counties is to coordinate the work of the local self-governments within the region through the county local governments unions (NGOs). After administrative reform since October 2017 these counties, however, do not have any county government or administrative staff, so these counties are not a administrative division similar to federal states in some EU countries and do not play any role in cultural life. Counties also do not play any part in national cultural policy.
Last update: November, 2020
Each Estonian county is further divided into local municipalities of two types: urban municipalities – cities (linnad) and rural municipalities – parishes (vallad).
In line with the Local Self-Governance Act,Estonia has 79 municipalities divided over 15 cities and 64 parishes. They are responsible for the educational and cultural needs of their inhabitants. Municipalities are, however, essentially dependent on support from the state budget, from which their main subsidies are received. The local governments' share of cultural expenses amounted to as much as 52% of the total public expenditure on culture in 2016 (see chapter 7.1.2.).
Last update: November, 2020
In 1996, the Parliament approved The Act on Non-Profit Organisations and Foundations, which gives NGOs, associations and foundations a clear legislative framework. The adoption in 2002 by the Parliament of the document The Conception for the Development of Civil Society in Estonia was expected to have the effect of making the project-funding and grant-making practices of the central and local governments more transparent and, thus, reducing the possibility of arbitrary decisions. The law requires for a NGO to have at least two founders or members. Since the 2000s, the number of NGOs started to grow rapidly and a non-governmental organisation is the most popular form in the field of culture, sport or social sphere. During last 15 years, non-governmental organisations have got credibility and visibility in Estonian society.
Main non-governmental partners in the field of the arts are the Creative Artistic Associations, which have been officially recognised by the Ministry of Culture. The General Principles of Cultural Policy state that the shaping and realising of cultural policy is open and transparent, involving artistic associations, development centres and other partner organisations of both the field as well as representing communities and the third sector. The objectives in the field of culture are formulated as cooperation between the field and the state, based on strategies that are updated on a regular basis.
The Creative Persons and Artistic Associations Act was adopted in November 2004. An artistic association is a non-profit association that is recognised by the Ministry of Culture as pursuant to the procedure provided for in the Act, the purpose of which is to promote one artistic field and support the creative activities of creative persons who are members of the artistic association. These 17 artistic associations have been officially recognised by the Ministry of Culture: Estonian Writers' Union, Estonian Performers Association, The Estonian Artists’ Association, Estonian Filmmaker’s Union, The Estonian Association of Architects, Estonian Association of Designers, Association of Estonian Scenographers, Association of Estonian Professional Musicians, Association of Estonian Actors, Estonian Graphic Designers’ Association, The Estonian Society of Art Historians and Curators, The Estonian Theatre Directors’ Union, Estonian Ballet Union, Estonian Landscape Architects’ Union, Estonian Association of Interior Architects, Estonian Dance Art and Dance Education Union, and Estonian Composers Union.
An artistic association shall comprise of at least 50 natural persons, who have been engaged in creative activities in the corresponding artistic field for at least the last three years and whose works have been published during the period or performed publicly. The unions have increasingly started to act as trade unions too, representing social and financial interests of their members.
The Conception for the Development of Civil Society in Estonia was adopted by the Parliament on 2002. This document is aimed at highlighting good practices between public and non-governmental sectors. It has served as a basis for the planning of governments’ policies towards the non-governmental sector. These policies are coordinated by the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
In 2011, the Estonian Cultural Chamber was established, whose aim is also to cooperate with and consult the Ministry of Culture.
Since the second half of 2000s, creative industries development centres in several cultural fields were established and supported by Enterprise Estonia first and the Ministry of Culture thereafter. These development centres are private legal entities (NGOs) active in the creative industries. They aim to boost cooperation between creative companies and their joint projects with other sectors of the economy. These centres are in the fields of architecture, audiovisual (including film and video, broadcasting), design, performing arts, publishing, visual art, entertainment software (including games and entertainment environments) and music.
One key issue is how to involve different organisations of civil society in policy-making. There are no united practices on how to consult with non-governmental partners (including artistic associations and development centres), what the procedure is and to what extent these organisations are to be involved in policy-making. There is, however, a tendency among ministries as well as local governments to involve those organisations in various discussions, meetings and seminars. For example, the creation of the document General Principles of Cultural Policy up to 2030 began in 2019 with broad-based seminars and meetings involving more than 100 non-governmental organisations, local community centres and creative persons.
Last update: November, 2020
The educational system (including pre-school, basic and secondary education, universities and vocational education) is governed by the Ministry of Education and Research. Especially in the field of vocational education there is a cooperation with the Ministry of Culture. In organising the field of education, it is important to start accumulating culture-related knowledge and skills from an early age in order to ensure a new generation of participants in culture. In cooperation with the state and local governments, opportunities must be created in education as a whole, including hobby education and recreational activities (see chapter 5.1).
Language policy is also governed by the Ministry of Education and Research and has a separate Estonian language development plan (see chapter 2.5.4). The Ministry of Justice is responsible for issues related to copyright legislation (see chapter 4.1.6). The Ministry of Culture works together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on issues related to international cultural diplomacy and co-operation (see chapter 1.4).
The policy for the creative industries sector is governed by the Ministry of Culture, but is supported partly from several programmes in the governmental agency Enterprise Estonia. The agency is the largest institution with a support system for entrepreneurship by providing financial assistance, counselling, cooperation opportunities and training for entrepreneurs, research institutions, the public and non-profit sectors, under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. A report on design was launched in 2005 by the Ministry of Economics and Communication and it has been followed by the creation of a working group on the culture industries at the Ministry of Culture, with participation from different experts and stakeholders (see also chapter 3.5.1).
In 2007, the Ministry of Culture took over responsibility for integration from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Ministry of Justice is consulted when cultural legislation is being prepared.
Last update: November, 2020
Estonia has four public law cultural organisations, which have their own Acts: the Estonian National Opera, the National Library of Estonia, the Estonian Cultural Endowment and Estonian Public Broadcasting. These are supervised and financed directly by the Parliament (cultural committee).
After the re-independency in 1991, there have been two waves of désetatisation in cultural organisations: one in the early 1990s and one since 2013. Those institutional changes mainly mean that the Ministry of Culture closes state organisations and establishes (with the same assets, property and more or less the same aims) state-owned foundations (SA - sihtasutus). Foundations are preferred over state institutions as this form gives the organisation more flexibility in management and more opportunities to take regional or professional specifics into account.
Starting from 2012, the network of museums has been rearranged and the legal status of museums has been changed on the basis of the specifics of a museum and local circumstances. The state still manages seven state museums, and since 2012 the Ministry of Culture has established thirteen new museum foundations. Local governments now manage five former state museums.
A large number of public cultural institutions is owned and managed by local municipalities: cultural and community centres, public libraries, some professional city theatres and orchestras, and also local music-, dance- and visual arts schools. Fields like architecture, design, film and publishing are part of the private business sector.
There are numerous NGOs advancing cultural activities. There is a trend of establishing concert and festival organisations, museums on local history etc. as NGOs.
Last update: November, 2020
Table 1: Data and trends of public and private cultural institutions
Domain | Cultural institutions | Public sector | Private sector | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number (2019) | Trends last 5 years (comparison to 2014) (in %) | Number (2019) | Trends last 5 years (comparison to 2014) (In %) | ||
Cultural heritage | Cultural heritage sites | 26 485 | - 0,3% | N/A | |
Museums | Institutions | 20 | - 24%* | 170 | N/A |
Archives | Institutions | N/A | N/A | ||
Visual arts | Public art galleries/exhibition halls | 75** | 75** | ||
Performing arts | Scenic and stable spaces for theatre | 10 | 0 | N/A | |
Concert houses | N/A | N/A | |||
Theatre companies | 10 | - 9% | 48 | N/A | |
Dance and ballet companies | 2*** | 0 | 10*** | N/A | |
Symphonic orchestras | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
Libraries | Libraries | 895 | - 8% | N/A | |
Audiovisual | Cinemas | 1 | 0 | 49 | N/A |
Broadcasting organisations | 1 | 0 | 21 | +50% | |
Interdisciplinary | Socio-cultural centres / cultural houses | 450 | N/A | N/A |
Sources:
Ministry of Culture, Statistics Estonia, Estonian Theatre Agency
* As a result of the museum reform, several museums have been merged into a single institution, the total number of branches is 249.
** Total number in public as well as in private halls.
*** The number includes in the total number of theatre companies, because part of them are multi-genre theatres.
Last update: November, 2020
There are fields of culture, where the désetatisation process has been completed: the eight state-owned theatres of the 90s are now state foundations and in 2013-2014 three state-owned music organisations (National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Eesti Kontsert) were changed to foundations. In the field of museums, the trend of désetatisation is in process. Several museums were already or will be consolidated in the near future. Foundations are preferred to state institutions as this form gives the organisations more flexibility in management and more opportunities to take regional or professional specifics into account.
In February 2019, the Parliament passed the new Heritage Conservation Act. The new legislation balances the rights and obligations of the state with those of the owners of cultural monuments, creating for the first time a compensation system for monument owners. From now on, the activities of the National Heritage Board will include both heritage conservation and museum fields. The owners of cultural heritage sites often come from the private sector (see also chapter 3.1).
The General Principles of Cultural Policy up to 2020 state: “The state will create supportive conditions for involving private funds in the cultural field, recognising those entrepreneurs, NGOs and individuals who support culture, as well as conducting initiatives in cooperation with private companies. The state considers it important that legislation does not impose unnecessary limits on the private sector’s opportunities for supporting culture. In addition to the existing models for the funding of culture, in cooperation with the field and the private sector the state is going to search for alternative financing schemes for culture.” However, the private business sector has not still shown any major interest in sponsoring culture (see chapter 7.3).
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have powerfully enhanced the diversity of cultural life in Estonia. Their activities comprise the organisation of music festivals, theatre and dance companies, information and development centres etc. All those festivals, theatres and centres can apply for grants from the Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment and local authorities (see also chapter 7.2.1).
Last update: November, 2020
The General Principles of Cultural Policy up to 2020 contain the priorities of cultural cooperation: “The state will create opportunities for the internationalisation of culture. Culture has an important role in external relations, export and the country’s public image. The network of representatives of culture is going to be widened, cooperation will be increased with the different ministries and export-promoting organisations, support for the development of cultural exports and cooperation is going to be increased significantly. More than before, the state will increase its efforts to network on target markets outside Europe, for which cultural organisations and creative enterprises have expressed their interest and where they have the capacity to enter the market.”
The main institutional structures involved in the processes of internationalisation and cultural cooperation are the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Estonian Institute and Enterprise Estonia with its representatives abroad.
The task of the Ministry of Culture is to promote the internationalisation of Estonian culture, to develop cultural relations and diplomacy between countries, and to participate in the formation of cultural and sports policies in international organisations.
Estonia has signed nearly fifty bilateral cultural cooperation contracts and joint programmes with countries all over the world. Estonia also participates in fifteen international organisations, forums and cooperation programmes.
In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, eight cultural attachés from the Ministry of Culture work in Estonian embassies. Estonia has cultural attachés in Brussels, Berlin, Moscow, Helsinki, London, Paris and New York. The cultural representative in Brussels also represents Estonia's interests in the European Union in matters within the competence of the Ministry of Culture. In addition to developing bilateral relations, the cultural representative in Paris has to represent Estonia in UNESCO. The creation of Estonian Institutes in Finland and Hungary has involved cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both ministries are involved in preparing and implementing bilateral as well as international agreements on cultural co-operation
The Ministry of Culture supports the internationalisation of Estonian culture, cultural exports and introduces Estonia through culture via the supporting programme Estonian Culture in the World. The programme helps various Estonian creative persons, cultural groups (mainly NGOs) and creative enterprises to enter the international stage, take part in festivals, organise tours and exhibitions etc. The Ministry of Culture also secures co-financing for the projects supported by the EU programmes, for example for cultural co-operation projects submitted by Estonian cultural organisations to Creative Europe.
The Ministry of Culture provides project-based assistance to large scale international music and performing arts festivals, international exhibitions, to ensure their quality, and the persistence of international relations in the field. International projects are funded through the Ministry’s grant programme Estonian Culture Abroad. The programme assists projects that enhance the internationalisation of Estonian culture into the world, the introduction of Estonia globally through culture, and the creation of wider opportunities for Estonian creative persons. It also helps various cultural groups and creative enterprises to enter the international stage.
Activities under cultural cooperation bilateral agreements are supported by both parties to the agreement – the host country covers the costs of receiving guests and the visiting country takes care of the travel expenses. Grants from the Ministry of Culture are combined with other public sector sources of financing, for example from the Cultural Endowment and local authorities.
Enterprise Estonia supports development centres in different culture fields, including their activities that are related to cultural exports.
The Ministry of Culture finances Estonia's representation at major international events such as the Venice Biennial of Art, Venice Biennial of Architecture, Helsinki Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair, and Gothenburg Book Fair.
The Estonian Institute spreads information about Estonian society and culture abroad and was established in 1989. During its first years, the Estonian Institute partly fulfilled the role of a hotbed for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the future Estonian diplomats. The Institute’s information and culture points operated in various places in Western Europe and Scandinavia, and quite a few developed into an embassy of the Republic of Estonia in the course of restoring diplomatic relations. Soon things took their normal course and the Institute focused on conveying information about Estonia and promoting its culture. The Institute currently employs twelve persons, who work either in the Tallinn main office or branches abroad in Finland (founded in 1995) and Hungary (1998); previously, the Institute had offices in Sweden (1999-2011) and France (2001-2009).
The legal form of the Estonian Institute is NGO. The Estonian Institute is supported by the Ministry of Culture. Their support is supplemented by targeted financing from various sources for specific undertakings. In introducing Estonia abroad, the Institute’s long-time partner has been the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The teaching of Estonian language and culture is organised in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Research. The Estonian Institute is member of the European Union National Institutes for Culture EUNIC.
Since Estonia’s reindependency, international cooperation is becoming stronger and more diverse. Closer cooperation is established with countries who have their cultural representatives in Tallinn: for example the Finnish Institute, British Council, the Danish Culture Institute, Goethe Institute and The Nordic Council of Ministers' Office.
Municipalities have their own international culture cooperation activities mainly as part of cooperation agreements with partner cities (i.e. “twin-towns” etc.).
Since 2009, the Baltic States are contributing partners to a Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture. In 2018, the Ministries of Culture of Baltic States decided to establish the Baltic Culture Fund, which partner is Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Last update: November, 2020
Estonia became a member of UNESCO in 1991, joined the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe in 1992, and became a signatory to the Berne Convention in 1994. Since Estonia joined the EU in 2004, multilateral cultural cooperation between member states has grown, also on an international level. The Ministry of Culture started to compile the internationalisation strategy in 2019.
In 2006, the Ministry of Culture joined the International Network on Cultural Policy and the CULTURELINK network. Previously, Estonia has joined networks of cultural cooperation at the European level, such as ELIA (The European League of Institutes of the Arts) and EIPCP (the European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies). On the international level Estonian universities, institutes or organisations are members of ICCPR (the International Conference on Cultural Policy Research) and ICCM (the International Centre of Culture and Management).
The Estonian National Commission for UNESCO applications has been submitted for entering objects into various UNESCO programmes and lists. Estonia has also been selected as a member of intergovernmental committees of two conventions: the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006 and the World Heritage Convention in 2009-2013, which allows Estonia to contribute to joint efforts, while emphasising and developing the corresponding fields at home (mapping of Estonian intangible cultural heritage and the creation of a public web-based register). The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is implemented and monitored by the Cultural Heritage Department of the Tallinn City Government.
In 2011, Tallinn was the European Capital of Culture, along with Turku (in Finland). In 2024, the title of the European Capital of Culture will be awarded to three cities, including Tartu from Estonia.
The co-operation of three Baltic States — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — constitutes of two frameworks: the Baltic Assembly and the Baltic Council of Ministers. The parliamentary co-operation takes place within the Baltic Assembly, but all matters related to practical co-operation are being dealt within the format of the Baltic Council of Ministers. Some cultural initiatives take place within this official cooperation format, like the Annual Baltic Assembly Prize.
The cooperation in the Baltic Sea area is led by the Council of the Baltic Sea States, an inter-governmental cooperation form. It includes an initiative in the cultural field: Ars Baltica, an international cultural network (established in 1991).
The cultural cooperation agreement between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was concluded in 1994. Based on the agreement, cooperation programmes lasting for up to four years are carried out. This agreement ensures joint support for Kremerata Baltica (chamber orchestra conducted by maestro Gidon Kremer) and the international education project The Baltic Museology Summer School, which started in 2004. The aim of the School is to develop and strengthen museological thought in the Baltic States, by linking theory and practice, in order for Baltic museums to become more professional, contemporary and accessible to society. Currently, the programme is designed for the period 2019-2022. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania participated jointly as the Baltic Market Focus countries at the London Book Fair, with the exhibition Wild Souls. Symbolism in Baltic Art at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, one of the most renowned museums in Europe, attracted a great deal of attention and was visited by almost a quarter million art lovers. In addition, a joint presentation will be made at the Trieste Film Festival.
Last update: November, 2020
Since the 2000s, Estonian cultural organisations got involved in more international cooperation networks and got awarded more EU and other European grants to get engaged in cultural and humanitarian cooperation projects. The main funders have been Creative Europe and Erasmus+ programmes. However, successful international cultural projects are initiated mainly by individuals and private organisations (NGOs) based on personal contacts rather than as a matter of governmental policy.
Estonian culture has received international recognition when the Estonian (together with Latvian and Lithuanian) song and dance celebration tradition was included on the UNESCO's World List Intangible Heritage (2008). Included on the list as well are the small Kihnu island as cultural space (2008), Seto Leelo - Seto polyphonic singing tradition (2009) and the Smoke sauna tradition from South-Estonia, Võromaa (2014).
The organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn in 2002, hosted by the Estonian Television, as a benchmark event for popular culture, required international cooperation on a large scale and made Estonia further known among European audiences.
Numerous national and international music festivals take place in Tallinn as well as in marvellous places outside of the capital, mainly during summer season. International theatre festivals — the oldest one being Baltoscandal, which takes place biannually in Rakvere — gather the most innovative theatre ideas and troupes throughout the world. Seven dance festivals take place in Estonia, three of which are international. All these are mainly organised by NGOs and use international networks of organisations in their field and personal contacts.
External theatrical relations are conducted by the Estonian Theatre Agency in cooperation with the performing arts institutions active in the field. Many of the performing arts centres, which are NGOs (including Sõltumatu Tantsu Ühendus, Kanuti Gildi SAAL), plan their programmes in collaboration with international partners.
Foreign tours by theatres, which require years of planning, also serve to introduce Estonian theatre. Estonia’s local theatrical life is enriched by international theatrical festivals with many different focuses and styles.
Estonia has integrated very much into international architectural networks and policy forums; architecture bureaus participate in major international architectural events and in setting development trends in European architectural policy. A valuable partner for the state in international activities is the Estonian Centre for Architecture (NGO), which mostly focuses on introducing Estonian architecture abroad.
Estonia has participated in the world’s largest architecture festival in Venice since 2000. Estonian participation is handled by the Estonian Centre for Architecture and financed by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Ministry of Culture and private donors. The curators of the Estonian exposition are selected through an open competition.
The Tallinn Architecture Biennale is an international forum of architecture and city planning, which is organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture. The architecture festival has a diverse programme to enhance synergy between Estonian and foreign architecture, and architects and the public, by offering a chance to make contact and share ideas.
The Estonian Publishers’ Association organises the participation of Estonian publishers in international book fairs (Frankfurt, London, Leipzig, Helsinki and Bologna) and is the Estonian partner organising the Baltic Book Fair. The association is a member of the Federation of European Publishers.
Film institutions develop multilateral international cooperation, especially valuing partnership among Baltic and Nordic countries. In 2015, three film institutions — the Estonian Film Institute, the Latvian National Film Centre and Lithuanian Film Centre — signed an agreement to boost co-productions of films and to organise joint events for promoting the film industry. In the framework of the 100th anniversary of three Baltic countries, the Baltic Film Days were organised in August 2019 to raise the audience’s interest of films from their neighbouring countries.
Numerous non-governmental institutions and galleries operating in the field of contemporary arts and design prepare and manage international cooperation projects. The Centre for Contemporary Arts (NGO founded in 1992) is an expert institution in international cooperation projects with a role to activate and develop the Estonian contemporary art scene, conceptualising the current tendencies of visual culture and participating in a critical dialogue in society. Since 1997, Estonia has continually participated in the Venice Art Biennale. The Estonian pavilion is organised by the Centre for Contemporary Arts. In 2016, Estonian artists were represented at 75 exhibitions or art events abroad. A total of ninety artists or groups participated. About fifteen Estonian artists are being actively represented by galleries operating in the international art market. The Centre for Contemporary Arts is also the organiser and partner of the Baltic Triennial, the major regional international art event. Since its foundation in 1979, the Baltic Triennial takes place in the three Baltic countries.
The Ministry of Culture introduces Estonian design abroad in close cooperation with the NGO Estonian Association of Designers and Estonian Design Centre. In order to enhance the field of design, the Estonian Association of Designers has founded the Estonian Design House, which promotes the sale of work by Estonian designers on domestic and foreign markets, initiates new product development, and exports high-quality product design. Estonia cooperates actively with Finland and France in a number of design projects.
In 2014, the Estonian Association of Designers has developed a concept for introducing Estonian design abroad (Size Doesn't Matter), which is based on the juxtaposition of the smallness of Estonia and the abundance of designers and their achievements. The overview exhibition includes high-quality and limited release products, mostly the best examples of designers’ work plus innovative industrial products. More than sixty designers are represented at the exhibition.