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Would the world be different without the Republic of Estonia? What is the role of Estonia in preserving cultural diversity in the world? Marju Kõivupuu, a folklorist, a philologist, and a senior researcher at the Tallinn University Centre for Landscape and Culture, tries to answer these questions.

“The journalist Ulvar Käärt asked me a few years ago: “What would change in the world, when Estonia would no longer be in it?” I must admit, I was baffled at first, as this is not a customary question in Estonia, but indeed...

“We keep saying that Estonia is a small country, that, as a traditional song goes, there is no silver or gold here, but enough fertile soil everywhere. This fertile soil, as a metaphor, has sprouted many great minds, who have dared to swim against the stream in their own time, and thus contributed to the birth of Estonia as a nation, and the persistence of its culture, be it literature, art, music, or folk culture.

“Preserving lingual and cultural diversity in a rapidly globalising world is as important as preserving endangered species, and Estonia has an important role to play in this. Therefore, we should look after this fertile soil, which has given us , , , , , , , , and many other great people we are so proud of. We must see that this soil is kept fertile, and our young growing talents nurtured and taken care of, as there are very few of us and every individual is important.

“Ten years ago we opened , our temple of arts. Very soon the will open. The opening of the in the end of the 1980s became one of the symbols of independence and quickly became part of the revolutionary events that re-created our state.

“It is ridiculous to debate, whether our Academy of Music and Theatre needs its own hall – the question should be how fast it can be built. The biggest value of Estonia is its educated, intelligent creative people, our youth.”

Marju Kõivupuu

Photo by Veiko Tubin