Today, 18 October, Hillar Sein, Undersecretary for Arts of the Estonian Ministry of Culture, signed the programme for cultural cooperation between the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Ministries of Culture for the next four years. The signing took place during the meeting of the Baltic Cultural Committee, which annually defines the goals for Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian cultural cooperation.
The programme calls for the advancement of cultural cooperation between the three countries in all fields, the promotion of cultural exchange and the exchange of experiences between the ministries of culture. The agreement for the founding of the Baltic Cultural Fund, which was signed last summer, was an emblematic step in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian cooperation, which should help to foster the organisation of cultural cooperation projects with international impact.
“By going out together as one, we are stronger and doing so we can generate a greater response. The mutual celebration of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania’s jubilee year has served our collaboration with strong momentum, and thanks to this we have jointly undertaken large international projects to introduce our culture to the rest of the world. The bar has been set high and our common wish is that our fruitful collaboration will continue even after the end of the centenary year of our countries,” said Hillar Sein, Undersecretary of Arts of the Estonian Ministry of Culture.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania participated jointly as the Baltic Market Focus countries at the London Book Fair this past spring. And the exhibition called 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. Currently, the exhibition is open at the Kumu in Tallinn. In addition, a joint presentation will be made at the Trieste Film Festival.
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. The current programme for the period of 2015-2018 was signed in October of 2014 at the meeting of the Baltic Cultural Committee in Tallinn.
Additional information:
Madis Järv
Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations Department
+372 5060157