The National Archives of Estonia

Museum address:

Endla 3, Tallinn

Entrance fee 1 EURO

Museum open during operating hours 18:00 - 23:00

Program

On the night of 16 May, there will be voices and images at the National Archives. Everyone is welcome to visit the new Endla Building of the National Archives in Tallinn on Museum Night. The Night of Museums will include guided tours of the Endla House, curatorial tours of the Endla’s permanent exhibitions “Historical finishing techniques and common damages on film frames and glass negatives” and “History, carriers and technologies of film and photographic heritage”, a quiz on Estonian film quotations, a workshop on rag doll making and a film programme “Retrocommercials”. A children’s area will also be open during the evening.

Endla tour gives an overview of the National Archives, its buildings and collections. You will visit the various archival storerooms and the conservation laboratory. Come and discover the mysterious world of archiving. The guided tours take place every hour, from 18.00 to 22.00.

During the evening, three curatorial tours will take place at two of Endla’s permanent exhibitions. The exhibitions invite you to discover the multilayered world of film and photographic heritage. On the second floor, enlargements of film frames and glass negatives will give an insight into the finishing techniques and the most common damages of analogue material. On the third floor, visitors will find a display of film posters and showcases displaying film, video, photographic and sound media, their production technologies and a diverse artefactual heritage. The exhibition will be presented by Kadi Sikka at 18.30 and 20.30 and by Kaur Järve at 19.30. Photos, videos, films, photographs, film and video clips will also be on display.

At 20.00 you can test your knowledge of Estonian film heritage in the Estonian Film Quiz. Participate on your own or in a team of 4. You will have to identify by ear the 10 films in which the phrases appear. The grand prize is 3 months of free access to the content of the streaming platform Arkaader.

At 18.00 and 19.00, workshops will start to make the rag doll from the legendary children’s film “Nukitsamees”. During the evening, a children’s area will be open for children to draw and watch animated films.

During the evening, we will show the best of 1980s commercials in a programme called “Retrocommercials”. In the socialist empire, almost everything was advertised, even though there were no goods to sell in the shops. In the context of a chronic shortage of goods, retro advertisements seem somewhat absurd, but they were hugely popular in their time because of their innovative designs. It wasn’t what was advertised, but how it was done. Thus, in the conditions of the socialist command economy, a fabulously deceptive impression of the Soviet Union’s commercial opulence was created.

18.00 – Guided tour of the Endla Building of the National Archives
18.00 – Rag doll making workshop
18.30 – Kadi Sikka’s curatorial tour “Historical finishing techniques and common damages on film frames and glass negatives”
19.00 – Guided tour of the Endla Building of the National Archives
19.00 – Rag doll making workshop
19.30 – Kaur Järve’s curatorial tour “History of film and photographic heritage, carriers and technologies”
20.00 – Guided tour of the Endla Building of the National Archives
20.00 – Quiz on Estonian film quotations
20.30 – Kadi Sikka’s curatorial tour “Historical finishing techniques and common damages on film frames and glass negatives”
21.00 – Guided tour of the Endla Building of the National Archives
22.00 – Guided tour of the Endla Building of the National Archives

During the evening: the film programme “Retrocommercials”.

NB! Because of the limited space, the maximum size of each group for tours and workshops is 20 people.

Accessibility information:

The Endla House of the National Archives does not have a visitor car park. Due to the temporary entrance, there is no wheelchair access.

Important info

Visits to the archives are always FREE OF CHARGE.

For more information: arhiivikool.tallinn@ra.ee