Creative community vents at meeting with minister

Photo: Peeter Langovits

Yesterday, Minister of Culture Rein Lang met with representatives of artistic associations. Mr Lang explained himself, the cultural figures demanded that he resign.

I’ll start at the end. «The minister is advised to resign due to loss of trust with artistic associations in his domain,» announced Karl Martin Sinijärv, chairman of Estonian Writers’ Union, to wind up the meeting. 

Essentially the same, in words slightly different, was said by Estonian Theatre Union head, actor Ain Lutsepp. «Lack of trust,» said the man, stood from the table and left the room.

«I will certainly weigh that, every proposal is worth weighing, but why won’t we first wait and see what will be with Sirp,» Mr Lang said after it all. By that, the meeting, lasting an hour and twenty minutes, was over.

The dramatic final chords aside, the prior discussions were quite matter-of-fact. To the one side of the table, there sat the culture minister Rein Lang, Foundation Kultuurileht chairman Urmas Klaas and its CEO, Toomas Väljataga – giving an account. Facing them, and asking questions, were a couple of dozen culture figures – writers, actors, artists, designers etc.

The talk was about procedure of electing Sirp’s editor-in-chief: there was a competition; the competition failed (the committee unanimously deciding that was the case); Mr Väljataga received powers to find an acting editor-in-chief; meetings and discussions followed. In addition to Mr Väljataga, Mr Lang and Mr Klaas participated in the process; at the end of the day, no candidate said yes.

At a certain moment, enter Kaur Kender. Again: meetings, talks etc. Mr Kender tabled a vision. After initial hesitation, all agreed. Mr Kender wanted changes, the changes required money. Mr Lang promised money, but up to a limit. Mr Väljataga signed an agreement with Mr Kender, the latter thus becoming acting editor-in-chief of Sirp, proceeding to immediately lay off four people. That’s all.

What, with all this, disgusts the creative community?

On the basis of what was talked about, at the meeting, they don’t like the very Kaur Kender. They don’t like his leather jacket. They don’t like what he has said regarding culture: «Boring as shit». They don’t like his interview, of ten years ago to newspaper Zeit, where Mr Kender announces, among other things: «I’m not competing with other writers. They are all typical Estonians, thus – boring. My competitor’s called Tom Cruise. All I can be proud of is Estonian drug dealers, who are the coolest in Europe.»

That’s just pure Kender; the reactions also being predictable. Patricide, in culture (and steps against it) being as old as culture itself. 

In that context, the first thing that comes to mind in the Kivisildnik vs Hando Runnel contradiction of the mid-1990ies, carrying the same sentiment: a foul-mouthed bastard vs national poet. Now, 17 years later, Kivisildnik is a top poet in Estonia, reaping awards and Cultural Endowment rewards.

The paradox being: many of the ones siding with Kivisildnik, the so-called revolutionaries, have meanwhile grown up, donned ties/suits, evolving into money-dispersing functionaries. (Maybe these were kept in mind, as «the new establishment», by Jüri-Franciscus Lotman, writing in Postimees two days back.)

Secondly: culture figures don’t like lay-offs. Especially lay-offs of poets or ladies. Worst of all, of lady poets. Surely, they also don’t like the behaviour of culture ministry and of the person of the minister at the Sirp power shift – the beating about bushes, the double-talking, not to say lying by Mr Lang. Explicit lying has not surfaced (and this, perhaps, he has not done); even so, he surely has made varying statements regarding his role over this past week. This verily is a spot where Mr Lang was willing to agree, to the tiniest degree, with the creative community critique: «I really apologise if I have said anything that may have been misinterpreted.»

Herein, by the way, also lies a paradox. If indeed Mr Lang has acted ugly, over these past couple of weeks, then it is not so much towards the inquirers, as towards Mr Klaas and Mr Väljataga – at his side of the table at yesterday’s talks. The latter one especially pushed forward by the minister, reducing his own role; it was only yesterday that Mr land confessed to actually having also participated at elections of Sirp chief. Not directly selecting a chief, mind you, but as a supporting voice.

To summarise. Probably, there was no conspiracy; Reform Party, Rain Rosimannus and Kristen Michal did not elect a leader for Sirp. Even so, the person (Mr Kender) doesn’t fit; the lay-offs (blunt, uncultured) don’t fit; the procedure (hasty, untidy, off the cuff) doesn’t fit. Or, as said by Mr Lutsepp of Theatre Union: «A proper ministry will not behave like that. I expect Ministry of Culture to behave more professionally.»

In addition to calling for resigning and lots of emotions, Mr Sinijärv, speaking for the artistic associations, presented two definite proposals.

Firstly: as soon as possible, a new public competition needs to be held for editor-in-chief of Sirp. Secondly: Foundation Kultuurileht (managing bulk of culture journals) needs to have it statutes altered so as to include more representatives of artistic associations in its council. In the longer perspective, amending the statutes and inclusion of artistic associations, might be the most important proposal, rather than staff decisions.