Since January 1st 2011, Estonia’s capital Tallinn and the city of Turku in Finland share the title “European Capital of Culture 2011”, replacing the 2010 capitals Essen (representing the Ruhr in Germany), Istanbul and Pécs.
Text von Nicole Kanne
The title “European Capital of Culture” is chosen by the Council of the European Union for the period of one year, during which the cities usually organize a variety of cultural events. These range from music or literature festivals up to exhibitions and athletic events. The Capital of Culture program offers a great opportunity to advertise and improve a city’s cultural image over the European Union and beyond, as these various cultural events attract large numbers of tourists each year.
History of the Capital of Culture Program
The European Capital of Culture program was conceived in 1983 by Melina Mercouri, who was at that time the Greek Minister of Culture. Two years later, in 1985, the program was established by the European Union, with the city of Athens being the first city ever to be entitled the European Capital of Culture. The idea behind this program was to raise the awareness for cultural matters all over Europe and give the participating countries a chance to create a new cultural image on an international level.
A title with economic benefits
Today’s reality of the program however, has broadened its focus on the economic benefits the title has to offer. In Tallinn, the New Year was welcomed by a huge firework during the opening ceremony at the city’s Theatre Square. The official homepage of Tallinn as the European Capital of Culture 2011 calls it „the biggest cultural event in the history of Estonia“. One of the reasons to celebrate is certainly the economic impact of the various different cultural events that are planned in Tallinn for this year, as they are expected to attract millions of visitors. This economic advantage, provided by the title, is also a financial benefit for two of its main sponsors: Estonian Air, Estonia’s national airline, and Tallink Group, a huge shipping company in the Baltic Sea, which also operates a hotel network in Estonia.
Cultural Cooperation
The geographic closeness of Tallinn and Turku (about 177 km air-line distance) has encouraged the two cities to cooperate in different areas of organization of their cultural events. There is, for example, cooperation in tourism management, as some travel agencies offer packages for tourists to experience cultural events in both cities.
The program’s future
The list of cities already chosen as Capitals of Culture for the next years ends with Riga (Latvia) and Umeå (Sweden), who will take the title in 2014. The future of the program will be discussed on a public consultation meeting, held by the Commission of the European Union, in Brussels on March 2nd this year. The people’s view on the programs future seems to be of great importance to the Commission, as the meeting is open to all interested individuals and organizations. This seems to be a welcome position, because despite all economic advantages the title might bring for the participating sponsors, it’s the people’s culture after all.
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