Estonian Institute

The Estonian Institute is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation aiming to promote Estonian culture abroad. The institute was founded in 1989 as a shadow foreign office for the Estonian independence movement by Lennart Meri, later the first foreign minister and first president of Estonia after the Soviet occupation. Current director of the institute is the son of the president, filologist and finno-ugric sprecialist Mart Meri.

Activities

Presently, the Estonian Institute concentrates on cultural diplomacy. Its main areas of activity are publishing diverse brochures, organising cultural events abroad and maintaining several web sites, which include the online encyclopaedia [http://www.estonica.org Estonica] and the Estonian cultural [http://www.culture.ee events calendar.] The Estonian Institute also organises conferences, festivals, exhibitions and seminars about Estonian culture, replies to Estonia-related queries, and receives translators, journalists, researchers, writers, and lecturers.

Publications

* Estonica
*"Estonian Art" (biannual)
*"Estonian Literary Magazine" (biannual)
*"Estonian Culture" (magazine)
*Annual calendar of major cultural events in Estonia
*Assorted colour publications reflecting Estonian life
*"Facts About Estonia", a series of fact sheets

Locations

The Estonian Institute also has offices abroad located in [http://www.saunalahti.fi/eeinst/ Helsinki (since 1995)] , [http://www.einst.ee/sverige/ Stockholm (since 1999)] , [http://estonie.info/ Paris (since 2001)] and [http://esztorszag.hu/ Budapest (since 1998)] . The main office is in Tallinn.

Sources

* [http://www.einst.ee/ Estonian Institute]
* [http://www.einst.ee/culture/ Magazine 'Estonian Culture']
* [http://www.einst.ee/literary/ Estonian Literary Magazine]
* [http://www.einst.ee/Ea/ Magazine 'Estonian Art']
* [http://www.estonica.org Encyclopedia Estonica]
* [http://www.culture.ee Estonian culture events calendar]