Estonia is getting increased attention in magazines world-wide as a friendly, modern and exciting travel destination. Tourism is not only an important source of income for the country, it is an ideal vehicle for promoting our country as a member of the international community that has made tremendous strides since regaining independence.
It is also pleasant to note the attention received by those Estonians who have returned to their country and are contributing to the process. One such individual is the proprietor of La Galerie Passage art gallery, Viviann Napp.
The following excerpt is from an article by Peter Landesman, “Tallinn: Making It New”, that appeared in the July issue of Travel+ Leisure magazine, a publication of American Express.
“ As in much of the former Soviet Union, a number of Estonians - or people of Estonian descent - who were living abroad have moved to Tallinn since independence. Viviann Napp is one of them. She left Canada for Tallinn in 1990 and opened La Galerie Passage on Narva Road, in a 1930’s building where her grandfather used to live. I meet up with her at Tallinn’s best restaurants, L’Artiste, in the Hotell Olümpia, a glass-and-concrete box that was once the height of luxury for Soviet appartchiks. The restaurant, set on mezzanine, is all kitschy, dewy pastels.
Napp tells me, a little breathlessly, that before independence Estonian painters had to join the Soviet-style artists union in order to buy supplies, and had to produce artwork that met the state’s requirements. Navitrolla, Napp’s top artist, chose to make his own brushes out of pig hair (his parents owned a pig farm). There is something in her tone that suggests she regrets not having been present when art had to be made clandestinely, that she is more than a little in love with the idea of the artist as provocateur.”
The entire article can be found on
www.travelandleisure.com While, as with many (a general observation) travel pieces there are many factual slips and misconceptions in the lengthy Landesman article, it does serve to do what an Estonian would want - serve as an interesting eye catching description of Estonia, her people and culture.
