Museum Night 2023 in the museum of Under and Tuglas Literature Centre
As is tradition, the Literature Centre’s Museum took part in Museum Night 2023, the topic of which this time round was ‘Movement in the Night’. We told visitors about writers and sports, did a workout and offered visitors a one-off opportunity to have their picture taken with the father of Estonian hobby skiing – Friedebert Tuglas. The knowledge that we now slide along on Sunday ski tracks in the path of Tuglas is based on his memoirs (Tuglas, F. 1990. Tartu, 1903–1904. Noorusmälestusi. Kogutud teosed, 6. Tallinn, p 73 (in Estonian):
“In the end, something that has even a remote link to my then hobbies in Finland. At that time, skis were only known of in southern Estonia through literature and could not actually be bought anywhere. Then I heard that the Tartu Prison workshop makes skis for a northern army unit, but general sale was not allowed. I somehow still managed to buy a pair and learnt to use them after a while. A weird thing is that horses are frightened of skiers, even when the skier just stands immobile by the road, resting on his ski sticks. Villagers cursed me for spooking their horses and some young townies said I was doing the ‘work of the devil’. I didn’t come across any other enthusiasts of this sport back then. However, when I happened to visit Tartu again in winter about ten years later, I found that there were ski tracks all around the city. So, you could say I gave a boost to at least one thing in my life!”
Program
- In cooperation with the Estonian Ski Association, we offered Museum Night visitors a one-off opportunity to have their photo taken with the father of Estonian hobby skiing, Academy member Friedebert Tuglas.
- 19:00 Merlin Kirikal’s presentation Writers and muscles: sports in Estonian literature in the first half of the 20th century.
- 20:00 Sports journalist and long jumper Mihkel Talivee taught in the garden of the Literature Centre’s Museum how desk workers, writers and school kids can keep in shape.
