Tallinn Music Week invites to day trips from art, live music and culinary culture to Record Fair and Pollinator Highway

17 April 2023 Uncategorized

Tallinn Music Week (TMW), the “festival of tomorrow’s music, arts and ideas” invites visitors to explore Tallinn the Green Capital of Europe through its burgeoning art and dining scenes, cycling routes, green corridors and live music in unexpected settings. Taking place from 10 to 14 May, the city festival’s daytime activities reach beyond the TMW hotspots Telliskivi Creative City and Old Town to Lasnamäe District and hidden corners of Tallinn. 

Joining forces with the art festival “I Don’t Understand” (“Ma ei saa aru“), two diverse sound art exhibitions will open on Wednesday, 10 May in the Telliskivi Creative City. “Sound Speaks, curated by a musician and cultural events promoter Aivar Tõnso unites seven Estonian artists for a complex perceptual experience in the former industrial building. “Time Lines” installation by Martin Recker and Paul Hauptmeier leads to a dreamlike journey of sound, rhythm and light.

On Thursday, 11 May, the official opening of TMW 2023 takes place in Tallinn Art Hall’s Lasnamäe Pavilion, providing the guests also with a rare opportunity to sneak peek at the Spring Exhibition of the Estonian Artists’ Association, which will open to the public on 12 May. From Thursday to Saturday, Krulli Quarter in Kalamaja will get a new lease of life with the light installations by the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts. 

Free daytime gigs by a selection of TMW performers take place in unusual places around the city on Friday and Saturday. Fiery French pop duo Charlotte Fever collides with Discours Synthétique’s French synth-wave interpretation in Art Hall’s Lasnamäe Pavilion. Rising Estonian pop producer Karl Killing shares the stage with Nigerian-Canadian Afro-soul artist Sadé Awele at Viru Food Hall in Viru Center. Among the Nordic artists presented by the Nordic Council of Ministers´ Office in Estonia in Telliskivi’s Põhja Konn (Northern Frog) bar are young Swedish multi-talent Graham Lake and anthem-wielding Finns NEØV. Local indie darlings Ouu will perform nearby on the roof of the sea container, once a home for  IDA Radio, that will turn into a green-and-orange TMW info desk for the festival week.

Beloved gallery tour curated by the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center (ECADC) takes place on Saturday, 13 May, exhibiting recent works by both Estonian and international artists in galleries across the town. 

Also on Saturday, the collectors of second-hand records and music memorabilia are welcome to join the TMW edition of the Record Fair at the gates of the Baltic Railway Market. 

Sunday, 14 May finishes the festival off with a bike tour down the Pollinator Highway, a biodiverse green corridor between the city districts. 

Over 30 restaurants of Tallinn’s burgeoning food scene are introduced in the TMW Tastes selection, including those featured in the White Guide Nordic as well as the Green Label certified dining places. Special menus and discounts apply to TMW ticket holders throughout the festival week. 

Most TMW city festival locations are no more than a 20-minute walk or a 10-minute bike ride from each other, allowing visitors to move around the city in a healthy and environmental way.

TMW’s green tours and community discussions are supported by Tallinn – European Green Capital 2023.

The city festival’s public conversations Talks as well as programmes for youth and children will be published during April.


TMW 2023 festival is organised by Shiftworks together with many co-organisers.

TMW city festival partners: European Green Capital Tallinn, Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center (ECADC), students of the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) under the guidance of sculptor Elo Liiv, Endover, the Nordic Council of Ministers in Estonia, Telliskivi Creative City, Viru Center, Record Fair

Art galleries and locations: Tallinn Art Hall Lasnamäe Pavilion, Okapi Gallery, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery, Gallery Positiiv, Juhan Kuus Documentary Photography Centre, Vaal Gallery. Telliskivi Creative City Green Hall and B-building’s corridor, Kuppel Gallery, Fotografiska Tallinn, Krulli Quarter

City Stages: Ilma pood, TMW info desk/sea container in Telliskivi Creative City, Põhja Konn, Tallinn Art Hall Lasnamäe Pavilion, Volta quarter x Viru Burger, Viru Food Hall, Salme 12 (Kalamaja Days)

Restaurants: Barbarea, Bliss, Bueno Gourmet, Café Fotografiska Tallinn, CHI, F-hoone, F.Burger, Fika – Bread and Coffee, Guru, Kebaboom, KimiJimi Food Club, Kolm Sibulat – Three Onions, Kolm Tilli pizza & pasta, Külm Ice Cream, La Muu Café, Lee, Lendav Maaler, Lendav Taldrik, MEZE, Mikkeller, Moon, MySushi, Noho, Oasis, Ocean 11, Orangerie, Paju Villa, Paper Mill Coffee & Roastery, Pavlova, Peas Out!, Peet Ruut, Poké Bowl, Rudolf, Salt, Samsa Family Bakers, SMAK, Stereo Street Food, Tsunft, Vapiano, Viru Burger X Volta Resto, Ülo

The festival is supported by Nordic Hotel Forum, the Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment, the city of Tallinn, the UNESCO City of Music Tallinn, and Tallinn the Green Capital of Europe. The partners are Music Estonia, Fairmus, Viru Center, Telliskivi Creative City, Postimees, Öun Drinks, Go Travel, British Council Estonia, and the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia.


Timeline for the TMW City Stages and Art 

City Stages

Fri, 12 May

Põhja Konn (Telliskivi 60a-5). The Nordic Council of Ministers in Estonia presents:
16:00 DJ Bunuel (FI) | 18:00 NEØV (FI) | 19:00 Graham Lake (SE)

Sat, 13 May

Tallinn Art Hall: Lasnamäe Pavilion (Jaan Koorti 24)
12:00 Charlotte Fever (FR) | 13:00 Discours Synthetique (EE)

On foot: 1 hour/By bike / e-scooter: 25 minutes

Viru Food Hall (Viru väljak 4). Viru Center presents:
13:00 Minimal Wind (EE) | 14:00 Sadé Awele (CA) | 15:00 Karl Killing (EE)

On foot: 27 minutes; by bike/e-scooter: 15 minutes

Kalamaja Days (Salme 12)
13:00 Aston Kais (LV) | 14:00 Dumai Dunai (CA/UA/BG)

On foot: 10 minutes; by bike/e-scooter: 6 minutes

Volta quarter x Viru Burger (Tööstuse 47d). Endover presents:
13:00 Leik (EE) | 14:00 Shira (EE) | 15:30 Akekejser (DK)

On foot: 20 minutes; by bike/e-scooter: 10 minutes

Ilma pood (Telliskivi 60a)
17:00 Stefania Boiko (EE) | 18:00 Tolü Makay (IE)

On foot: 30 seconds

TMW info desk/sea container in Telliskivi Creative City
17:00 Bazzookas (NL) | 18:00 Ouu (EE)

More info

TMW Art

Openings of the art festival “I Don’t Understand” exhibitions in Telliskivi Creative City
Wed, 12th May 11:00

“Sound Speaks” by Estonian sound artists Raul Keller, Liisa Hirsch, Taavi Suisalu, Sten Saarits, Erik Alalooga, Katrin Enni and Mari-Liis Rebane. Curator: Aivar Tõnso
Green Hall/Roheline Saal (Telliskivi 60a/5)

Martin Recker and Paul Hauptmeier: “Time Lines”
Corridor of the B building

ECADC Gallery Tour
Sat, 13 May 12:00 – 17:00

12:00 Tallinn Art Hall Lasnamäe Pavilion (J. Koorti 24)
Spring Exhibition 2023

13:15 Okapi Gallery (Niguliste 2)
Taavi Tulev: “Thought Patterns”

14:00 Temnikova & Kasela Gallery (Peetri 12)
Sevina Tzanou and Toni Schmale: “Final Fantasy” 

14:30 Positiiv Gallery (Roo 21a)
Anneli Ivaste & Kristel Schwede: “Flowed Out of Silence”

15:15 Vaal Gallery (Telliskivi 60a/5)
Kadri Toom: “The Glasshouses and a Balloon” 

15:45 Juhan Kuus Documentary Photo Centre (Telliskivi 60a)
“Fotoscopy – A Touch of Small Photography”

16:15 Telliskivi Creative City Green Hall
“Sound Speaks” by Estonian sound artists 


Other exhibitions in Telliskivi Creative City


Johannes Luik:” Space for the Everyday: Object 4 (Chandelier)”
Kuppel Gallery

Photo exhibitions at Fotografiska Tallinn
(Telliskivi 60a-8)

Miles Aldridge “Virgin Mary. Supermarkets. Popcorn”. Photographs 1999 – 2020

Andres Serrano: “Infamous”

Snezhana Von Büdingen-Dyba: “Meeting Sofie”

Light installations “The Glow of Krull“ by EKA students
Wed 11 May – Sun 14 May
Krulli District (entrance from Kopli 70a)

Students: Kristi Tšernilovski, Caitlyn Kesa, Saskia Krautman, Frank Kuresaar, Karl Perens, Triin Indlo, Madli Rööp, Eva Maria Põldmäe, Triinu Väikmeri, Kadri Vahar, Anna Minchenkov, Aasa Ruukel, Elle Lepik ja Vivian Ilves. Mentor: Elo Liiv

Architectural lighting of the light path by Kristi Tšernilovski, Elo Liiv, Janno Siil and Rinald Kodasma