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Information Center of Folk Culture
Overview
Alongside academic research, ERM’s scholarly activity is also significantly connected with professional science communication, outreach, and advisory work. The ERM Folk Culture Training and Information Centre, which operates as a subunit of the Research Department, aims to preserve and value cultural heritage and to support its use and interpretation. The centre’s main outputs are research-based consultation; the development of training programmes (including online thematic introductions and object presentations, as well as e-guides); the documentation of heritage skills and making them available online; the organisation of the Folk Costume School, training courses, seminars, lectures, and workshops; the preparation of popular scholarly publications on folk culture; exhibition activities; and research into the use of cultural heritage.
The centre works closely with other institutions active in the field, including the Viljandi Culture Academy of the University of Tartu, the Estonian Centre for Folk Culture, the Estonian Folk Art and Craft Union, the NGO Folk Costume, the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation, and others. The centre also engages in international cooperation, offering consultations and, where necessary, supervision of research work both in Estonia and internationally.
The centre is involved in academic research projects both by contributing to research and by developing applied outputs, participating in the preparation of publications, the development of practical activities, and the identification of outputs and dissemination platforms, including digital resources. This close integration ensures that the information centre applies the results of the museum’s latest academic research, broadens its thematic expertise, and thereby responds better to the expectations and needs of the museum’s wider target groups.
Workshops
Passing on heritage skills through workshops provides an opportunity to experience and learn traditional knowledge in a practical way.
Folk Costume School
Organising the work of the Folk Costume Makers’ School is one of the tasks of the information centre.