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The President of the Republic handed over folklore prizes26.02.2004
President Rüütel today at the Estonian Literary Museum in Tartu handed over the President's Folklore Prizes for the year 2003.
On the proposal of the Estonian Literary Museum, the prizes went to Anu Soon and Kaili Sarv. Each of this year's Folklore Prizes amounted to 6.000 Estonian kroons, which were donated by the President's Cultural Foundation.
Anu Soon, a professional biologist, has given to the museum's archives a voluminous collection of most varied folklore documentations from her home neighbourhood Viru-Jaagupi and birthplace Iisaku. She has collected folk tales about place names, folk stories and jokes, narratives of family traditions, descriptions of plays and Christmas customs, memories of the life in war time, of resistance fighters and those deported to Siberia.
Folklore teacher Kail Sarv has written contributions to the folklore collections "Viljandi Kultuurikolledži folkloor 2000.-2003. aastal" (Viljandi Culture College Folklore 2000-2003) and "Tallinna Tehnikaülikooli folkloor 2002.-2003. aastal" (Tallinn Technical University Folklore 2002-2003), which provide a good overview of the customs, slang and jokes spread among the students of these two academic institutions. Also the diploma thesis of Kaili Sarv "Tudengifolkloor Viljandi Kultuurikolledžis" (Viljandi Culture College Student Folklore) contains interesting original material.
President Rüütel at the award ceremony told that the intellectual riches stored in the Estonian Folklore Archives were of timeless and priceless value. "It gives me great pleasure to see that this repository is in active use. Scientists and students research into and deliberate over the riches here. Young musicians keep our ancient folk heritage alive and present it to our contemporaries," the President of the Republic said.
The President extended gratitude to this year's Folklore Prize Laureates and to all the rest of folklore collectors. "It's great that the campaign of folklore collection initiated by Jakob Hurt has lasted up to these hectic days and, among us, there are still committed bridge-builders between the past, present and future," the President of the Republic added.
At the event that took place at the Estonian Literary Museum, apart from the presentation of prizes, talks were delivered on the contributions sent to the Estonian Folklore Archives last year, on the legends of Järvamaa collecting competition, and on the digitalization of phonogram rolls preserving the heritage of the coastal Swedes by the Swedish National Radio. The Village Band of Võhu and Iisaku gave the audience a musical welcome.
The President's Folklore Prize is a monetary award given on regular basis, which is intended for the recognition of contributors to the Estonian Folklore Archives. The amount of the prize is determined by the President. The predecessor of the President's Folklore Prize was a Head of State Award given to the best folklore collectors in the years 1935-1940. The statutes of the prize, with the support of the President's Cultural Foundation, were re-enforced in 1993 and the reinstated prize was awarded for the first time in 1994.
Our tradition of collecting folklore was launched in 1888 by Jakob Hurt's appeal "Paar palvid Eesti ärksamaile poegadele ja tütardele", in which Hurt called on his fellow countrymen to contribute to a book of Estonian dialects, and to collect folk songs, fairy tales, proverbs and riddles as well as descriptions of folk customs and beliefs.
Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, February 26, 2004
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