Today at 2 p.m., President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Eiki Nestor opens the travelling exhibition “Riigikogu 100” at the Town Hall Square of Viljandi. The exhibition presents the 100 years of history of the Parliament of Estonia, and covers the activities of the Estonian Provincial Assembly, the Constituent Assembly and the Riigikogu.

“The exhibition introducing the Parliament starts in Viljandi, because it is one of the places where, one hundred years ago, the Estonian Declaration of Independence was read out aloud publicly for the first time,” President of the Riigikogu Eiki Nestor said. “The street is an excellent place for showing the exhibition, because it brings the history of our Parliament in the middle of the people.”

“The exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Parliament is designed as a street, where the pairs of houses on two sides of the street represent the decades in the history of the Riigikogu,” Creative Director of the exhibition Ionel Lehari explained. “As public urban space is the territory of the people in modern society, and the streets of cities belong to us all, it is the best place and location for looking back on the history of the power of a nation. This is the basis for the underlying idea of the exhibition and the metaphor of the street.”

The exhibition is showcases contemporary texts and pictures. Historical figures and events can be glimpsed through the doors and windows. Passing along the Riigikogu Street, we can go through hundreds of events in one step, and think a years’ worth of thoughts in a minute.

The exhibition covers two large periods, the years 1917–1940 and 1991–2018. Between them, there is a 50-year-long gap, when the Parliament of Estonia could not convene. At the exhibition, it is represented by empty houses.

The exhibition gives an idea of the correlation of political forces in different compositions of the Riigikogu, as well as of the political parties that have been and are active in the Estonian political landscape. The Riigikogu is the legislative power, therefore the laws passed by it that have a wider impact in the society and address greater number of people are highlighted. As a bonus, you can also get an overview of the important events that took place in the rest of the world.

The exhibition will travel through the towns of Estonia. The length of the exhibition area of “Riigikogu 100” is 10.5 metres, and the width and height are 3 metres. The exhibition is transportable and lit with LED lamps.

The authors of the exhibition are design agencies Identity and Ruumilabor, and the producers are design agencies Ruutu6 and Red Hat. The curator of the exhibition is the Parliamentary Information Centre of the National Library of Estonia.

On 23 April 1919, the first representative body elected by the independent Estonian nation – the Constituent Assembly – convened in Tallinn. The Assembly was essentially our first parliament, passing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of Estonia, and the Land Act, and solving other issues of vital importance for the Republic of Estonia. The decisions of the Constituent Assembly formed the foundation of the Republic of Estonia.

Curator: Marge Allandi (National Library of Estonia)
Creative Director: Ionel Lehari (design agency Identity)
Project Managers: Carolyn Lizbeth Einmann and Kadri Armas (Identity)
Graphic Designer: Maret Põldre (Identity)
Interior Designers: Janno Roos and Andres Labi (design agency Ruumilabor)
Constructor: Rasmus Kabun (design agency Ruutu6)

Riigikogu Press Service
Kristi Sobak
Phone +372 631 6592, +372 5190 6975
E-mail [email protected]
Questions [email protected]

Riigikogu Press Service
Marie Kukk
+372 631 6456; +372 58 213 309
[email protected]
Questions:  [email protected]