Before continuing our journey, we should stop to point out the multiple talents of our host John W. Fail, who in spite of being named John Will Fail, is currently: Director of Ptarmigan, founder of Cenotaph Records Cenotaph Records and one half of improv-concrete duo Lied Music. You can also read about his further achievements here.
After taking part in the Labyrinths and Rings talk on Saturday evening, we strolled into town for a couple of drinks at a local bar where. John offered to drive Matt and Steve for the three hour southerly road trip from Tallinn to Mooste, the small village where MoKS is located. On Sunday morning we all piled into the only Vauxhall in Estonia, and one of the few right hand drive cars with EU plates on the continent, which while it made us feel at home but was not so helpful for overtaking lorries on narrow Estonian “motorways” (read: country lanes).
First port of call was the renowned truck stop ‘Windmill’ located just outside the town of Adavere. This restaurant is housed in a seven storey windmill, complete with a large collection of historic windmill photos on the upper floors, and twin toilets in each cubicle. The food, served by two waitresses identically styled on Milla Jovovich in Luc Besson’s Fifth Element, is delicious in spite of our uncertainty of what we had ordered, due to the language barrier. A highly recommended dining experience, even for vegetarians traveling through Estonia.
Next stop was a flying visit to Patrick McGinley’s (aka Murmer and Curator of the radio show Framework) studio in Tartu and convinced him to come with us, eventually winding up at MoKS in the mid-afternoon.
MoKS is a centre for International Artists’ Residencies, which has been running for ten years now, thanks to the efforts of Evelyn Müürsepp and John Grzinich. The old manor house in which it is housed has recently been extensively renovated, dramatically increasing the number of studios and living spaces available to accommodate resident artists, as well as installing a state of the art heating system, workshop or exhibition space and even a sauna.
After a tour of the building and meeting with the current residents artists, from Canada and Iceland, we all ventured to the village shop, housed unexpextedly in a first floor flat, to fetch some dinner. The menu tonight being an Estonian classic: Salted Herring with sour cream, blanched onions, boiled eggs and potatoes, all washed down with several bottles of Tommu Hiid, the finest Estonian ale.
After dinner we retired upstairs to the communal area for a ‘Show and Tell’ of each other’s work finished off by a screening of an Estonian Television documentary about MoKS made in 2005. After this we were introduced to the legendary US radio phenomenon Car Talk hosted for the last 33 years by Click and Clack an unmissable cultural experience, even if you don’t drive.
Joking aside, MoKS is an incredible achievement of sustaining an artist-run space in a remote rural location, with support from the community as well as an international network of artists. We raise our hats to the commitment and energy that has kept this place running and developing for so long. We hope to continue a working relationship with them in the future.
After a good nights sleep, we woke up with the pitter-patter of raindrops on skylights, which accompanied us almost all the way back to Tallinn.
