Warsaw

Cultural relations between Estonia and Poland are close and diverse.

The Estonian Embassy in Warsaw is a member of a branch of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC). The EUNIC in Warsaw organises events for showcasing European culture. The Estonian Embassy is regularly participating in the EUNIC-organised European Day of Languages and has taken part of the poetry projects Poems in the City and Spoke’n’Word. More information about the activities of EUNIC Warsaw is available on their webpage.

Estonian Language and Literature

Estonian as a second foreign language as well as Estonian literature and cultural history can be studied at the Hungarian Department of the University of Warsaw. René Virks is teaching Estonian at the University of Warsaw under Estonian Institute’s programme The Academic Studies of Estonian Language and Culture Abroad 2018-2027. Estonian can also be learned with Aarne Puu at the Kraków Jagiellonian University. In Poznan, the lecturer Robert Bielecki at the Hungarian Department of the Adam Mickiewicz University has taught Estonian, and he also wrote the first Estonian textbook aimed at Poles, published by the university publishing house.

The works of Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Jaan Kross, Arvo Valton, Mati Unt, Ellen Niit, Leelo Tungal, Andrus Kivirähk have been translated into Polish. A list of translations is available on the webpage Eesti.pl. In 2018, the sixth book in Polish, The World of Things of a Tallinn Resident in the Century of Enlightenment by historian and emeritus professor Raimo Pullat was published. Thanks to translator Anna Michalczuk, Estonian children’s literature has started to appear in Poland: Anti Saare’s “How we are doing things”, Andrus Kivirähki’s “Oskar and things”, Hilli Rand’s “Snow White and Carbon Black”. In 2019,  translator Hendrik Lindepuu was awarded the most important translation award in Poland, the Transatlantyk Award, in Krakow. It is the most prestigious award for a translator or critic of Polish literature.

Music

When it comes to Estonian music, Polish music-lovers mainly appreciate classical music and folk music, however, Estonian pop groups are also making increasingly frequent visits to Poland. The works of composer Arvo Pärt, Urmas Sisask, and Heino Eller have been performed in Poland, and Ewert and the Two Dragons, Trad.Attack!, Elephants From Neptune, Vaiko Eplik and the Eliit, the blues band Bullfrog Brown, folk musicians Anu Taul, Triinu Taul and Tarmo Noormaa, and Svjata Vatra have all performed in Poland.One of the biggest Estonian-Polish joint ventures in the field of music is the international Chopin competition for young pianists, which has been organized in Narva since 1997. Today, it is a high-level and internationally recognized competition.

In November 2018, the composer Arvo Pärt received two high recognitions in Poland: the Gold Medal of the highest cultural award of the Republic of Poland, Gloria Artis, and the title of Honorary Doctor of the Chopin College of Music. After the awards, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra performed Pärt’s works at the CEE Music Festival “Eufonie”. In November 2019, “Eufonie” performed at the “Collegium Musicale” festival. On 22.07.2019, Estonian Voices performed at the Music Gardens festival in Warsaw’s Royal Palace. On September 11, 2025, Arvo Pärt will celebrate his 90 anniversary – the birthday of one of the world’s most performed living composers will be celebrated all over the world, from the US to Germany and Great Britain. The events of the jubilee year start already in January and last until the spring of 2026.

Cinema

Relations between Estonian and Polish filmmakers have a long history, and there is always an Estonian film in the program of almost every major film festival in Poland. In October 2024, “Lioness”, “Black Hole” and “Water Party” were screened at the Warsaw Film Festival.

Visual Arts

The Estonian Children’s Literature Centre has extensive experience in promoting Estonian art in Poland. The exhibition It’s Always Tea-Time, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the initial publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll toured Poland in 2016-2017. In 2018, the exhibition Once Upon a Time…, inspired by the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm was showing in Poland. In 2019, several cities showed the exhibition Running with Wolves, which tells the myth of the werewolf. And in 2024, the exibition “The power of pictures”.

Estonian photography is also popular in Poland. Several cities have exhibited images and portraits by Birgit Püve, and nature photography by Fred Jüssi.

Estonians in Poland

According to the data of the Polish Board of Foreigners, as of the end of 2019, 221 Estonian citizens with the right of residence were registered in Poland. There are alos businessmen, students and people working for international organizations who live in Poland temporarily. Gatherings of the Estonian community on the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia and summer farewell garden parties have become a tradition at the embassy.

Estonians meet virtually in the Facebook group Estonians in Warsaw/Poland. Since 2001, the Pro Estonia society, which brings together Polish youth, promotes Estonian culture in Poland.