Avinurme Cultural Heritage Centre is established as an operating link between tourism encouragement, development of attractive business environment as well as the maintenance and exhibition of both mental and material local cultural heritage.
Avinurme Cultural Heritage Centre that combines creativity, tourism and enterprise cannot be established into an empty space. The history of Avinurme is inextricably intertwined with carpentry and timber industry. Even today, the region boasts many traders whose operation is based on this rooted field of activity.
The cooperation sphere of the Centre should in addition to the axes between Narva and Paide, Rakvere and Tartu, comprise the entire Estonia as well as international partners from the Nordic counties. At the same time, in order to stay competitive one must offer new products and services – hence the established Avinurme Centre of Hereditary Culture.
Avinurme Cultural Heritage Centre attracts the most varied target groups:
» Pupils and students of specialities related to design and carpentry are brought together with masters and apprentices in the centre as a unique base of practice. Young people can learn traditional and culturally important craft and nurture the skills and national motives in their work. Furthermore, the centre unites students and traders, creating opportunities and exciting solutions for talented youth to enter the market. The centre encourages young people from various fields to cooperate in order to enrich their experience. In cooperation with creative enterprise incubators to be established in Tallinn, Tartu and Viljandi the youth are also provided with advice for founding their own companies and employing their new design solutions.
» Experience-seeking and cultural tourists come to the centre to experience something unique. Here, one cannot only see and learn how timber products are made and how carpenters work, but also give carpentry a try in various workshops in order to make one’s own wooden items, get a glimpse of the cultural history of Avinurme and the region, bake bread like ancient Estonians used to do, and experience Estonian national music. The experience received here is varied and new. Doubtless, many will want to purchase unique-design wooden products from the centre handicraft shop or order them later via the internet store.
» Timber traders come to the centre, for every day new potential Estonian Nokias are generated. Here, they will meet rising young talents, for whom the traders may be the first partners in launching their products to the market. Be it a wooden toy, ornament, vessel, board game or tablemat – no company wants to be a bystander if others enter into business relationships and thereby improve their opportunities of success in the market. The cooperation between traders and young carpenters is not confined within the four walls of the centre. The centre encourages the provision of places of practice and cooperation in the Baltic Sea area through international projects (including Interregion programs).
» Creators, artists and masters come to the centre, for here traditions meet inspiring environment. There wooden sculpture and timber design are born. The centre will be a candidate of the list of creative residencies of the Nordic Countries, which would make Avinurme attractive for many acknowledged interested parties in the entire region. Avinurme provides wonderful environment that artists deem valuable.
» Children and youth come to the centre, for here one can learn Estonian history (also cultural) in its most authentic form and try one’s hand at traditional craft. Together with Avinurme upper secondary school and Junior Achievement Estonia the centre plans to increase the enterprising potential of the youth via participation in student company programs, and to counsel young people on in execution of their ideas, especially in the development of various wooden items. Active study programs offer various activities for children and young people.
» Local resident comes to the centre, for it is full of life. The centre also reminds local residents of their traditions that may started to fade, takes locals back to their roots, identity, and speaks their story. The centre is in close cooperation with other institutions and companies in the rural municipality in order to provide locals and visitors with exciting activities. In addition to public services the centre offers an attractive cultural program, which will entice visitors from near and far.
