Estonia is famous for it’s digital society and includes all the people to develop digital services.
In the beginning of June, 65 people came together to digitize minorities’ cultural heritage at the Kultuuri Digihäkk (Culture hackathon) in Narva, Estonian mainly Russian-speaking border city. 18 people introduced their ideas and 13 teams were formed.
The hackathon was diverse in many ways – nationality, heritage, gender and age. There were participants from 18 nationalities including Ukrainian, Russian, Chilean, Bashkir and Ersa to name a few. The youngest participants were 18 and the oldest 75+. The projects were equally diverse and at the finals, we heard a wide variety of ideas– from AR-pattern building to websites to showcase traditional recipes and fairytales.
To introduce the scope of the project please meet the winners:
Overall winners: Vyshyvay – a platform where you can learn about and design patterns using embroidered Ukrainian national motifs (vyshyvankas). They won 2000€ from the German Embassy in Tallinn to develop their idea further and were invited to a reception at the French Institute.
First runner-up: Kultuuriamps – a web platform that brings together short-form cultural web exhibits. They won 1000€ from the Integration Foundation] to develop their idea further.
Second runner-up: Who am I? – an educational mobile game to introduce the heritage and language of minorities’ cultures. They won 1000€ from the Ministry of Culture to develop their idea further.
Special prize from the Ministry of Culture: Hoplocal – a marketplace to connect people through local hobbies and experiences. They won 1000€ from the Ministry to develop their idea further.
Favourite of the audience: Picric – a platform that uses illustrations to make learning poetry easier at schools.
Vabamu (Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom) special prize: Dom Skazki – a website with audio fairytales from different countries. Their project will be featured on the Vabamu NoVa platform.
Special mentions:
For the use of tech: wARli – an interactive Augmented Reality experience to help introduce people to Indian tribal art called Warli. They won annual passes to all of the 7 facilities of the Tallinn City Museum.
For out-of-the-box thinking: Ida-Virumaa maitsed – a website and interface that will make national food better known and preserve heritage.
This is not all! Rotermann City and Solaris Center are still deciding on which teams’ solutions will be exhibited in their rooms.
The hackathon was organized by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, Garage48 and OBJEKT multimedia future hub. This project was carried out in cooperation with the British Council Estonia as part of the People to People Cultural Engagement Programme.
Special thanks to all of our community partners who supported the hackathon with prizes and communication: German Embassy in Tallinn, Rotermann City, Solaris Centre, Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu / National Library of Estonia, Eesti Folkloorinõukogu, Eesti Rahva Muuseum / Estonian National Museum, Eesti Instituut/Estonian Institute, Narva Museum, Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum / Estonian Open Air Museum, Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, Ida-Viru Ettevõtluskeskus, Vabamu, French Institute and the Tallinn City Museum.
