UT Viljandi Culture Academy director candidates will meet for a debate

Anzori Barkalaja, Ott Karulin, and Kertu Saks are candidates in the regular elections for the position of director of the Viljandi Culture Academy. The candidates will introduce themselves and present their views at a public debate on 8 April from 16 to 18, which can be followed via live webcast.

The public debate of the director candidates will be webcast on the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy’s YouTube channel, UTTV, and the website of Sakala newspaper.

The culture academy’s Director for Academic Affairs Kadri Steinbach, who has been the Acting Director since the summer of 2024, is happy for the strong and experienced candidates. “The culture academy is currently in an excellent state. The new director will have the exciting challenge to make Viljandi Culture Academy even more visible and significant in Estonia's cultural and educational landscape,” said Steinbach.

Anzori Barkalaja defended his doctoral thesis in folkloristics at the University of Tartu in 2002. He was previously the director of the Viljandi Culture Academy from 2000 to 2015. Barkalaja has also worked as the director of the Tartu Environmental Education Centre, the head of the Centre for Innovation in Education at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Education, and an advisor to the minister and later to the secretary general of the Ministry of Education and Research.

Ott Karulin earned his doctoral degree in theatre research from the University of Tartu. He has been the chief organiser of the Opinion Festival and worked as editor-in-chief for the cultural newspaper Sirp, and as an adviser for the Government Office’s Strategy Unit. Since 2013, Karulin has been a visiting lecturer at the Culture Academy. Last year, he became the Head of Public Governance in the Public Administration and Public Service Department of the Ministry of Finance.

Kertu Saks has studied English language and literature at the University of Tartu and Tallinn Pedagogical University. She earned her doctoral degree in media and journalism from the University of Tartu in 2011. She has worked as a journalist for Eesti Päevaleht, the head of the ESF coordination unit at the Ministry of Social Affairs, the director of the Energy Discovery Centre of the Tallinn Technology and Science Centre, and the head of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. From December 2021 to March 2025, she was the director of the Estonian National Museum.

The term of office of the previous director was due to run until the spring of 2025, so these are regular elections. The application for the position of the director of Viljandi Culture Academy was open from 30 January to 7 March. The University of Tartu senate will elect the directors of the university’s colleges at the senate session on 30 May. The director will be elected for five years, with the term of office starting on 1 August.