Heinz Valk

The Golden Years of the Kuku Club

The Kujutlev Kunstnikkude Klubi (Figurative Artists’ Club) (1935 - ) exists now as a public nightclub/bar in the basement level below the Tuum Kohvik (Tuum Café) at Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square) No. 8 in Tallinn, Estonia.

The alliterative Estonian name easily lent itself to a nickname shortening as the Kuku klubi (Kuku Club) which was expressive of the bohemian spirit of its founding members when they sought to emulate the early 20th century jazz-age nightspots of Paris and New York. The additional associations of an English-sounding name expressive of wild and crazy antics would have been appealing as well. The Estonian name of the cuckoo bird itself though is simply the kägu.

Caricaturist and activist Heinz Valk (1936 - ), who was a long-time Kuku Club president, has assembled an extensively illustrated history of the club in this anecdotal memoir. The first half of the book may not be of enormous interest due to its being primarily a listing of the various party events organized by its members of the time. The latter half becomes more intriguing as it documents the club’s survival during the Soviet era and its participation by association of its later-day members to the breakup of the Soviet Union and the renewed independence of Estonia.

Readers of Estonian in translation will be interested to know that the Kuku Club is the true-life inspiration behind the fictional Cave Club in Mihkel Mutt's novel "The Cavemen Chronicle" (orig. Estonian title "Kooparahvas läheb ajalukku. Saatuselugusid seltskonnakroonikast).

I read Kuku klubi kuldsed aastad in the original Estonian.… (lisätietoja)