Kondase Keskus is a wonderful museum of naive and outsider art, located in the former pastorate building of a nearby church in Viljandi. It is dedicated to one of Estonia’s best known naivists Paul Kondas and has a huge collection of his paintings. In addition to the works of Kondas the museum contains an extensive exposition of other interesting naive artists. The staff of the museum is very friendly. This is one of the best museums of naive art that I have seen.

A nice little art space with interesting exhibitions of naivistic art and a small permanent collection. Very friendly staff.

This a charming small museum, possibly the most engaging of its kind in Estonia. The collection is housed in a vintage brick building on Pikk Street, at the former vicarage of the nearby bell-playing St. John's Church, between the city center and the castle ruins. It features the paintings of the Estonian artist and teacher, Paul Kondas, who has been recognized internationally for his work in the naive style.

Kondas' life from 1900 to 1985 spanned the disruptive history of Estonian occupation by Russia and independence movements, as well as WW2 and all the modernist twists in art. His work, by turns, does too: it celebrates Estonian life and culture; digs surrealistically into nightmares, dreams and sexuality; condemns Soviet repression and the horrors of wartime - all in the colorful folk styles of the naive style. Many of his pieces are double-sided, with two very different works on related themes. Be sure to ask the staff to flip them around for you. The woman who helped us also gave us a very knowledgeable guided tour; her enthusiasm and excitement about all the art made the visit more special.

The ambitious museum also encourages other artists to create work for special exhibits here or hosts retrospectives. During our visit, two exhibitions were specifically made for showing at the museum. One room featured a series of meditations by England's John Digby on the moon and Chinese lunar poetry. Another was an op-art painting extravaganza by animation artist Mati Kutt. Another room looked back over 30 years of figurative work by the surrealistic provocateur Raul Rajangu.