Monthly Archives: March 2023

BHN Newsletter 2023, no.1

The spring edition of the Baltic Heritage Network quarterly newsletter is now available. In these pages, you will find information about our past and future events, new publications, and what is happening across the globe within the diaspora research and archive communities.

Read more March 31, 2023

In Support of the Estonian Expatriate Literature Centre

Sad news has arrived from Estonia. Cultural workers and individuals associated with the arts are gathering at Toompea to demand social guarantees and proper salaries. The lack of resources within local governments is forcing the closure of many town and village libraries. But cutbacks are also taking place in other libraries. The Estonian Literary Museum’s archival library had to cease research pertaining to the national bibliography because the specialist was dismissed. Now, shocking news has arrived: the Academic Library of Tallinn University is dismissing the last remaining employees of the Estonian Expatriate Literature Centre (EELC) who were involved with the collection. This is taking place due to budget cuts, during which a third of the library’s workers will lose their jobs. The EELC’s unique collection will remain, but as can be read from library director Andres Kollist’s interview with ERR’s Novaator, the centre’s doors will be shut as opposed to open and of course, the further development of the collection can’t take place without proper staffing. The interview can be seen here: https://novaator.err.ee/1608923453/suurkoondamine-viib-valiseesti-kirjanduse-keskusest-viimased-tootajad

Read more March 28, 2023

New TV-series hones in on exile Estonian home videos

Starting from March 7th Estonian Public Broadcasting TV-channel ETV2 is broadcasting an 8 week specialty show examining the various aspects of exile Estonian life. The documentary series is based on a wide archive of home videos which were given to the production team by Estonians all over the world. The program is called “8mm elu” (8mm of life) and it airs every Tuesday at 21.30 Estonian time, also has repeat slots and will be viewable on the public broadcasting streaming site jupiter.err.ee

Read more March 15, 2023

VEMU’s 2023 Winter Events

2023 has been deemed the year of movement by the Republic of Estonia’s Ministry of Culture. In that light, VEMU’s program reminds people that a healthy body means a healthy mind and soul. On January 22nd, we had a screening of the 1959 Soviet-era Estonian film “Mischievous Curves,” which tells a surprisingly propagandafree tale of a love triangle and motoracing. The film is well-known amongst those who have grown up in Estonia, yet for most local Estonians, this was a new viewing experience.

Read more March 7, 2023

Estonian Music Week in Toronto Celebrates its Fifth Anniversary This Year!

The first Estonian Music Week took place in May 2018 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. This festival has now become VEMU’s greatest cultural event throughout the year. To date, three full festivals have taken place (2018, 2019, and 2021), many concerts and tours by renowned Estonian artists, and much more. The latest of these endeavours was helping bring the Estonian-Ukrainian band Svjata Vatra on a Canadian minitour in February 2023. The concerts took place in Guelph, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal, Niagara Falls, and in various venues around Toronto.

Read more March 6, 2023

Early Announcement! BaltHerNet’s 10th Summer School “The Sea and Islands” is Taking Place in Hiiumaa 28.06.-01.07.2022

The Baltic Heritage Network family hasn’t been able to gather for the last two years due to COVID-19. We were hopeful that summer 2022 would bring a long-awaited change: this year BaltHerNet’s 10th summer school was planned to take place in Hiiumaa, Estonia. We must hope that the security situation in Europe will improve and that the summer school can take place.

Read more March 1, 2023

Travelling has become possible and popular yet again, and so VEMU/ Estonian Museum Canada has already had many great guests at the beginning of 2023.