Monthly Archives: December 2023

Baltic Heritage Network Newsletter 2023/4 Editorial  What keywords could describe this past year? Economies are in a downfall and the world is restless. Wars and natural disasters are forcing people to leave their homes. The Israel-Palestine conflict arose in addition to Russian aggression in Ukraine. The constant war-related news stories forcibly call to mind the events of 80 years ago which led to the Great Escape of the Baltic peoples in 1944. History tends to repeat itself. How do we break free from this cursed cycle? 

This fall, I visited Halifax for the first time. Since VEMU is currently working on the permanent exhibition that will be on display in the new building, it was essential to finally see this legendary city along with the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in order to get a better feeling for how and where post-Second World War Estonian refugees began their journeys to Canada, as well as how their story is told in Halifax. 

With the leaves changing colour and the air getting that colder twinge, EstoCast has jumped into the fall season with tons of momentum, offering discussions on a wide variety of captivating topics for our listeners. If you’re just tuning in for the first time or don’t know about this endeavour, EstoCast is ideal for those who are simply curious about a multitude of topics and are in search of something fresh, exciting, inspiring, and educational to listen to. If you’ve ever wanted the latest of Estonian books, music, art, history, science, and other key news and cultural topics, but in a convenient on-the-go format, EstoCast is perfect for you. Estonian Music Week, Eesti Elu/Estonian Life newspaper, and VEMU continue to collaborate and bring you the latest on everything Estonian and beyond in our biweekly episodes. Our episodes alternate between English and Estonian so that we can reach out to each and every one of you. The title mentions evolving.. so how has EstoCast evolved? We continue to grow our listener base steadily every month and have begun to branch out more into other communities as well, once in a while we hear or see a comment from someone with a completely different cultural background who has found our podcast, singing praises of how captivating our topics are and how much we have to offer. We’ve also evolved and grown in what we have to offer to our listeners and helping promote community events, often having lecturers, musicians, politicians, who have an upcoming event, in our studio to introduce them to our local Estonian community and to our listeners. Our podcast is over a year and a half old and we’re getting ready to close out our second season at the conclusion of this year; we’re not showing any signs of slowing down! We continue to experiment with our new recording technology and strive to continually improve recording quality and auditory experience. The fall months have brought a slew of new topics to offer, from world travel to marathoning and fascinating, behind-the-scenes looks into what its like to be a professional athlete and coach. We continue to expand our range of topics!

In 2024, cultural diversity will be celebrated in Estonia upon initiative from the Estonian Ministry of Culture — the unique qualities of communities and cultures which contribute to the cultural diversity of Estonia. The organization of the year’s events has been entrusted to the Integration Foundation. Everyone will work together in order to showcase and help bring cultural diversity to the forefront. There will be discovery and sharing, valuing and creation, preservation and enrichment of the cultural idiosyncrasies of communities and cultures through everything that unites people: starting from experiences and myths to creations and the future in day to day life and special occasions, in research projects and events. Cultural diversity is the face of our society, which we will all share next year, is what the leaders and organizers of the year declare.

As the warm, balmy summer days began to change into crisper, chillier autumn weather, VEMU kicked off its fall events and activities season. VEMU once again became the centre of bustling cultural energy and community activity after a short “summer vacation.” Many exciting and enriching events were planned, including everything from a taekwondo workshop to the opening of a fascinating e-Estonia themed exhibit and a whole slew of riveting lectures. Several events continued to have a focus on fitness and sports as the year of movement, as announced by the Republic of Estonia’s Ministry, is in effect until the end of 2023.

Please have a look at the following call from our partner Expatriate Archive Centre (EAC)!

EAA is honoured to have been recognised in this year’s Citizen Day awards. The archive has existed for 71 years and in that time many volunteers have devoted their time and experiences both in the Archive and on the Archives Council. It is gratifying to have their contribution recognised.

Estonian Public Broadcasting showcased the visual heritage of Estonians abroad in a new TV-series on ETV2. There were eight episodes, each 30 minutes long with a focus on a particular topic ranging from escape and politics to cultural activities and family life. 

The archive of the Lithuanian Encyclopedia, also known as the Boston Encyclopedia, has been recognized as an object of documentary heritage of national significance and entered into the Lithuanian National Register of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Memory of the World Program (Registration No. 83). The archive of the Encyclopedia is housed in the Lithuanian American Cultural Archives in Putnam, Connecticut, USA.