Throughout the summer and fall of 2017, Canada’s capital city Ottawa, is hosting a special event, “Ottawa Welcomes the World” to highlight Canada’s diversity. More than 42 embassies were invited to showcase their county’s food, cultural traditions and music. This was a perfect opportunity to present the Sharing Our Stories exhibition produced by the Baltic Canadian Imprints group. The refugee/immigration stories shared by the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Baltic German communities in Canada were part of the celebration on July 29th, on Lithuanian Canadian Day.
Organizers estimate that the event drew a crowd of 4,000 Canadians who were entertained by folk dancing, choral singing, Lithuanian food and heritage craft workshops. Volunteers from the Lithuanian Museum-Archives of Canada greeted many members of the public who were eager to learn about the Baltic communities and their story. Many people read the Sharing Our Stories exhibition panels with great interest and were truly appreciative of the efforts to document the refugee/immigration experiences of a generation that is quickly dwindling.
Danguole Juozapavicius
Lithuanian Museum-Archives of Canada