News archive

As the dreary and dark winter made way for a bright and cheery spring, VEMU became an increasingly bustling centre of activity and energy. We offered culturally enriching experiences, including everything from a youthful Zumba class to film nights and a riveting photography exhibit. Many of the events featured a focus on sports and movement, as the Republic of Estonia’s Ministry announced in January that 2023 would be the year of movement. So what was VEMU up to this spring?

With any long-term festival, there is always the question of how to differentiate each iteration from year to year. In 2023, the Estonian Music Week team pushed into new territory with its artistic curation, event design, and socialization.

On Tuesday, May 30, and Thursday, June 1, the documentary film “Our Tartu. 50 years of Tartu College”, made by Kaisa Pitsi and VEMU, was screened on ETV2. The film is about keeping Estonian culture far from the homeland.

This spring, Kaunas Magnus University hosted over 150 participants—lecturers, researchers and students from Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the United States of America, Georgia, Switzerland, Ukraine—to a discussion on Baltic studies in the contemporary world, the challenges it is facing and the prospects for its future.

On 18 May, artist Maria Kapajeva opened her exhibition “Loose Photos, Odds and Ends” at the National Archives in Tartu by introducing the exhibit in English.

On May 12, the Lithuanian Studies Unit of the National Library of Lithuania organised the 8th annual seminar for scholars and researchers in diaspora studies. Some of the participants were returnees, while others were first-time participants.

On May 12, the National Library of Lithuania invited to a presentation of the book Juozas Vaičkus: Spiritus Movens of Lithuanian Theatre and Cinema by Aušra Martišiūtė-Linartienė (Vilnius: Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, 2022).

The arrival of springtime has many markers depending on where you reside. In Japan, people await the sakura blossoms of cherry trees. They are an ethereal symbol of the passing of time, representing birth, death, and renewal.

VEMU/Estonian Museum Canada, its biggest program, Estonian Music Week and Eesti Elu (Estonian Life) newspaper have had growing success with their joint venture EstoCast, a biweekly podcast. If you’ve ever wanted the latest 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. EstoCast is also ideal for those who are simply curious about any of the above topics and are searching for something fresh, exciting, inspiring, and educational to listen to. EstoCast alternates between English and Estonian every other episode so that there’s something for everyone; those wanting to learn or practice either language have the perfect chance for that as well!

Curiosity about the first recorded Lithuanians to reach Canadian shores led the Lithuanian Museum Archives of Canada to the War of 1812 in North America. Based on research conducted by Dr Kostas Jurgėla in 1964, Peg Perry, a volunteer at LMAC, curated “European Traces in the War of 1812”. It tells the story of 99 men born in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before the 1795 partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. These men fought for the French in the Napoleonic Wars, deserted or were captured and then were contracted to fight for the British in the war with the United States of 1812-1814.