VEMU’s events March-May 2015
On March 10th, Dorothee M. Goeze from the Herder Institute in Marburg gave the lecture “In Front of Camera: Daily Life of Estonian DPs in the Hintzer Collection”.
On March 18th, Susan Barber Kahro gave the lecture “Regilaul (Runo Song): Cornerstone of Estonian Culture”. Long-time music teacher Susan Barber Kahro is now working on her PhD thesis about Estonian music traditions in Canada. Olavi Kelle and Dace Veinberga performed examples of regilaul. Mark Julson performed some intriguing regilaul improvisations.
On April 1st, Tõnu Tõsine gave a lecture on Estonian narrow gauge railways.
April 9th saw the third “Cooking with Susi”-workshop. Eighty attendees prepared traditional Estonian kringel. Susi Holmberg also taught participants how to make pasha.
Cooking with Susi
Photo: Taavi Tamtik
On April 15th, Ene-Liis Martens gave the lecture “How NOT to Write a Book!”inspired by the writing of the book Ilmar, His Story – The Life Story of Ilmar Martens. All participants received a copy of the book “Ilmar, His Story”as a gift from Ene-Liis Martens.
On April 18th, VEMU and the Estonian National Museum’s travelling exhibition “Food: A Treasury of Estonian Heritage” was opened at the Latvian Centre in Montreal. Piret Noorhani gave a talk, which was followed by the film screening “Makers of Food. Historical Estonian Food Businesses in Toronto” (VEMU / Estonian Studies Centre & Kaisa Films 2014). The audience got to meet with the director Kaisa Pitsi after the screening.
On April 22nd, Tiit Aleksejev gave the lecture “1944: The Meaning of Remembrance”. Tiit Aleksejev is the author of the play The Legionnaires (Leegionärid) that was played by Rakvere Theatre at Tartu College on the following weekend of April 24th – 25th.
Photo: P. Noorhani
On April 29th, Scott Diel discussed the post-independence role for väliseestlased(Estonians abroad). Scott Diel is an American freelance journalist and author who has been living in Estonia for some time. He has been publishing sharp-witted articles in the Estonian press as the enigmatic Vello Vikerkaar.
He also talked at the VEMU fundraising dinner on May 2nd (“Dangerous Rainbows: Outing the Dastardly Vello Vikerkaar”). The theme of this year’s dinner was “Baltic with a Twist”. Ingo Karklins, the well-known and acclaimed chef at the Latvian Centre, prepared the dinner. Eric Soostar & the Northern Stars provided music.
Scott Diel
On Wednesday, May 6th, Margit Kilumets talked about being a journalist, filmmaker, and biographer.
On Saturday, May 9th, the Estonian Embassy in Canada and VEMU/the Estonian Studies Centre held a screening of the documentary “Pöide, Silent Witness”. The screening was followed by a discussion about the past and future of the medieval church. Juhan Kilumets, art historian and restorer and Margit Kilumets, journalist and film scenarist led the discussion.
From May 11th to May 14th, Mihkel Salusoo’s workshop “Weaving of Traditional Estonian Belts” took place at Tartu College.
The busy winter/spring season will end with the opening of the Estonian National Museum’s photo exhibition “Pick a Place Wherever You Can… ” (Otsi kohta, kus sa saad…). The exhibition will be on display at Tartu College until September 10th.