England in spring is beautiful, it’s in bloom and full of greenery. The 16th Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe (CBSE) “Converging Paths: The Baltic Between East and West” took place in Cambridge from April 24th-26th, organised by the Baltic Program of the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge and the AABS network. As in previous years, the CBSE conference covered a wide range of topics, bringing together scholars from different disciplines and career stages from all over the world that research the Baltic region.
As the head of the Centre for Geopolitics, Prof. Brendan Simms, notes in the conference programme, there is still a lack of knowledge about the Baltics in the UK. Much of our history, language and culture is not taught in universities there. Having left the European Union, Britain remains politically and economically tied to it, and through NATO, also in terms of security. In this context, Prof. Simms emphasises, an academic focus on the Baltic Sea region is particularly important. The co-head of the Centre, Hon. Charles Clark, adds that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised the international profile of our region and its importance is now increasingly recognised in terms of both security and economic innovation. He also recommends that we take note of the inspiration that the Baltics have provided to millions of people.
It was truly a great conference, with over 500 people attending, according to the organizers. Every day, 12-14 sessions, panels or round tables took place at the same time, or in parallel. The topics covered were history, politics, economics, f ine arts, digital developments and much more. The program was so extensive that it wasn’t even printed, which is why you had to keep your smart device at hand and use it to plan your agenda. Finding the venues across the city added a sporting thrill to the event, and Cambridge’s wonderful eateries added coziness to collegial meetings during free time. Since an attempt to exhaustively summarize this academic hullabaloo would end up as unsuccessful as five blind men trying to describe an elephant, I will only present subjective fragments of my experience below.
Current volatile world politics have indeed brought the Baltic historical experience and contemporary issues into a little more focus – or so we hope. What is the real situation, are we visible, does our experience count, these questions were discussed in several panels. Our problem continues to be our small size – this also tends to be the legacy of research dealing with Baltic issues. There are not many of us, but the more effective we have to be, the more outspoken we must be. It must be admitted that one of the representatives of Estonians in Canada, Prof. Andres Kasekamp, distinguished himself from his British colleagues in the discussion dedicated to the USA and President Trump’s policies precisely because of his Estonian straightforwardness. A similar straightforward approach was also evident in the questions posed by Balts at the conference. It is also clear that we must have friends. There are representatives of very different nationalities among those dealing with Baltic issues, which adds diversity to the approaches and resonance to the entire f ield of research. One of the charms of a major conference is that it brings together a variety of perspectives, stemming from differences in historical, geographical, or sectoral contexts.
As I was part of a panel that dealt with the Mass Exodus of 1944, it also determined my initial trajectory. The panel was put together by AABS Administrative Executive Director and Stanford University Library Baltic Collections Curator Liisi Esse, and co-hosted by historian Maarja Merivoo Parro. On the first day of the conference, Dalia Cidzikaite from the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Inese Kalnina from the Latvian State Historical Archives, Gristel Ramler from the Estonian National Archives, and the undersigned from VEMU spoke. On the second day, the panel featured Evita Feldentale from the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, Marko Poolamets from the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, Liisi Rannast-Kask, Lisa Trei, and Ede Tamkivi from Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom. All of them are good colleagues, with whom it is always pleasant and educational to meet.
A panel examining new directions in the relationship between the diaspora and the homeland during the Cold War brought together a number of other researchers associated with BaltHerNet. The panel was moderated by Lars Fredrik Stöcker from the University of Vienna, with four speakers from the University of Tartu. Kaja Haukanõmm analysed how the second generation of refugees adapted to new asylum countries, Aigi Rahi-Tamm and Taimi Grauberg spoke about Soviet cultural tourism in the 1960s and attempts to divide refugee communities. Katariina Sofia Päts gave an overview of the video collection of the Estonian Cultural Heritage Society located at VEMU, which she has been documenting for the past four years. Liisi Esse introduced the Baltic collections and activities of the Stanford University Library. In another panel on the same topic, Morten Baarvig Thomsen spoke about Estonians in Denmark through the individual Vello Helk, Kristine Bekere about Latvian Popular Front support groups in the diaspora, Lars Fredrik Stöcker about the role of expatriate Balts in integrating the newly independent Baltic states into the global economic system, and Martin Gumiela about the role of the diaspora in launching the private sector of the Polish economy.
Delving into the depths of the human soul, the gripping panel “Between Trauma and Nostalgia: Coping with a Controversial Past” was presented. In addition to Baltic colleagues from the USA, Latvia and Lithuania, well-known filmmaker Helga Merits from the Netherlands also participated.
Unfortunately, the panels dedicated to the Baltic Germans and the development of Baltic memory institutions, presentations on language, literature, art, opera and theatre, as well as a large part of the speeches dedicated to identity questions and issues were missed. It was fortunate to catch the panel dedicated to the history of music, where the musical heritage of the Baltic diaspora and Soviet-era underground music magazines were also discussed. Maarja-Merivoo Parro also stepped up, among others.
The conference was framed around the topic of relations between Great Britain and the Baltic States. While in the opening plenary session, Prof. Brendan Simms spoke about Great Britain and the geopolitical situation of the Baltic States throughout history, in the closing plenary session, Prof. Patrick Salmon discussed Churchill’s relations with the Baltic States. But as mentioned, unfortunately, much of the colorful kaleidoscope of topics that fell between those topics was missed by me personally.
Good old England, full of flowers, bustling with young students and a global academic community – that’s what Cambridge in spring is like. On the last evening, while buying groceries at the grocery store, my colleague and I had to admit that we’ve probably never stood in a lineup with an average age of about 22 – the students’ summer vacation hadn’t started yet. Cambridge felt like home, it’s a city of youth, just like Tartu in Estonia. Since the venues were spread out across the campus, the conference participants were able to stretch their legs and get to know the different colleges. Some mentioned that it felt like they were in a Harry Potter movie – the gala dinner at the end of the conference at the majestic King’s College deepened this feeling. However, it was quite unexpected to hear the Royal College of Music Junior Department choir, the Vigala Singers, perform on the final evening. Yes – Vigala! The excellent youth choir took on this name in honor of Veljo Tormis when they performed at a choir conductors’ seminar in Vigala, the composer’s hometown.
Piret Noorhani
# The Estonian version of the article was published in the Eesti Elu /Estonian Life newspaper.